ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Digit. Health
Sec. Human Factors and Digital Health
This article is part of the Research TopicUser-Centred Approaches for Designing Assistive Technologies to Support Older AdultsView all 8 articles
The performance of older adults in using the mobile Health (mHealth) application interface: the impact of graphical icon color and background visual elements
Provisionally accepted
Cheng Pan1,2
Weimin Zhai3*- 1School of Tourism and Cultural Industry, Hunan University of Science and Engineering, No.130 Yangzitang Road, Lingling District, Yongzhou City, Hunan Province, 425199, P.R. China, Yongzhou, China
- 2Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, City University of Macau, Macau, China
- 3Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen, China
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Optimizing mobile health (mHealth) interface design for usability and user experience (UX) is critical, particularly for older adults. This study investigates the effects of graphical icon color (monochromatic vs. multicolor) and icon background visual elements (none, border, filled background) on older adults' task performance and subjective evaluations when interacting with mHealth interfaces. A 2 × 3 between-subject experiment engaged 60 participants in four operational tasks. Metrics included task completion time, System Usability Scale (SUS) scores, 7-point Likert ratings (satisfaction, acceptance, positive perception and ease of understanding), and semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal: (1) Icon color significantly impacts visual search performance. (2) Icons without backgrounds are preferred and lead to faster task completion compared to those with borders. (3) Multicolored icons with no background or with border yield better results than those with filled backgrounds regarding the performance. (4) Monochromatic icons are rated higher for positive perception and ease of understanding when paired with borders or filled backgrounds, whereas the opposite is true for icons without backgrounds. (5) Icons with borders reduce user satisfaction. These results provide actionable insights for designers to balance functional efficiency and emotional engagement in mHealth interfaces, ultimately fostering sustained adoption and health management empowerment among older adults.
Keywords: MHealth applications, Graphic icon, Background visual elements, emotional design, User Experience (UX)
Received: 01 May 2025; Accepted: 30 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Pan and Zhai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Weimin Zhai, 591630470@qq.com
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