Usability and perception of young users and adults on targeted web search engines

Abstract

The usability of web search engines is an important factor that influences user experience and correlates with users' success in finding the relevant information. Currently, there are different search engines online available whose main target audience are children. In this paper, we investigate the differences between children and adults in terms of usability and perception of targeted search engines, i.e. search engines designed specifically for that audience. To this end, an eye-tracking study was conducted to compare children's and adults' search behavior and perception of search interface elements on search engine results pages (SERPs) during an informational and a navigational search with a standard search engine and a search engine for children. We identified differences in the information-seeking behavior and perception of search engines SERPs between children and adults. Based on these findings we propose criteria on how to design search user interfaces that are more appropriate for children.