October 9th, 2024 is Ageism Awareness Day and as society grows increasingly diverse and interconnected, it’s important to keep inclusivity in mind when building mobile and web products. In support of Ageism Awareness Day, we wanted to spread awareness and offer actionable tips from experts.
What is Ageism?
The American Society of Aging defines Ageism as stereotypes (how we think), prejudice (how we feel) and discrimination (how we act) toward others or oneself based on age.
Ageism in Tech could be operating with the assumption that older adults cannot engage with technology. An example of Ageism in action would be skipping older adults in the testing and research steps of a product design process.
How does Ageism play a role in designing and developing software?
Caro Sotillo Silva, a Senior Designer at thoughtbot, describes Ageism as being at the intersection of the many biases of the tech industry. “The lack of demographic diversity in tech often means that software gets designed and developed with a limited set of users in mind. The consequences of these biases are that the needs of large groups of people often get ignored or deprioritized when building digital products.”
When it comes to building great software that works for an audience ranging in ages, Jon Levinson, CEO & Co-Founder of Clara, has found that having the entire team dedicated to reducing bias and making a concerted effort to test and validate assumptions is a step of their process that can’t be skipped. He’s seen many teams choose not to invest the extra time and effort, but in doing so they dismiss a huge, influential senior audience that craves software that meets their needs.
The size of the market is noteworthy. According to the Pew Research Center 75% of Americans 65 and up own smartphones and most older people use technology and access the internet all the time. Kate Brigham mentioned when designing for this group “They don’t have infinite patience, or perpetual access to tech support (or another set of hands) when they need it and your design process should account for that.”
Brianna Baker, the Head of Design at Kinsome, highlights “In the design process it’s essential to consider the natural changes that occur to all humans as we age and address those needs through design. The goal is that you deliver products and environments that support humans across the span of their lives.”
What’s the most common pitfall when designing software for an aging population?
“Probably the same pitfall that many people fall into when describing any group of people: that they’re a monolith” shares Elaina Natario, a Design Team Lead at thoughtbot. She elaborates “Older adults may have different needs depending on a bunch of different intersections in their identities, and purely the fact they’re individuals. You should talk to folks to find out those needs and design to support them. And, because of intersectionality, designing for one person/group’s needs may support another!”
Scott Fulton, the author of WHEALTHSPAN, says a common mistake would be using an unclear value proposition or one that makes broad assumptions. He shares, “The aging adult spectrum is complex, and there are very few one-size-fits-all solutions. Like any of us, adults prefer one solution over having to manage several. Also, if navigating is too complex, has too many steps, and the font size is too small, repetitious, non-intuitive, and unrewarding, they are less likely to complete the task or to refer the product.”
What’s the best way to uncover and remedy bias?
Sticking to the effectiveness of design thinking principles, especially when conducting diverse user research or testing for accessibility is a suggestion from Brianna Baker, the Head of Design at Kinsome. She shares that at Kinsome, they are conducting ethnographic research to understand the daily lives of kids, parents, and grandparents in the context of family connection and sharing—regardless of how their families are defined.
How can you avoid stereotypes?
Revisiting your assumptions is a good starting point. Caro Sotillo Silva suggests including people who accurately represent your target group in all phases of the design and development of your product. Uncover (don’t assume!) their needs by talking to them during research, co-design with them, test and iterate your prototypes, first builds, and each new version of the software that is supposed to serve them.
What’s an example of a solution or feature that handles a varying range of user preferences and technical skills?
Kate Brigham, passed along the onboarding flow of Siren.care, which provides socks to prevent diabetic foot ulcers. There are 4 simple steps to getting started which include a nurse calling to check in on them regularly.
The team at Clara facilitates direct employment between families looking for in-home care for seniors, and caregivers. Their older audience had challenges with the onboarding flow which led to high drop-off rates, and customer frustration. Jon Levinson and team decided to rethink this process and take advantage of new AI technology. They designed a chat-based flow that allows users to provide necessary information in a manner that is more familiar and comfortable. Early testing indicates that this provides greater flexibility within a simpler, more intuitive UI, and participants love it.
What tips do you have for designing accessible software?
Designing with accessibility foundations in mind can benefit a wider breadth of age ranges, technical skills, and abilities. Some actionable tips from Elaina Natario include:
- Using proper color contrast; having styles for increased contrast.
- Ensuring font sizes aren’t too small and are legible; allowing users to easily adjust font size; ensuring that your layout doesn’t break when someone increases the font size to a very large size.
- Making sure areas that require user interaction (click, touch) are large enough and in accessible areas, especially for those with reduced fine motor skill.
- Simplifying navigation and UX patterns; ensure that users can easily perceive how to complete a task.
- Adding labels to forms.
- Using clear, concise language.
Caro Sotillo Silva highlights the importance of error prevention and recovery. “We can reduce errors by avoiding complex interaction patterns, precise movements, and ambiguous language. Designing calmer experiences and requiring confirmation from users before they perform destructive actions will also go a long way.” When it comes to error recovery, she recommends allowing users to recover from errors calmly and independently since it has a huge impact on confidence and mitigating drop-off.
What tips do you have for conducting user testing with an aging population?
Being mindful of the language you are using, and not patronizing your audience are suggestions from Kate Brigham. She elaborates “look for ways to assess utility and usability through their actions, not just their words.”
Scott Fulton, the author of WHEALTHSPAN suggests facilitating testing sessions using older adult peers who have had ample opportunity to work with the solution and understand its core value. Unintended bias often occurs due to how content is presented. Peers are more likely to understand appropriate pacing naturally and be more relatable.
Planning for physical and cognitive differences from the start is a tip from Brianna Baker, the Head of Design at Kinsome. She recommends observing and interacting with your users in their natural environment if possible. That might be tough to do at scale, but a great place to start could be friends or family. She elaborates “Understanding the context surrounding the use of your product, especially when they live very different lives from you, can unlock insights that aren’t possible—or at least much more complicated—to obtain in other ways.
Some thoughtbot resources we recommend if you like to learn more include:
- Design as a Health Tech Differentiator (White Paper)
- How to stay Agile when building compliant Health Tech Products (Workshop Recording)
Check out our past projects with Airrosti, Groups Recover Together and Relias to learn more about how we approach the design process with empathy and inclusivity.
If you are interested in talking through your current design process or need help uncovering the right product strategy and product market fit, send us an email. We would be happy to help.
