The ‘golden age’ of technology
There is plenty of tech out there designed around the older generation, from sensory mats monitoring movements, wearables like Tempo monitoring changes in behaviour and the E-Pill reminding users to take medication at a specific time. But are we at risk of excluding this audience from the technology that the rest of us would consider as basic everyday tools?
There will undoubtedly be some tech savvy over 65s out there but there’ll also be people just like my Nan, Pat, a woman determined not to be left behind in this ever evolving climate.
At 81, she has experienced war, travelled the world, had two children, four grandchildren, one great grandchild and still has a better social life than myself. Ultimately, she’s not a woman to be reckoned with and she certainly won’t take kindly to being bracketed as a person that isn’t ‘in the know’ or to put it in her words ‘an old fuddy duddy’.
“Show an Old how to use the camera feature on their new iPhone and you can expect to wait there posing for photos as long as they did a hundred years ago when they took the photo and people had to stand there for almost the rest of their lives.”
- 20 Basic Tech Things Old People Just Don’t Understand, Cosmopolitan.
Well Done Cosmo…
A ‘fuddy duddy’ she certainly is not. With a few hundred miles now between us, she’s become fully equipped in her quest to keep in touch. She has been emailing and texting for as long as I have but after the introduction of a hand-me-down iPhone, we now Facetime, Watsapp, send photos and follow each others everyday lives on Instagram #instanan. This is the type of technology that most of us take for granted but seeing the connection it has enabled my Nan and I to have, has really emphasised it’s usefulness to me.
“Concerns related to the issue of the digital divide and ageism stress the need for lowering elders’ level of expected efforts for using new technology. Because the use of technology has transformed the workforce, educational practices, leisure activities, and specifically health services, technology training programs, and overall improved technology literacy, may help ease older individuals’ daily living.”
- Dr. Kate Magsamen-Conrad, Assistant Professor of Communication at Bowling Green State University
Seeing how my Nan interacts with technology, helps me rationalise when and where to use it. The biggest thing to stand out to me is the sentiment of life that can be lost in such a digital era. Although we connect in all of the ways mentioned above, I still receive handwritten letters on my doorstep every week. They don’t tell me anything she hasn’t already spoken about but to know she has sat and taken the time to write and post them makes me smile, as well as giving me something tactile to keep as a memory. I don’t know, maybe in 50 years time we’ll all be reminiscing over old emails in our trash folders…
From my observation, if my Nan can see the value in something she’ll be open to giving it a go. Cut to a compliment on my new sandals turning into an ASOS delivery of the same pair on her doorstep the next day (she may be in her eighties but we share a scarily similar style). This experience opened her eyes and demonstrated the value in the proposition of online shopping; since which she’s never looked back.
“The older generation suffer from trying to be as they remember themselves being. The secret is to readapt and adjust with the times. So that’s what I’m trying to do!”
- My Nan, Woman of the World.
The millennial generation could be accused of using tech for techs sake these days. Trying to explain why something is useful to your grandparents is a great way to bring you back down to earth or validate your ideas. You either show extreme passion for something, hopefully demonstrating it’s usefulness to yourself as well as them, or you struggle to explain what the real value is and that’s when the reality check is required; No, being able to look at your Twitter feed on your wrist while your phone is in your back pocket is not a good enough reason for you to buy an Apple Watch. We shouldn’t be mistaken into thinking that the opinion of the older generation is tainted due to lack of technical awareness. We should appreciate that they’re from a time we’re unfamiliar with and instead use them to bring what is a considerably young industry, back down to earth where necessary and think about life from a different viewpoint.
“A lot of people in the tech industry talk about “changing the world” and “making people’s lives better.” But bad design is excluding whole sections of the population from the benefits of technology. If you’re a designer, you can help change that.”
- Ollie Campbell, co-founder at Navy Design
There are currently 11.4 million people aged 65 or over in the UK alone. So by designing without their needs and opinions in mind, you’re missing a trick.
A good design or idea should be accessible to everyone, so let’s not exclude the wisest amongst us.
I’m a Product Designer, with a background in delivering solutions across multiple platforms from ideation to launch. Currently based in Amsterdam and forming part of the team at MOBGEN — Part of Accenture Interactive.
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