[P1] Poster Presentation 1: Memory

[P1-30] Effects of Contents familiarity on understanding hierarchical menu structure: Comparison between older- and younger- adults

*Kanau Ishii¹, Etsuko T. Harada² (1. Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 2. Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba)

Keywords:hierarchical structure, menu selection system, ICT (information and communication technology) system

A lot of equipment in everyday life is now based on IC technology, and these menus are usually presented by hierarchical structure, even though it is often said that hierarchical structure is hard to learn for some users, such as older adults. In this experiment, we compared two age groups, between older- (65 up) and younger- (undergraduate students) adults, and investigated effects of contents familiarities on the use of hierarchical menu structure. In the experiment, participants had to find some specific information with two systems, which differ in contents familiarity. Results showed that the both age groups performed worse with lower contents familiarity system, however this effect was prominent in older adults. That is, older adults can use hierarchical structure if they know the information contents, but not when they are not familiar with them, while younger adults can use the hierarchical structure even with unfamiliar contents.