Eldercare technologies must go beyond big fonts
Developing devices for the booming eldercare market takes broad awareness of limitations, analyst advises during SF conference.
That was just some of the advice doled out by Elizabeth Boehm during a keynote speech at the fourth annual Healthcare Unbound Conference, which is primarily focused on technology-aided self care, mobile care and home care.
Some of the obstacles seniors face in adopting technology, Boehm noted, include difficulties adjusting focus rapidly and noticing great detail, which makes flashing images on display screens difficult to tolerate. The principal analyst plans to issue a report in coming days that explores whether older generations are embracing new technologies or younger generations are simply bringing their technological acumen along with them as they age.
"Seniors have varying abilities and disabilities...If you plan to go after the senior market, you'll need four or five different senior personas," Boehm said, noting that it's not a one-size-fits-all market.
Age not only brings diminished eyesight but also a weakened ability to recognize color contrasts, she noted, pointing out that blues may be difficult to detect for seniors who are suffering from cataracts. That's a point Web designers may consider, before drafting up a site targeting seniors.
Diminished hearing is also a common challenge among the elderly, who not only find it necessary to turn up the volume on devices but can struggle with hearing high-pitched tones.
"Most of us have heard little beeps to remind us to do this or that, but they need to be louder and lower tones," advised Boehm, who co-founded Forrester's Healthcare & Life Sciences research practice in 1999.
Dexterity can also be an issue, making it more difficult for the elderly to operate devices. Boehm suggested that product developers, as an extreme example, put on an oven mitt and gauge the ease of use in manipulating the device they're designing.
Reduced cognitive capacity of seniors requires developers to give the elderly more control over the speed of their devices and more time when prompting them through the instructions, she noted.
"They need to simplify, without dumbing it down," Boehm advised. "Make the navigation step-by-step and task-oriented, and make (assistive) tools invisible...Seniors don't always identify as old and sick."