Age-related differences in the initial usability of mobile device icons
Abstract
Mobile devices offer much potential to support older adults (age 65+). However, older adults have been relatively slow to adopt mobile devices. Although much ongoing HCI research has examined usability problems to address this issue, little work has looked at whether existing graphical icons are harder to use for this population compared with younger adults. We conducted a qualitative exploratory study and a follow-up experimental study to determine which icon characteristics help initial icon usability for older adults. We found that our older participants did have more problems using existing mobile device icons, but that particular icon characteristics – semantically close meaning (i.e. natural, close link between depicted objects and associated function), familiar, labelled and concrete (i.e. those depicting real-world objects) – improved icon usability for them. We discuss how these findings can help icon designers to create mobile device icons that are more suited to the abilities and technology experience of older adults.
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Spatial ability, verbal memory, and self-efficacy of younger users were significantly higher than older users in preliminary tests.
“The results of the preliminary tests indicated that spatial ability, verbal memory, and self-efficacy of younger users were significantly higher than older users.”
From Usability Studies on Mobile User Interface Design Patterns: A Systematic Literature Review (2017) · cites this paper as [40]
More than half of the older users in Arning and Ziefle's study were not able to build a mental model of how the system was constructed.
“Although all older users in their study were experienced computer users, the study found that more than half of them were not able to build a mental model of how the system was constructed.”
From Usability Studies on Mobile User Interface Design Patterns: A Systematic Literature Review (2017) · cites this paper as [40]
The variable with the best predictive power for navigation performance was not age but spatial ability; age was only a carrier variable related to many variables that changed over the lifespan.
“However, further analysis found that the variable which had the best predictive power for navigation performance was not age but spatial ability; age was only a carrier variable that was related to many variables which changed over the lifespan.”
From Usability Studies on Mobile User Interface Design Patterns: A Systematic Literature Review (2017) · cites this paper as [40]
Younger users outperformed older users on mobile menu navigation, with older users having significantly greater task completion time, number of tasks completed, detour steps, and nodes revisited.
“Task completion time, number of tasks completed, detour steps, and nodes revisited of older users were significantly greater than those of younger users; in other words, younger users outperformed older users on mobile menu navigation [40].”
From Usability Studies on Mobile User Interface Design Patterns: A Systematic Literature Review (2017) · cites this paper as [40]
Both verbal memory and spatial ability were related to strategies employed in menu navigation.
“Their study also found that both verbal memory and spatial ability were related to strategies employed in menu navigation.”
From Usability Studies on Mobile User Interface Design Patterns: A Systematic Literature Review (2017) · cites this paper as [40]
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BackgroundVisualizing energy information on mobile devices
Kohlbrecher, J.-P., Hakobyan, S., Pickert, J., & Großmann, U. (2011) · IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Data Acquisition and Advanced Computing Systems: Technology and Applications (IDAACS) · doi:10.1109/idaacs.2011.6072885 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“Leung et al. [13] found age-related differences with the reception of mobile device icons.”
BackgroundEvIcon: Designing High‐Usability Icon with Human‐in‐the‐loop Exploration and IconCLIP
Shen, I., Cherng, F., Igarashi, T., Lin, W., & Chen, B. (2023) · Computer Graphics Forum · doi:10.1111/cgf.14924 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“The crowdsourced evaluation results, collected via Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT), are displayed next to the finalized icon (the right-most icon of each block in Figure 10) for each revision process.”
MethodQualitative study to identify icons characteristics on mobile phones applications interfaces
Ghayas, S., Sulaiman, S., Khan, M., & Jaafar, J. (2013) · 2013 IEEE Symposium on Wireless Technology & Applications (ISWTA) · doi:10.1109/iswta.2013.6688794 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Hou, G., Pan, Y., & Liu, Q. (2025) · International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/10447318.2025.2480839 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Research indicates that the usability of graphical user interface icons is relatively low for older users (Koutsourelakis & Chorianopoulos, 2010; Leung et al., 2011).”
InfluentialGanapathy, T., Othman, M. K., & Al-Hababi, A. Y. S. (2021) · Journal of Visual Art and Design · doi:10.5614/j.vad.2021.13.1.2 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“The usability of mobile apps has been widely discussed in the literature using several different key criteria, for example: effectiveness [17,18], efficiency [19], satisfaction [19,20], learnability [21,22], memorability [20,23], and engagement [24,25].”
