We’ve seen a significant uptick in activity in the AgeTech space, which AARP defines as “a growing category of technology solutions designed to meet the needs of the world’s aging population.” In a January 2025 news report, AARP shared “The market is large and will grow as more and more Americans age into the 50-plus bracket. This is projected to be a \$120 billion market by 2030. Seven in ten of adults 50-plus (70%) say they feel very comfortable using tech to help them age in their homes and communities.”
Creating great products and successful outcomes for older adults and their loved ones, is a huge opportunity and a serious responsibility. But too often well-meaning teams fall into common traps. Here are the top 5 product mistakes we see in AgeTech, and how your team can avoid them:
1. Missing the mark when user testing
Too many startups build in a vacuum, assuming they know what older adults need and skip engaging them directly. The result? Slick software that looks good in a pitch deck but fails to solve real problems.
Start product creation by building your understanding of actual user pain points and do this early and often. Validate assumptions with research and focus your strategy on delivering real value. In this space, value beats features every time. If you aren’t sure where to start, we have some great resources for completing customer discovery workand conducting interviews.
2. Designing the right experience
In trying to be “senior-friendly,” many products oversimplify, removing useful features and potentially creating patronizing or frustrating experiences. There is also a risk with going too complex. If your solution has confusing navigation, complex onboarding flows, and silent errors, this can also feel unusable.
Focus on clarity over minimalism and complexity through meaningful features, intuitive design, and customization options. If you’ve done the research we’ve mentioned previously, you should be in good shape and also have an audience ready to conduct usability testing with. In AgeTech specifically, we suggest supporting users with clear onboarding, helpful guidance, and predictable behavior to build confidence and trust from the very first interaction. Hear from a thoughtbotter who learned a lot because he helped his grandfather send an email.
3. Neglecting accessibility features
Yes, accessibility takes time, especially to do right. And unfortunately for startups trying to move quickly, accessibility is an afterthought, and quick to be trimmed to save time and money. In the AgeTech space, the risk of minimizing accessibility is that you are left with interfaces that are difficult to see, hear, touch, or navigate, especially for users with vision, hearing, or motor challenges.
To serve older adults, accessibility must be built in from the start. We suggest embracing design principles like scalable text, high-contrast visuals, screen reader and voice support, and adopting large touch targets, and using clear, simple language. Here’s a great Intro to Accessibility if you are just getting started or need a refresher.
4. Ignoring trust and privacy concerns
AgeTech solutions commonly handle or touch on sensitive information like health details, financials or daily routes. Sharing this personal information can be off-putting, which is especially true among older adults who are often more cautious about scams and data misuse.
To build trust, make privacy a core feature by following best practices like using plain, transparent language, and offering easy-to-understand control. With your messaging you should work to give users confidence in how their information is being used and protected. Testing the effectiveness of this is another great thing you can check when you do user research and usability testing (are we starting to see the trend here?)
5. Skipping low-tech environments
Given the target audience of these solutions, we can’t assume users are accessing via high-speed internet, using the latest OS, or modern smartphones. It’s very common that older adults will be using outdated hardware and may have limited bandwidth and connectivity. An publication from the National Library of Medicine shares “Along with mobile phones, the number of tablet users is also on the rise, with roughly 50% of US adults owning a tablet computer in 2021.” Skipping this consideration may cause you to lose a significant group of your potential audience because you never gave it a thought.
We suggest using lightweight code, progressive enhancement, and minimal dependencies. Test on older devices, slower connections, and less common browsers.
Building great AgeTech software isn’t about clean design or clever features. It’s about empathy, accessibility, and solving real problems. By avoiding these common mistakes, you can create tools that are not only usable, but impactful. For more tips, check out our blog on tackling ageism.
Please reach out if you’re building in this space and want a partner who brings deep product thinking, design expertise, and thoughtful engineering to the table.