Swiping Angles Differentially Influence Young and Old Users' Performance and Experience on Swiping Gestures.

The efficiency and convenience of gesture shortcuts have an important influence on user experience. However, it is unknown how the number of permitted swiping angles and their allowable range affect users' performance and experience. In the present study, young and old users executed swiping in multiple directions on smartphones. Results showed that multiple allowable angles resulted in slower swiping speed and poorer user experience than the single allowable angle condition. However, as the number of allowable angles increased, only old users showed a significant decrease in swiping accuracy. Vertical-up and upper-right swiping were faster than swiping in the horizontal directions. Furthermore, narrower operable range of swiping only reduced swiping accuracy in the tilted direction. Though old users performed worse on swiping than younger users, their subjective ratings were more positive than younger users'. Suggestions on how to design swiping gestures on the human-mobile interface were discussed.