Guidance Design Research Of Intelligent Kitchen Appliances For The Elderly

The development of information technology and the upgrading of consumer concepts have driven a wave of intelligent kitchen appliances in the industry.Smart kitchen appliances continue to improve in functionality and are accompanied by an increase in their operational complexity,which makes it more difficult for older users to use smart kitchen appliances.As China’s aging trend deepens,the question of how to ease the fear of older users of smart products through appropriate guidance design,so that older people accept and use smart kitchen appliances correctly,has become an issue we need to think about nowadays.This paper combines existing research and empirical studies,and uses usability evaluation methods to conduct a specific study on the usability design of the guidance design of smart kitchen appliances for the elderly,taking the elderly group with certain experience in using smart products as the user research object,and the guidance design of the multifunctional microwave ovenas the product research object.It aims to propose design principles and optimized design practices for the design of smart kitchen appliances for the elderly,and to reduce the burden of elderly users in the process of using smart kitchen appliances.This project adopts a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods.Firstly,based on theoretical research,the basic concepts of guidance design and smart kitchen appliances,usability theories and information processing models are sorted out and summarized,and the physiological and psychological characteristics of the elderly population and the relevant elderlyoriented design principles are outlined.Secondly,through online research and user interviews,the guidance design of the multifunctional microwave oven was identified as the experimental object,and the content and characteristics of the guidance design in the multifunctional microwave oven on the market were discussed from multiple perspectives,in terms of the complexity of the product itself,the visualization of the control panel and the way of product guidance,content composition,visual specification and the correlation between the interaction level of the control panel and the logic of the guidance design.The guidance design of the Galanz microwave oven was selected as the test sample for the usability test.A questionnaire and interviews were conducted to investigate the use of the multifunctional microwave oven by elderly users,laying the groundwork for the subsequent observation experiments and the development of the usability test tasks.The experimental observation method and video recording were used to understand the basic needs and usability issues of elderly users using the multifunctional microwave oven guidance design,and also to verify the feasibility of the usability test.Finally,an example study is conducted through usability evaluation to test the usability level of the guidance design of the multifunctional microwave oven,to uncover usability problems in the guidance design and to give a reasonable explanation.The paper manual in the test sample has significant usability problems,and then the causes of usability problems and cognitive factors corresponding to the cognitive processes of elderly users in human-computer interaction are discussed in depth through the information processing model,as well as the specific features in usability problems.The above results are combined to propose design principles for the guidance design of smart kitchen appliances for the elderly: simplification principle,contrast principle,interactive feedback principle,consistency,perceptibility and operability.Combining the design principles and the elderly-oriented design specifications that have been sorted out for the design practice in the process of optimal design,and comparing and analyzing the original design and the optimal design from the perspective of the five user experience elements,and then verifying through usability testing that the optimization design is better than the original design,but there are also usability problems,and carrying out iterative design for the optimization design to verify the reasonableness and feasibility of this research.The research methods,processes,usability issues and design principles used in this project will not only provide guidelines for the design and development of the multifunctional microwave oven guidance design,but also improve the experience of elderly users,and provide some references for similar research on smart kitchen appliances.