Research on the Influence of Interface Visual Design Features of Mobile News on Cognitive Load: A Study of Elderly Users in China

This study addresses specific gaps in current research on user-experience interface design for news and information apps targeted at elderly users, particularly in the context of human factors and ergonomics. To investigate how interface design features of mobile news clients affect the cognitive load of elderly users, an in-depth analysis was conducted using a combination of objective eye movement tests and subjective evaluation scales. Mobile news client interfaces with systematically varied visual complexity were designed by orthogonally manipulating three core elements identified from top-ranked Chinese news apps and prior literature, and within-subject repeated experiments were performed to collect subjective cognitive load data, objective eye movement data, and behavioral data, validating the proposed hypothesis model. The results indicate that the visual complexity of mobile news client interfaces significantly impacts the cognitive load of elderly users, with keyword color substantially modulating this effect. These findings contribute to the knowledge base on mobile news client interface design for elderly users and provide practical recommendations for designers to create more equitable interfaces, enhancing usability for this demographic.