Fat Finger Worries: How Older and Younger Users Physically Interact with PDAs

There has been steady growth in the global population of elderly people, challenging researchers in the HCI community to design technologies to help older people remain independent and preserve their quality of life. Some researchers have created assistive technology solutions using Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Critics question whether older people can use PDAs because of age related difficulties with computers. This paper presents an initial usability study that shows there are no major differences in performance between older and younger people physically interacting with PDAs and completing traditional (pressing buttons, viewing icons, recording messages) and non-traditional (scanning bar codes) PDA tasks.