Objective: The objective of this study is to identify the characteristics of the elderly's choice response for elderly-centered universal design.
Background: The importance of universal design is increasing due to the growing number of elderly people. To develop a universal design centered on the elderly, research identifying the elderly's characteristics from various perspectives is necessary.
Method: An experiment was conducted on a computer to measure the choice reaction time of the elderly. The independent variable was the number of stimulus alternatives, and the dependent variable was the reaction time in each experimental condition. Ten replications were performed for each experimental condition.
Results: As the number of alternatives increased, the choice reaction time of the elderly increased for both men and women, and was appropriately expressed by the formula to which Hick's law was applied. In the case of a simple reaction, the reaction time of men was longer than that of women. However, when the number of choice options was three or more, the reaction time of women was longer. This indicates that as the number of alternatives increases, the decision-making time of elderly women also increases.
Conclusion: The experimental results show that the number of choice alternatives significantly effects the elderly's choice reaction time.
Application: The results of this study can be used as basic data for the universal design of products or facility user interfaces.