Older adults have become potential users of smart wearable devices. However, existing wearable devices mainly target young people. To clarify the needs of older users and highlight ways to improve applications, services, and experiences for this target demographic, we conducted an exploratory study. We recruited 39 adults aged 50 years and older for participatory research with semi-structured interviews examining their lifestyles, preferences for various wearable device features and interaction styles, and expectations for future devices. The results indicate that older adults expect wearable devices to be seamlessly integrated into their daily lives, providing accurate monitoring data and further assisting in enhancing physical abilities. Additionally, wearable devices for older adults should be designed according to the context of use, with products providing appropriate activities, guidance, and practical recommendations. These research findings provide knowledge that designers can apply to future improved wearable devices that enhance older adults’ user experiences and quality of life.

Embodied virtual agents (EVAs) are used in various online shopping scenarios to enhance consumer experience. Humanoid avatars and output modalities of EVAs are two important factors affecting online shopping experience, which have been widely studied in shopping websites before. Moreover, immersive virtual reality (IVR) shopping is a future trend in online shopping, but research on EVAs in IVR environments is limited. The impact of them in an IVR shopping environment is not yet fully understood. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of an EVA's humanoid avatar and output modalities on the online shopping experience in an IVR environment. First, 66 participants were invited to participate in a 2 (humanoid avatar: presence vs. absence) × 3 (output modalities: text-only, voice-only, and text and voice) within-group experiment to complete the specified purchase task. After each purchase task was completed, participants were required to fill in a subjective questionnaire to score the six different combinations of virtual agents (VAs). After all purchase tasks were completed, a follow-up interview was conducted to better obtain the participants’ preferences and detailed reasons for the six different combinations of VAs. The results showed that humanoid avatars significantly enhanced participants’ perceptions of warmth, communication, trust, and satisfaction. Additionally, output modalities significantly enhanced participants’ perception of warmth, communication, trust, comfort, and satisfaction. Finally, the humanoid avatar and output modalities had significant interactions in terms of comfort. The results of this research provide theoretical reference and guidance for the design of VAs in IVR shopping environment, and also provide inspiration for the design and research of VAs in other online shopping environments.

Abstract In this study, we explored the effects that the font size and line spacing of simplified Chinese characters had on their readability on smartphones. One hundred and fifteen participants were recruited to complete Chinese text comprehension tasks and provide user preferences on a 5.9-inch smartphone. Nine test conditions were studied, consisting of three font sizes (10-, 12- and 14-point) and three line spacing variations (1.25-F, 1.5-F and 2-F). The results showed that both font size and line spacing significantly affect reading time, but only font size significantly affects reading accuracy; font size, line spacing and the interaction between them have significant effects on the difficulty of reading and the degree of visual fatigue. Medium and large font sizes are more comfortable to read with large line spacing, while small and medium font sizes are more attractive with large line spacing. The results provide useful information for mobile text interface design.

From industrial design, the concepts of product family and product family DNA were introduced, and the relationship between industrial design and engineering design of product family was analyzed. The framework and representation structure of product family DNA design were proposed, and the research methods and key technologies were reviewed. The applications of product family DNA design in academia and industries were formulated, and the deficiencies were discussed. Taken the telephone form design as an example, a prototype product family DNA conceptual design system is implemented, which consists essentially of the knowledge agents. With this system, product designer can direct new products in the same family.