TY - GEN
T1 - Role of Cognitive Capability in User Engagement
T2 - 12th International Conference on Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population, ITAP 2026, held as part of the 28th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCII 2026
AU - Yi, Xinyao
AU - Chen, Huei Yen Winnie
AU - Shen, Su
AU - Covey, Thomas J.
AU - Bisantz, Ann
AU - Mercado, Eduardo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.
PY - 2026
Y1 - 2026
N2 - Supporting older adults’ technology use is critical for promoting their well-being, yet mechanisms through which age-related cognitive factors shape technology engagement – the act of being involved with an external stimulus – remain insufficiently understood. In this study, we investigated how working memory (WM) ability, task difficulty, and task performance related to user engagement across age groups using a Tetris game. Results showed that, for younger adults, higher WM ability was associated with lower engagement in the present game context, indicating that insufficient challenge may reduce interest when task demands fall below available cognitive resources. In contrast, for older adults, engagement appeared more strongly tied to their immediate in-game performance, implying that positive performance feedback may be particularly beneficial in sustaining engagement for them. Our study highlights the importance of developing an adaptive system based on the user’s cognitive profile to support sustained engagement. For older adults in particular, engagement may also be enhanced by increasing motivation through positive performance feedback. Our future work will extend this approach to more complex and naturalistic tasks and incorporate multimodal physiological measures to better understand momentary engagement dynamics.
AB - Supporting older adults’ technology use is critical for promoting their well-being, yet mechanisms through which age-related cognitive factors shape technology engagement – the act of being involved with an external stimulus – remain insufficiently understood. In this study, we investigated how working memory (WM) ability, task difficulty, and task performance related to user engagement across age groups using a Tetris game. Results showed that, for younger adults, higher WM ability was associated with lower engagement in the present game context, indicating that insufficient challenge may reduce interest when task demands fall below available cognitive resources. In contrast, for older adults, engagement appeared more strongly tied to their immediate in-game performance, implying that positive performance feedback may be particularly beneficial in sustaining engagement for them. Our study highlights the importance of developing an adaptive system based on the user’s cognitive profile to support sustained engagement. For older adults in particular, engagement may also be enhanced by increasing motivation through positive performance feedback. Our future work will extend this approach to more complex and naturalistic tasks and incorporate multimodal physiological measures to better understand momentary engagement dynamics.
KW - Aging
KW - Human-Computer Interaction
KW - User Engagement
KW - Working Memory
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105044888992
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-032-30414-8_20
DO - 10.1007/978-3-032-30414-8_20
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:105044888992
SN - 9783032304131
T3 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science
SP - 314
EP - 324
BT - Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population - 12th International Conference, ITAP 2026, Held as Part of the 28th HCI International Conference, HCII 2026, Proceedings
A2 - Gao, Qin
A2 - Zhou, Jia
PB - Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Y2 - 26 July 2026 through 31 July 2026
ER -