Types of Interface

An interface controls the manner in which the user interacts with the system (Kendall et al, 1992). A smartphone whose design identifies the elderly as its target market would be assembled with special features which make it user-friendly for the shortcomings arising from old age. The phone will have interfaces that enable it to offer the desired satisfaction for the people within this age bracket. These types of the interface include; command language interface, menu driven, and graphical user interface

Command Language Interface

This interface allows the phone to respond to commands keyed in by the user. The system would be configured to respond to the user instructions. The elderly people often have memory lapses and would require a customized phone that helps them keep track of something. Simple sequence and alphabetic derivation codes help the users to easily remember and follow up on various issues at their discretion. Simple sequence codes comprise of a number that is allocated to an issue that should be recalled (Dennis et al, 2015). The smartphone would be configured with certain codes that help them remember particular things. For instance, the phone should have a code that represents the number with which they can check on their remaining balances thus reminding then when required to top up.

 This type of code is essential since memory lapse is common among the elderly. Simple sequence codes are in no way interrelated with the data. Classification codes which help to differentiate various groups of items can also be used by the elderly as a command instruction to which the system will respond. The codes may comprise of one digit or letter which may contain the full description of a place or a person.  These codes provide a shorter and easy method of recalling something and are of great importance to the end user.

Menu Driven Interface

A system that is menu driven offers an interface that is straightforward and is composed of menus which are accessed by pressing buttons (Dennis et al, 2015). The system would be configured in a manner that ensures a single touch on the screen provides a response relating to the information on the menu bar. The smartphone provides a menu list that is developed from the analysis of the user requirements elicited for the design of a user-friendly gadget for the elderly.  It is important to have all the access points under menus and submenus since the elderly tend to tire quickly, thus the need to have information organized sequentially. A menu-driven interface allows the user to navigate through the phone’s software without any difficulty and in turn satisfying the needs of the end user (Dennis et al, 2015). A phone with this type of interface is best suitable for elderly people since it does not require memory of commands and is, therefore, easy to use even for those clients who suffer from a memory lapse.

Graphical User Interface

A graphical user interface utilizes the graphical elements of an electronic device to make the program user-friendly (Kendall et al, 1992). In this scenario, the smartphone is designed with a touchpad that allows the user to easily make use of the gadget for their desired purpose. The features of this interface serve to meet the needs of the elderly people since they don’t have to learn complex command languages. In order to ensure that the elderly people who have a problem with eyesight also make full use of this smartphone, it is designed in a manner which ensures that the icons which represent various commands are larger in size than those made for the younger people. The words indicating what each icon represent are also large to enhance visibility for the end user.

References

Dennis, A., Wixom, B. H., & Tegarden, D. (2015). Systems analysis and design: An object-oriented approach with UML. John Wiley & Sons.

Kendall, K. E., Kendall, J. E., Kendall, E. J., & Kendall, J. A. (1992). Systems analysis and design (Vol. 2). Prentice-Hall.