89 - People Use Different Error Strategies

Systematic Explorations

Systematic exploration is what people do to plan how they'll correct an error or problem. For example, let's say someone was trying to put a song on loop. They'll go to one menu, find out it doesn't work, and then proceed to try each menu item to figure out what does. They start at the first menu item and work their way down; this is exploring systematically.

Trial and Error

Unlike systematic exploration, this method is random. A person goes through icons and menus in no particular order to reach their goal.

Rigid Explorations

This is just doing the same thing over and over, even if it doesn't change anything. It's like if someone was trying to set a song to loop, so they click an icon that they think should make it loop. If it doesn't work, they do it again.

Age and Error Strategies

Older adults take more steps to get tasks completed, mainly because they'd make more errors as they progressed Older adults failed to get meaningful hints from their actions Older adults typically have more motor control issues Younger adults used their past knowledge more than older adults Older adults had less certainty as to whether their actions were correct. They also felt more time pressure Older adults relies more on trial and error strategies due to their lack of familiarity with the device

Takeaways

People use different strategies to complete their tasks Don't assume older people can't finish a task just because they take longer and do it differently Not all older people are the same- some may be experts in computing or similar areas and will correct their errors faster than younger people