Ability-based Optimization: Design and Evaluation of Touchscreen Keyboards for Older Adults with Dyslexia

This short paper investigates a computational approach toward improving user interface designs for older adults with cognitive impairments. We explore keyboard design on touchscreen devices where individual abilities are parametrically expressed as part of a task-specific cognitive model, and the model estimates how the individual might adapt user interaction to the task. The resultant design can potentially improve speed and reduce errors for older adults having dyslexia over the baseline QWERTY layout. We believe that the proposed computational touchscreen design approach will be able to develop interface designs more adapted to the specific abilities of the aging populations.