Voice and touch interaction: a user experience comparison of elderly people in smartphones

The use of digital technologies has contributed to improve the quality of life in the human aging process in several aspects. However, most of these technologies are not designed for the elderly audience, which makes the user experience (UX) difficult. In smartphones, low acceptance is related, among other factors, to physical and cognitive limitations imposed by age, which make it difficult for the elderly to interact with these devices. The problems reported are mainly related to low vision and reduced memory and motor skills. For reasons such as these, voice interfaces have been gaining ground, given that speech is natural for human beings and reduces dependence on graphical interfaces. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess whether voice interaction improves the UX of elderly people when interacting with smartphones. An experiment was conducted, with 20 elderly people, from the combination of qualitative and quantitative research elements. Participants received a list of tasks to be performed with the aid of a smartphone and were divided into two groups: one group performed the tasks first through voice interaction and then through touch, and the other group followed the opposite order. The results showed that the main advantages of voice interfaces are related to the reduction of dependence on vision, practicality, speed and ease regarding motor issues. Some barriers were also found, such as problems related to forgetting, complications in the elaboration of commands, speech rate and barriers in learning new technologies. The final results suggest that voice interaction improves the UX of elderly people with smartphones, compared to touch interaction.