My doctor's surgery offers free parking for patients in a nearby commercial car park. The reception desk has a touchscreen where patients can enter their car registration number so as to avoid getting a ticket.
Unfortunately, this touchscreen ignores my fingers so I have to ask the staff to enter my registration which they do, albeit with some condescension given that I look like a doddery old person apologising for having the "wrong sort of fingers"
Turns out that I really do have the wrong sort of fingers! I found this article which says:
Touch screens have become increasingly used for many personal technologies. However, older adults have trouble using touch screen interfaces. The general assumption is that older adults struggle with touch screen devices because they are unfamiliar with the technology and that with practice, they will become proficient. This study provides evidential support of a probable physiological barrier contributing to some older adults’ touch screen difficulties. In our study, participants (7 older adults, 10 younger adults) had to press a touch screen button to get information while driving. Older adults disproportionately failed attempts to hit this button. Video analysis showed that even when older adults hit the target button correctly while driving with an appropriate amount of force and duration of touch, the screen sometimes failed to register their command. This suggests that a minimally documented but present age-related physiological reason likely contributes to older adults’ reduced ability to successfully interact with touch screens.
So what might be going wrong? This article and many others suggest that it's due to dry skin. This makes sense to me - when I was younger, I was quite a sweaty person but nowadays I'm not.
So, what to do when you encounter one of these discriminatory touchscreens? Simple, spit on your finger and try again!
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