Saurabh Kautilya Gupta: November 2019

3.
"Buddiband" high-tech personal alarm system can be worn seamlessly around the wrist. It has GPS tracking that aims to provide security and confidence for people living with dementia to go out.

4.
"Trading Times" is a web-based service that matches people who care for those with dementia with local businesses for flexible paid work, providing opportunities to earn and stay connected with society.

5.
Loss of appetite is a common problem at the late stages of dementia. "Ode" is a system where a special fragrance is released throughout the day to stimulate the appetite.

6.
Students want to practice English and elderly people need someone to talk to. "Speaking Exchange" created an educational project that connects students and seniors over the Internet. It serves multiple age groups and helps both in an equal opportunity.

7.
Pillboxie app is a medication-reminder app. Its UI has shelves & jars, that look exactly like the ones in the physical world - As the UI mimics the physical world, it becomes extremely easy to understand and use the app. See their video here: Youtu.be/lLgOcxK80b4)

Credits:

Reviews.com/blog/fully-accessible-guide-to-smart-home-tech/

Medium.com/inside-vbat/how-to-design-for-the-elderly-b20b4a58f34d
Uxplanet.org/ux-accessibility-for-elderly-12-principles-9708289b6f78

A report filed by the European Commission says:
“Notably, the share of those aged 15–64 is projected to decline from 67% to 56% by 2060. The share of those aged 65 and over is projected to rise from 17% to 30%. As a consequence, the EU would move from having four people of working age to each person aged over 65 years to about two people of working-age”

Ideally, we should always design our UX for the Seniors & Elderly & Super-aged population. In this post, we will analyze the problems that this population faces and how we can solve the same while building great products:

Problem:
# Difficulty in reading.
Solution:
# Text & Button large in size.
# Fonts 16px min.
# Make it easy for users to increase/decrease font sizes at will.
# Sans serif typefaces.
# Test the product with a screen reader before launch.
# Larger icons.
# Line spacing 1.5 min.

Problem:
# Shades of blue appear faded to seniors.
Solution:
# Overall, color contrast should be increased.
# Keep contrast ratio (difference of text color to the background color) of at least 4.5:1, although it would be best to stay over 7.0:1. (Check it here: webaim.org/resources/ContrastChecker/)

Problem:
# Icons are difficult to comprehend.
Solution:
# Icons should be labeled with text.

Problem:
# Difficulty in listening.
Solution:
# Include subtitles with video or audio.

Problem:
# Seniors can sometimes stumble in "Gestures", especially when they’re new to touch-screen tech.
# There are a number of interaction patterns seniors may have that aren’t common in younger generations, like: typing with one hand, particularly on a mobile device.
Solution:
# Keep gestures simple to perform.
# Simple horizontal, vertical, or diagonal movement is fine, as these are all natural motions.
# Avoid incorporating gestures with quick movements, difficult positioning, or multiple gestures that require the use of both hands or more than two fingers.

Problem:
# In the general population, a mouse is more accurate than a finger. But older people perform better using touch interfaces (finger tapping declines later than some other motor skills)
Solution:
# Reduce the distance between interface elements that are likely to be used in sequence (such as form fields), but make sure they’re at least 2 millimeters apart.
# Buttons on touch interfaces should be at least 9.6 millimeters diagonally (for example, 44 × 44 pixels on an iPad) for ages up to 70, and larger for older people.
# Interface elements to be clicked with a mouse (such as forms and buttons) should be at least 11 millimeters diagonally.

Problem:
# Good news is that Elderly people have a better attention span (as compared to current young gen) - It means that older people often find things that younger people skip right over. The downside of this is the slower pace & increased time to complete tasks.
# The speed at which seniors process information slows with age.
# They can still complete the same tasks, but it may take them a bit longer.
# They need a bit more time to absorb the information to take appropriate action.
# Prospective memory (remembering to do something in the future) suffers - This is particularly relevant for habitual tasks, like remembering to take medication at the right time every day.
# The good news is that the procedural memory (remembering HOW to do things) is generally unaffected in older people - They are able to learn new skills and reproduce them over time.
# Older people almost exclusively use PAPER (calendars and diaries) to supplement their memory.
Solution:
# Progressive disclosure
# Minimalist design
# Avoid Multitasking
# Ensure that their attention isn’t being divided by multiple tasks/parts of a screen
# Avoid splitting tasks into multiple screens if they require memory of previous actions.
# Include reminders and tooltips.
# Introduce product features gradually over time to prevent cognitive overload.
# During longer tasks, give clear feedback on progress and reminders of goals.
# Provide reminders and alerts as cues for habitual actions.
# Don’t be afraid of long-form text and deep content.

