The effect of systemic sclerosis on use of mobile touchscreen interfaces: Design guidelines and physio-rehabilitation

Disability conditions characterized by hand dysfunction are particularly relevant for the use of touchscreen technology. This work investigates the effects of hand impairment produced by systemic sclerosis (SSc) on touchscreen interaction. It aims to fulfil a dual objective: to provide guidelines to design inclusive interfaces and interaction modalities for SSc patients and to design a hand physio-rehabilitation based on a touchscreen application. Eighty patients participated in the observational study and, accordingly, eighty subjects without impairments were recruited as a control cohort. A specific touchscreen application has been designed and developed including three gestures: tap, drag and drop, and pinch-to-zoom. The work allowed identifying the interface features that significantly influence the performance and, consequently, the design rules for the physio-rehabilitation application.