Are products keeping up to date with the ageing population?
Older Kiwis are all too often left out of the loop when it comes to new technology.
Which is a real shame, and the market is forgetting that older people provide a wealth of opportunity if only they were willing to make things simpler.
We take a look at the pressing need for manufacturers to design, produce and market their product in a manner that is inclusive of all New Zealanders, not just the younger ones.
When asked by Choice about the design schemes of common interfaces, Associate Professor of Industrial Design Thea Blackler, from Australia's QUT, said, “We have found that the performance of older people with various interfaces is also affected by decline in central executive function.
“This means that older people are struggling with two factors that make interface use more difficult – not only are they less familiar with contemporary interfaces, they also are less able to process information in working memory whilst using them.”
In a paper released by the Queensland University of Technology, Ms Blackler’s research backed up this statement, especially when you consider the important role seniors play in the modern marketplace. The research found that older people are considerably less familiar with contemporary interfaces when compared to younger people, which suggests that by making these products simpler there could be a range of advantages companies could be achieving access to.
The research notes that, “Designers need to adequately understand the familiarity of all target users with potential interfaces... More tools that can assist designers and researchers in discovering familiarity and applying it to interfaces are under development. These need to be more extensively tested in industry before they can be released.”
Modern companies must take into account the fact that seniors will be becoming increasingly engage with their products and that by not providing seniors with easy to use accessible interfaces they are missing a tremendous marking, product branding and sales opportunity.
Related links:
4 alternatives to legal action
10 celebrities who cut their kids out of massive inheritances to give to charity
10 of our favourite law-based TV shows