Abstract
We conducted an experiment to examine the relationship between the design features of physical controllers and the perception of possible operations by younger and older adults. Specifically, this study explored the effects of aging on people's perceptions of physical controllers with multiple meanings (press and turn), a problem identified in our previous usability study. In this study, we made 48 samples with four parameters: Text (without, with), Arrow (without, with), the Height of Flat Surface (0mm, ±1mm), and the Design of Curved Surface (d = 0mm, ±4mm, handle) based on the product semantics theory. Participants were asked to observe a still image of the sample and answer two possible operations. While desired shapes and signs could influence the perception of specific operations on both age groups, results indicate that younger adults are more sensitive to the arrow and intended shapes for turn-ability, thus, more likely to choose expected operations.
