Integration of the Elderly into the Digital Society: A Study of Human-Machine Barriers in the Use of Kitchen Appliances

Population aging is a world trend. Home use of the kitchen is an important part of the life of the elderly, and in the context of digital society, the contradiction between the decline in the function of the elderly group and the function and operation of the existing kitchen appliances is acute, and it is easy to produce safety problems in use. The purpose of this paper is to enhance the user experience of the elderly group when using kitchen appliances. Firstly, the elderly subjects are categorized according to their age range, cognitive level, health degree, etc. Secondly, the human-computer interaction barriers to the use of kitchen appliances by the elderly with different characteristics are collected by constructing a user mental model and combining the observation method with semi-structured interviews, etc. Finally, the weights of barriers to the use of the factors are determined by the Analytic Hierarchy Process and the priorities are obtained, which provides a basis for the aging-adapted design of kitchen appliances. This study will improve the human-computer user experience of the elderly when using kitchen appliances and provide a reference for future ageing-friendly design.