Your Editor wants to wrap the week on a positive note. There can be too much ‘facing the music’ and not all the tunes apply to us personally, nor if they’re playing, can we turn them off. But Laurie Orlov in her always-thoughtful Aging and Health Technology Watch (formerly ‘Aging In Place Technology Watch’) draws our professional attention to the nagging question of design and the user experience for older adults, even the ones who used computers with black screens in the 1980s, Palm Pilots, Crackberries, and feature phones. While older adults have adopted smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches, they’ve felt left behind as they grow ever more complicated. User interfaces (UI) and icons aren’t standardized between iOS, Android, and watches. Signons for consumers and professionals across platforms are inconsistent. And things have gotten so complicated at least on phones that transferring from old to new or pulling files off is a real hassle for just about everyone except digital natives. So you see older people using expensive smartphones for making calls, sending texts or email, and maybe GPS. Of course, your Editor suspects that designers design for themselves and the native group, and don’t think about older users.
The Tech User Experience for Older Adults Needs A Reboot
AND…Laurie’s health tech takeaways from CES, the 2024 Market Overview, and Five Trends That Matter are all linked on the January 2024 summary page.
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