Abstract Navigating vast information spaces through mobile interfaces has become a common activity in older adults' everyday lives. Studies suggested that interface metaphors could be used to facilitate users' metal model development and information processing when using mobile technologies. However, we know little about how metaphors affect older adults' mobile navigation behavior, and which user characteristics matter during this perceptual and cognitive process. To investigate this, a card interface with a 3D metaphor and a list interface without 3D metaphors were compared among twenty-two participants when performing four navigation tasks. User characteristics including demographic factors, technology experience, and user capabilities were examined. The participants' navigation performance and subjective evaluations were measured as the dependent variables. From the results, we recommend the list interface without 3D metaphors as a beneficial choice for older adults. It performed better in navigation performance, although the differences are not statistically significant. Moreover, navigation performance using the card interface with a 3D metaphor was significantly associated with participants' perceptual speed, thus this interface may be more sensitive to capability declines. Valuable insights into the older adults’ mobile navigation performance and preferences are discussed and important implications for the design of mobile navigation user interfaces are proposed based on the results. Relevance to industry The experimental results propose a more beneficial way to present contents on a mobile user interface for older adults and provide valuable insights for the designers and industry to help them understand the older adults’ usage and perceptions towards the application of 3D metaphors when navigating with mobile interfaces.

中文翻译：

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3D界面隐喻对老年人手机导航表现及主观评价的影响

摘要 通过移动界面浏览广阔的信息空间已成为老年人日常生活中的常见活动。研究表明，界面隐喻可用于促进用户在使用移动技术时的金属模型开发和信息处理。然而，我们对隐喻如何影响老年人的移动导航行为以及哪些用户特征在此感知和认知过程中发挥作用知之甚少。为了研究这一点，在执行四项导航任务时，对 22 名参与者使用具有 3D 隐喻的卡片界面和不带 3D 隐喻的列表界面进行了比较。检查了用户特征，包括人口统计因素、技术经验和用户能力。参与者的导航表现和主观评价作为因变量进行测量。从结果来看，我们推荐不带 3D 隐喻的列表界面作为老年人的有益选择。它在导航性能方面表现更好，尽管差异在统计上并不显着。此外，使用具有 3D 隐喻的卡片界面的导航性能与参与者的感知速度显着相关，因此该界面可能对能力下降更敏感。讨论了对老年人移动导航性能和偏好的宝贵见解，并根据结果提出了对移动导航用户界面设计的重要启示。与行业的相关性实验结果提出了一种更有益的方式在老年人的移动用户界面上呈现内容，并为设计师和行业提供了宝贵的见解，帮助他们了解老年人在导航时对 3D 隐喻应用的使用和看法具有移动界面。