2.1.3 Motor skills
As can be seen when observing elderly people, age brings changes in motor skills. Some of
the motor changes are [9]:
- Decreased speed of movement
- Subtle decline in strength and endurance
- Changes in balance and coordination
- Possible extrapyramidal signs (involuntary movement, tremor, restlesness, etc.)
- Flexed posture
All measurements of motor skills described by Dix et al. [10], being movement time, reaction
time and accuracy, decline as a person is reaches old age [5].
The way people move affects the way in which they use a computer [10]. Therefore, the
mentioned changes need to be adressed when designing for elderly users of computers.
Dickinson et al. [3] describe that this can be done “by removing, where possible, the need to
carry out complex actions using the mouse, presenting larger targets and removing menus.”
Langdon et al. [11] give an option for adjusted targeting, namely the use of an “attractive
basin”, which is a “circular region around the (on-screen) target that causes the cursor to
become subject to a constant spring force towards the centre” and helps users with
haptic/involuntary and inaccurate movements. Also, input devices could be modified, as
Hwang et al. [12] propose in their example in which force-feedback technology is used to aid
motion impaired computer users (which however is not always beneficial for slightly motion
impaired users [11]).