User Interface Design of the Control Panel of Kimchi Refrigerator for the Older Women

To evaluate the usability of a Kimchi refrigerator, we performed an evaluation test that consisted of an experiment and a post-hoc questionnaire survey. In this study, we focused on the older women who have less physical and cognitive ability than younger women. In physical usability, there was no significant difference between the older and the younger subject group. However, there was some significant statistical difference in the results of cognitive usability test. When the subjects debriefed their operations after finishing the experiment, the all subjects in the older group reported the difficulties in identifying the labels and icons in the control panel and in understanding operation sequences. Also, they couldn't learn and remember the operation procedures well. Based on the analysis of the video protocols, some causes of the problems were found and then several improvement ideas were suggested.