Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

As life expectancy increases, older workers and the retired form a large and growing proportion of the world's population. Professionals working to develop systems and environments need to better accommodate the user needs of the older adult.

This new guide provides a practical introduction to human factors and the older adult. It considers the subject primarily from an engineering psychology perspective, heavily grounded in today's scientific knowledge. The authors show how current understanding of age-related issues of perception, cognition, and movement control can be applied in practice. They also provide a reference source with guidelines and advice for design issues ranging from lighting, computer input device selection, and web site design, to training program development and work task design.

The text draws on research-oriented work and presents this in a form that can be used by the broad audience of product designers, health care practitioners, managers, and others who need answers to problems and require sound recommendations for design.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of figures (p. ix)
• List of tables (p. x)
• Preface (p. xi)
• Part I Fundamentals (p. 1)
• 1 Toward better design for older adults (p. 3)
• 2 Characteristics of older adult users (p. 12)
• 3 Guiding the design process (p. 29)
• Part II Design guidelines (p. 47)
• 4 Improving perception of information (p. 49)
• 5 Developing training and instructional programs (p. 60)
• 6 Design of input and output devices (p. 78)
• 7 Interface design (p. 93)
• Part III Exemplar applications (p. 111)
• 8 Making the work environment age-friendly (p. 113)
• 9 Maximizing the usefulness and usability of health care technologies (p. 125)
• Part IV Conclusion (p. 141)
• 10 Synthesis and comments (p. 143)
• References (p. 150)
• Index (p. 154)