Article

Designing for the wisdom of elders: age related differences in online search strategies

Authors:

Robert J. Youmans,

Brooke Bellows,

Christian A. Gonzalez,

Brittany Sarbone,

Ivonne J. FigueroaAuthors Info & Claims

UAHCI'13: Proceedings of the 7th international conference on Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction: user and context diversity - Volume 2

Pages 240 - 249

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39191-0_27

Published: 21 July 2013 Publication History

Abstract

Information search is one of the main reasons that older adults go online, but older adults experience more difficulties than younger adults when interacting with search engines. In this study, 15 younger and 14 older participants completed a battery of cognitive tasks, and then searched for information via a realistic search simulator. Older participants searched using a more methodical strategy that entailed careful word selection and serial processing of search results, while younger participants used a more impulsive strategy whereby they scanned search results quickly and jumped between links more frequently. In keeping with past studies, older adults displayed lower cognitive flexibility, but these deficiencies were apparently offset by their search strategy, and young and old participants ultimately found information in similar amounts of time. We argue that, while age-related cognitive changes certainly exist, their effect on older adults' interactions with search engines may be due to mismatches between older adults' search strategies and the design of current versions of popular search interfaces.

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Cited By

van Oostendorp HKaranam S(2016)Supporting Information Search by Older AdultsProceedings of the European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics10.1145/2970930.2970943(1-8)Online publication date: 5-Sep-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2970930.2970943
Karanam Svan Oostendorp HKaye JDruin ALampe CMorris DHourcade J(2016)Age-related Differences in the Content of Search Queries when ReformulatingProceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/2858036.2858444(5720-5730)Online publication date: 7-May-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2858036.2858444

Index Terms

Designing for the wisdom of elders: age related differences in online search strategies
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)
2. Information systems
  1. Information retrieval

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cover image Guide Proceedings

UAHCI'13: Proceedings of the 7th international conference on Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction: user and context diversity - Volume 2

July 2013

733 pages

ISBN:9783642391903

Editors:
Constantine Stephanidis
Department of Computer Science, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Institute of Computer Science (ICS), N. Plastira 100, Vassilika Vouton, 70013 Heraklion, Crete, Greece, and University of Crete,, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
,
Margherita Antona
Department of Computer Science, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Institute of Computer Science (ICS), N. Plastira 100, Vassilika Vouton,, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

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Springer-Verlag

Berlin, Heidelberg

Publication History

Published: 21 July 2013

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Cited By

van Oostendorp HKaranam S(2016)Supporting Information Search by Older AdultsProceedings of the European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics10.1145/2970930.2970943(1-8)Online publication date: 5-Sep-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2970930.2970943
Karanam Svan Oostendorp HKaye JDruin ALampe CMorris DHourcade J(2016)Age-related Differences in the Content of Search Queries when ReformulatingProceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/2858036.2858444(5720-5730)Online publication date: 7-May-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2858036.2858444

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