older adults: are we really designing for our future selves?
TRANSCRIPT
Older Adults: Are We Really Designing
for Our Future Selves?
Elizabeth Buie Senior UX Consultant
@ebuie
wearesigma.com - @WeAreSigma
“Designing for our future selves”
“Designing for Our Future Selves”
2015
1993
2015
1993
It’s a popular theme!
“Designing for Our Future Selves”
But does it help?
Well, yes and no.
First, let’s set some expectations.
What I won’t give you today
Design guidelines for older adults
Design guidelines for older adults
There are plenty of those around. I will include some links in the resources.
A
B
What I won’t give you today
What I offer Some insights into “designing for our future selves”
Thoughts on how it does and does not work Ideas about why it does and does not work
An understanding of the issues Why some will persist to your future self Why some will continue to require user research
Illustrations from my perspective and experience
a
b
a
b
A
B
C
Why design for older adults?
Some obligatory stats
“In rich countries, older users are the last Internet frontier as every other age group is already online in vast numbers.”
– Jakob Nielsen
Source of graph: statista.com
Why older adults: Need (part 1)
Graph shows worldwide stats from November 2014. A
Source: Office of National Statistics – ons.gov.uk
Why older adults: Need (part 2) Internet use declines by age. A
It falls off sharply among 75+ age group.
B
We must make it easier for them. C
Graph shows UK stats from Jan-Mar 2015.
D
Source: Office of National Statistics
Why older adults: Demand Just one year later — wow!
A
Use among 75+ age group has mushroomed.
B
Graph shows UK use from Jan-Mar 2016.
C
From33%to39%inoneyear!
So does it help?
Well, your future self will be an older adult
Who are older adults?
Who are “older adults”?
Just how old is “older”?
40? 50? 60? 65? 90? …
How old is “older”?
EXERCISE Choose a partner and discuss.
5 min
40? 50? 60? 65? 90? … How old are “older” users?
Are you experiencing any changes yourself? What sorts of changes can age bring?
a
b
c
When does age start to matter for our designs? d
How do we define “older”?
Anyone think 50-year-olds and 90-year-olds face the same age-related issues?
“Age Categories” Studies of older adults start at 50, 55, 60, even 65 —so their findings can vary quite a lot!
Presentation: “Segmenting Adult Web Users into Meaningful Age Categories”, by Bob Bailey*
Bailey analysed a great deal of research, proposed four UX-related age categories for adult users:
Old-old: 75+ Middle-aged: 40-59
Older: 60-74 Young: 20-39 *assets.aarp.org/www.aarp.org_/articles/research/oww/university/Bailey_AgeCategories4.ppt
Notetheunderscore
B
C
a
b
c
d
A
OMG, am I “older”?
Am I “older”?
Yes At least, I am. I’ll soon be 64
What does it mean?
Why not?
However…
However…
(YES, the slogan helps.)
Effects of age-related changes Senses: vision, hearing, touch (also smell, taste)
Movement: co-ordination, comfort, speed, steadiness
Cognition: memory, information processing, speed of learning, reaction time
Attitude: Confidence with new tech, willingness to learn new technologies & procedures
B
C
A
D
Changes are unpredictable Begin at different ages
Develop at different speeds
Reach different levels of severity
Happen to some (or, in some cases, most) people, but not to everyone
B
C
A
D
Impairments can appear sooner, later — or never
Some age-related impairments
Vision: focusing/presbyopia Reduced ability to focus close
Reduced ability to change focus quickly
People over 35 are at risk
I use reading glasses, need slightly larger fonts Most people need reading glasses by age 45
I was 54
B
C
A
a
b
Different types of focus errors
Images in public domain, adapted from upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Differ-between-eye-errors.png
Presbyopia is the only one of these that ageing brings It is due to a decrease in flexibility in the lens and lens muscles Presbyopia is NOT long-sightedness!