Problem:
# Younger generations have grown up using tech, so it’s a natural extension of their life - That's NOT the case with Older gen. Older adults need the MOTIVATION to use tech - and the Motivation is that the app should be USEFUL to them.
# Even with notifications, if an older adult doesn’t find an application to be useful, they’re likely to ignore it for days, weeks, or even months.
# While gamification and similar motivators work well with younger adults, they are often not as effective on seniors.
Solution:
# Build Apps that are Useful to them - like 'Healthcare apps'

Problem:
# Older adults tend to prefer tablets to smartphones (considering the differences in screen sizes and ease of use)
# According to studies, older adults are the primary users of tablets and adopted them earlier than younger users.
Solution:
# Build apps for tablets & large-screen-phones

Problem:
# Older adults prefer to connect with smaller, more intimate groups of people - At the same time, isolation can be an issue, so making those smaller networks more meaningful is key.
# Seniors have trepidations about privacy & security (they would NOT like to share their healthcare data, but would be open to sharing family pics/vids).
# If the app is not tested for aged users, seniors can end up sharing information publicly without realizing it or would struggle to limit the same.
Solution:
# Privacy and security settings should be easy to manage.
# App should be transparent in how information is used.
# App should be forthcoming about any data breaches to ensure trust is maintained.

Problem:
# Older people are even hesitant in Exploring an installed app.
Solution:
# During onboarding introduce users to functions they might not be familiar with.
# Every part of the interaction needs to be kept easy to understand and complete (this should in-general be a practice) - example: keeping the navigational structure simple, strictly adhering to usability best practices, minimizing sublevels in navigation, keeping menus to a single function, keeping the “return” function and the “home” navigation readily accessible.

Problem:
# Older adults need help frequently.
# While younger users are more likely to skip onboarding screens, older users will likely pay more attention to them, reading all instructions before clicking.
Solution:
# App’s help functions &/or tutorials should be readily accessible.
# Include contextual tips throughout an app that are both automatically shown the first time a feature is accessed, and are available at later points when the user requests them.
# Use clear, objective, and educational language without being condescending or patronizing.

Problem:
# They often ignore SMS’ entirely.
Solution:
# Don’t rely on SMS to convey important information.

Problem:
# While young people tend to weigh a lot of options before settling on one, older people emphasize prior knowledge and they give more weight to the opinions of experts (for example, their doctor for medical decisions).
Solution:
# Prioritize shortcuts to previous choices ahead of new alternatives.
# Information framed as "Expert opinion" may be more persuasive (but don’t abuse this bias).

Problem:
# They often make mistakes/errors/misclicks.
Solution:
# Increasing the error-tolerance, even at the cost of suggestions accuracy.
# Error tolerance should apply to form fields, search engines, misclicks, etc.
# It should be easy to recover/undo.
# Think about how important information can be brought up again if it was skipped too quickly.

Problem:
# Especially the elderly users from the pre-cyber era, or the ones from less computerized areas, dont understand latest UIs - (Over time this issue will probably become less and less relevant)
Solution:
# UI should mimic a physical world (example: Pillboxie app has a UI having shelves & jars. See their video here: Youtu.be/lLgOcxK80b4)

Credit:

Gutmicrobiotaforhealth.com/en/gut-microbiota-exceedingly-healthy-elderly-people-100-years-old-similar-healthy-30-year-olds/
Medium.com/capitalonedesign/tips-from-the-mother-of-empathy-on-designing-for-elders-e96ee8c6a15

En.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_accessibility

En.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assistive_technology
Uxplanet.org/ux-accessibility-for-elderly-12-principles-9708289b6f78

Toptal.com/designers/ui/ui-design-for-older-adults
Smashingmagazine.com/2015/02/designing-digital-technology-for-the-elderly/

Saurabh Kautilya Gupta

Seniors & Elderly & Super-aged population - Episode 2 - Product Innovations

Seniors & Elderly & Super-aged population - Episode 1 - Design Guidelines

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