Affordance Requirements in Product Interface Design for Elderly User

The elderly find they have difficulty interacting with products as their physiological functions deteriorate. In interaction design, affordance, a design concept, provides a direction that guides the intuitive behaviors of users. Affordance is considered differently among design applications, and also plays different roles in designing user interfaces. This research aims to discuss the applications of affordance in designing product interfaces for the elderly through focus group interviews. With rice cooker interfaces as the research tool, we have invited 10 elderly people to express and exchange their subjective opinions on the operation and use of product interfaces. The research results show that: the product interfaces for the elderly should be designed to simplify functional affordance (FA), thus reducing the cognitive load of the elderly; conventional affordance (CA) should be designed based on the previous experience and knowledge of the elderly; and physical affordance (PA) should be presented in a streamlined and consistent manner. The research results can provide a reference for the intuitive design of product interfaces for the elderly, and promote effective interaction between elderly users and product interfaces, thereby improving the living quality of the elderly.