MethodCOVID-19 Pandemic and Urban Digitalization Experiences of Seniors
Shin, H., Pyun, M., Pi, Y., Yoon, S.-H., Fang, L., & Kim, Y.-C. (2022) · Korean Journal of Journalism & Communication Studies · doi:10.20879/kjjcs.2022.66.4.007 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
A Framework of Affordance and Usability of Mobile User Interface for Older Adults
Wong, C. Y. (2013) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-39191-0_26 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Applying design science research to innovations at ICT-enabled service
Hsu, C.-C., & Tsaih, R. (2014) · International Conference on Information & Communication Technology and System (ICTS) · doi:10.1109/icts.2014.7010592 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
The Impact of Senior-Friendliness Guidelines on Seniors' Use of Personal Health Records
Ogunseye, S., Komiak, S., & Komiak, P. (2015) · IEEE International Conference on Healthcare Informatics (ICHI) · doi:10.1109/ichi.2015.110 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Leung and his colleagues [25] considered the effect of the characteristics of UI icons in mobile phones on how usable the device is for senior citizens.”
BackgroundThe Effects of the Transparency of the Guiding Diagrams on the Phone Interface for the Elderly
Liu, S. F., Lin, P.-Y., & Wang, M. H. (2017) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-58536-9_8 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Making sense of health data of wearables: designing information displays for older wearable users
Ma, Z., Gao, Q., & Yang, M. (2024) · Universal Access in the Information Society · doi:10.1007/s10209-024-01159-2 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“These research works found that a close and natural relationship between an icon and the function it represented does help, and that concrete rather than abstract metaphors contribute to fewer errors and higher usability among older adults [32, 33, 39, 60].”
Mao, J., Lyu, B., Lin, K., & Pan, X. (2025) · International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/10447318.2025.2470281 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“These results further improved the relevant research (Leung et al., 2011; H. Liu et al., 2023; Song et al., 2024), provided empirical evidence for understanding the cognitive performance of different generations on icons depicting product appearance, and also laid the foundation for further…”
InfluentialEmerging Technologies for Dementia Patient Monitoring
Qassem, T. (2015) · Advances in medical technologies and clinical practice book series · doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-7481-3.ch004 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Challenges in Developing Applications for Aging Populations
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“Lack of experience with particular application interfaces and icons can make the meanings of the icons more difficult to interpret (Leung et al., 2011).”
BackgroundNeurophysiological Indices of Human Social Interactions Between Humans and Robots
Smith, S. J., Stone, B. T., Ranatunga, T., Nel, K., Ramsøy, T. Z., & Berka, C. (2017) · Communications in computer and information science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-58750-9_36 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Comparison of Three Navigation Button Designs in Mobile Survey for Older Adults
Rivas, A. G., Antoun, C., Feuer, S., Mathew, T., Nichols, E., Olmsted-Hawala, E. L., & Wang, L. (2022) · Survey Practice · doi:10.29115/sp-2022-0005 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
EVALUATION OF MHEALTH FEATURES ON USER EXPERIENCE
(2022) · Issues in Information Systems · doi:10.48009/3_iis_2022_105 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“However, this work could be extended by investigating how the needs of older users may be different with an app, such as the work done in (Leung, Mcgrenere, Graf, 2011).”
Usability of mobile devices and applications for elderly users
Ropponen, J.-O. (2016) · Cited by 2 · see citing works
JongHwan, S., Kun-Pyo, L., & 박은정 (2015) · Journal of Integrated Design Research · doi:10.21195/jidr.2015.14.3.004 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
A Review of Age-Related Characteristics for Touch-Based Performance and Experience
Liao, J., Lou, J., Wu, Q., Zou, M., & Zheng, L. (2018) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-92034-4_21 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Proposal and Implementation of an Elderly-oriented User Interface for Learning Support Systems
Lu, M., Tamura, K., Okamoto, T., Oi, M., Shimada, A., Hatano, K., Yamada, M., & Konomi, S. (2019) · ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale (L@S) · doi:10.1145/3330430.3333650 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“The physical and mental limitations, such as vision diminution and declines of cognitive capabilities [1,4,5], of elderly users must be considered, and their preferences are also related with reducing the physical and mental loads when operating the system [2].”
