The Effects of Touch Button Size on Touchscreen Operability

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The present study investigated the effects of touch button size on touchscreen operability and compared these effects between young adult and elderly participants. A total of 21 young adults (aged 22.3 ± 1.5 years) and 20 elderly adults (aged 68.1 ± 4.9 years) were recruited and asked to press square number buttons (from 0 to 9) on an experimental touchscreen with their right index finger. The buttons' size changed during the experiment with six conditions (6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 mm). It was found that a decrease of the button size to 10 mm or below tended to increase the operation time and error rate, whereas it decreased the subjective overall operability of the touchscreen. Such effects were greater in the elderly adults than in the young adults. In addition, the reaction positions on the buttons were found to be close to the right side of them, which led the fingertip to approach the right outline of the buttons. These findings suggest that the use of small touch buttons should be minimised on touchscreens, especially for elderly users.

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