Design of a Rich-Prospect Browsing Interface for Seniors

Abstract

A Qualitative Study of Image Similarity Clustering. This paper examines inclusive design delivery through interface design, with a particular focus on access to healthcare resources for seniors. The goal of the project was to examine how seniors are able to access drug information using two different online systems. In the existing retrieval system, pills are identified using a standard search interface. In the new browsing prototype, all of the pill images appear on a single screen, where the user identifies images by clustering the pills displayed by choosing similarity criteria related to the database search terms (e.g., all white pills or all pills of a certain size). The feedback mechanism in this interface involves re-organization of the pill images that are already visible to the user. We used a qualitative, task-based verbal analysis protocol with 12 participants aged 65 and older who were asked to locate pill images in each database and to discuss their preferences for navigation, aesthetics and the results that appear on the screen. By assessing the features of both interfaces, the results suggest possible models that could be applied in meeting seniors' information retrieval needs.