BackgroundLiu, Y., Wu, J., Wang, X., Pan, C., Chen, Z., & Xue, C. (2024) · International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/10447318.2023.2301261 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“…size of icons/text, the size and arrangement of buttons, interface element metaphors, and interface navigation, with the psycho-cognitive and upper limb motor abilities of the elderly (Chang et al., 2014; Hou et al., 2022; Hou & Hu, 2021; Leung et al., 2011; Shi et al., 2021; Xiong & Muraki, 2016).”
Gathering the Requirements for a Mobile Device Tutorial for Older Adults
Washington, M. A. (2015) · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Ålderns påverkan på användningen av mobila betalningar- En kvantitativ studie.
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Uniformity in the midst of diversity
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HCI factors affecting the mobile internet uptake in Jordan
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Creating a smart application system to provide a beneficial maintenance service for elderly drivers
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Swiping up/down for mobile gallery navigation: The role of instruction design type
Sedovšek, R., Pogačnik, M., & Hladnik, A. (2017) · 2017 Computing Conference · doi:10.1109/sai.2017.8252152
“It is known from the earlier studies that unlabeled icons are more difficult to use and comprehend in mobile UIs regardless of the age group [15].”
BackgroundDesigning a Navigation System for Older Adults: A Case Study Under Real Road Condition
Ruer, P., Brun, D., Gouin-Vallerand, C., & Vallières, É. F. (2019) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-32785-9_15
PROVIDING HOUSEHOLD CUSTOMERS WITH SMART METERING DATA ON MOBILE DEVICES
Hakobyan, S., Kohlbrecher, J.-P., Pickert, J., & Großmann, U. (2011) · International Journal of Computing · doi:10.47839/ijc.10.4.763
“Leung et al. [18] found age-related differences with the reception of mobile device icons.”
BackgroundEmerging Technologies for Dementia Patient Monitoring
Qassem, T. (2017) · IGI Global eBooks · doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-2589-9.ch006
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Effect of Aging on the Perception of Product Operations Through Semantic CluesPreprint
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Development and Evaluation of Smartphones Interface for Elderly
Bhatti, A. M., Iqbal, M. W., & Siddique, I. (2025) · Communications in computer and information science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-77620-5_6
Punchoojit, L., & Hongwarittorrn, N. (2025) · Behaviour and Information Technology · doi:10.1080/0144929x.2025.2551571
“Age differences in icon interpretation were explored in studies by Gatsou et al. (2011), Kim and Cho (2010), Koutsourela-kis and Chorianopoulos (2010), Leung et al. (2011), and Kuo et al. (2010), indicating lower recognition rates and more errors among elderly users.”
Bigotto, F., Panigada, J., Bruni, F., Mancuso, V., Cavedoni, S., Stramba-Badiale, M., Goulene, K., Pedroli, E., & Serino, S. (2026) · JMIR Aging · doi:10.2196/68032
“First, participants struggled to recognize the app icon, a finding consistent with research showing that older adults often have difficulty with abstract icons [78].”
Correlations Between Subjective Icon Characteristics and Entropy From A User Perspective
Satcharoen, K., & Tangtisanon, P. (2025) · doi:10.1145/3783862.3783893
“More recently, researchers have turned to investigate the fundamental visual properties of icons and their effect on computing speed and accuracy, as well as their subjective sense of computing ‘space’ and system navigability [4–11].”
Ayhan, N. (2026) · Educational Gerontology · doi:10.1080/03601277.2026.2670462
“This fear can stem from insufficient technological knowledge or from previous negative experiences (Laguna & Babcock, 1997; Leung et al., 2009).”
Niu, J., Yin, Y., & Wang, S. (2026) · Health Expectations · doi:10.1111/hex.70718 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Recognition of graphical symbols depends on prior knowledge and memory [75], and older adults tend to benefit more from concrete and familiar icon styles than from abstract graphics [76, 77].”
- Authors
- Leung, R., McGrenere, J., & Graf, P.
- Affiliations
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Leung, Rock
- Venue
- Behaviour & Information Technology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2011-09
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 629-642
- ISSN
- 0144-929X (ISSN-L)
- 1362-3001
- OpenAlex
- W2011111325
- Cited by
- 102
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 9.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Behaviour and Information Technology (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Technology Use by Older Adults
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Usability and User Interface Design
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Safety Warnings and Signage
- Keywords
- older adults, age differences, icon design, semantic meaning, familiarity, technology adoption, user interface design
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