The Effects of the Keypad’s Layout on the Ease of Pressing the Buttons in Small Cell Phones with the Thumbs of the Young and the Elderly
The present study investigated the effect of keypad layout on the ease of operating small cell phones using one hand by young and elderly subjects. Thirty subjects (18 young, 12 elderly) operated 9 different keypads modeled after commercially available cordless handsets. Keypads designed using the L9 orthogonal array differed in vertical pitch (V-Pitch: 7 mm, 8 mm, 9 mm) between buttons, horizontal pitch (H-Pitch: 10 mm, 11 mm, 12 mm) between buttons, the margin below the bottom row of buttons (B-Margin: 5 mm, 13 mm, 21 mm), and phone body width (P-Width: 38 mm, 41 mm, 44 mm). A V-Pitch of 7 mm resulted in greater miskeying rates and lower subjective assessments than the 8 mm or 9 mm V-Pitch. A B-Margin of 5 mm also showed negative results in subjective assessments in both subject groups when compared with 13 mm and 21 mm margins. The V-Pitch and B-Margin are considered important factors affecting the ability of young and elderly to effectively operate small cell phone buttons.
Satoshi Muraki Keiichi Okabe Tetsuji Abe Akishige Sai
Faculty of Design, Kyushu University, Japan Design Company, Panasonic Corporation, Japan
国际会议
17th World Congress on Ergonomics(第十七届国际人类工效学大会)
北京
英文
1-6
2009-08-09（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）