Vision: yellowing lens Need higher text/bkgd contrast
Need brighter light for printed material
Have some difficulty distinguishing shades of blue & green
I was “on time” for this, I think
B
C
A
Age related eye conditions* Condition Younger % Older % Diff. Diabetic Retinopathy 40-49, 2.3% 75+, 8.1% 3.5 times
Glaucoma 40-49, 0.7% 80+, 7.9% 11 times
Cataracts 40-49, 2.5% 80+, 68.3% 27 times
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
50-54, 0.4% 80+, 11.7% 29 times
These can begin at varying ages but ARE age associated
*From US data for 2010, provided by the National Eye Institute, US National Institutes of Health
Simulations Normal vision Simulated conditions
Diabetic Retinopathy
Images by National Eye Institute, US National Institutes of Health
Simulations Normal vision Simulated conditions
Diabetic Retinopathy
Glaucoma
Images by National Eye Institute, US National Institutes of Health
Simulations Normal vision Simulated conditions
Diabetic Retinopathy
Glaucoma
Age-related Macular
Degeneration
Images by National Eye Institute, US National Institutes of Health
Simulations Normal vision Simulated conditions
Diabetic Retinopathy
Glaucoma
Age-related Macular
Degeneration
Cataract
Images by National Eye Institute, US National Institutes of Health
Hearing: High-frequency loss ≤18, 22kHz
≤24, 17kHz
≤39, 15kHz
≤50, 12kHz
≤60, 10kHz
All ages, 8kHz Test yourself! www.noiseaddicts.com/2011/06/mosquito-ringtones
B
C
A
D
E
F
In a quiet environment,
I can hear “50 and younger”
Comes on gradually, beginning very young
Hearing: Voices & listening levels
Increasing trouble understanding conversations
Higher volume needed for listening comfort
I’m noticing a little of this. No idea whether I’m “on time” for it or not.
B
A
Movement: arthritis, tremours
Arthritis frequency/severity increases with age
Tremours from nervous diseases more common
Both affect hand movement speed and accuracy (typing, mousing, tapping…)
B
C
A
I have osteo-arthritis and essential tremour, both of which affect my hands. I may be a little ahead of “schedule” on both of these…
Cognition: reasoning, processing, learning
Info processing, working memory, learning may become slower with ageing: fluid intelligence
— HOWEVER —
Knowledge from education and experience remains throughout life: crystallised intelligence
B
A
I’ve noticed some decline in processing speed The calendar algorithm in my head still works 2-3 years ago it started slowing down
a
b
Attitude: confidence, willingness Confidence that they can use new technology
Willingness to learn new technologies, processes
Awareness: Many do not feel “disabled” and may not take advantage of assistive technologies
B
C
A
I like my crutch better than the cane I used to use — It conveys disability or injury rather than old age!
Understand and appreciate older adults’ experiences, goals, feelings, needs
Listen actively to their stories, perspectives, wishes
Relish improving their experience of things they use
— WITHOUT patronising them
That’s why people use it.
How does it NOT help?
Today’s older adults differ from
your future self
Experience: knowledge of tech Modern tech is unfamiliar to many older adults This will always present design challenges
Your future self will have the same problem, BUT—
Your problems will involve different technologies
May be due to your age when tech was introduced
B
C
A
Could you unstick the keys on a manual, mechanical typewriter?
Most “younger” people in the USA cannot drive a car with manual transmission
D
E
Experience: life experience Leads to “crystallised intelligence”
“May help explain older people’s relatively high success on ill-defined search tasks” –David Sloan*
Your future self will have this as well, BUT—
Your life experiences will be different in some important ways
B
C
A
D
*Web Accessibility and Older People - not as straightforward as you think? www.slideshare.net/sloandr/web-accessibility-and-older-people-not-as-straighforward-as-you-think
From P. Fairweather’s “How Older and Younger Adults Differ in their Approach to Problem Solving on a Complex Website
Economics UX work is relatively high paid; the “older adult” population runs the gamut
You are still working and earning; most people over 60 are retired and pensioned
They have more real estate wealth than you do, on average*
Will your future self have similar assets?
B
C
A
D
* As of 2012, according to the UK Office for National Statistics webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_313608.pdf
World conditions The world is changing in many ways
We don’t know how that will affect the outlook and experiences that your future self will bring to technology use
Stay tuned!
B
A
The slogan can blind you to
important differences
Right. Can you give some examples?
EXERCISE Coming right up!
Select a few guidelines from the list in the handout.
For each, tick the boxes where you think it belongs.
a
b
c Write your reasons for ticking those boxes.
d If you find a guideline you think should not be a guideline, draw a line through it.
Some examples Provide larger targets
Provide clear confirmation a target has been clicked/tapped
Do not require older adults to double-click/tap
Use alt tags for all images
Avoid scrollbars
Accessibility
Usability
Older adults – Ageing and Knowledge
Accessibility
Older adults - Knowledge
Taken and adapted from S. Kurniawan and P. Zaphiris, “Research-Derived Web Design Guidelines for Older People” www.researchgate.net/publication/221652473_Research-derived_web_design_guidelines_for_older_people
B
C
A
D
E
(My guesses)
EXERCISE Choose a partner and work this together.
10 min
Select a few guidelines from the list in the handout.
For each, tick the boxes where you think it belongs.
a
b
c Write your reasons for ticking those boxes.
d If you find a guideline you think should not be a guideline, draw a line through it.
So what do I absolutely have to remember?
Key take-aways We all age differently
Many impairments affecting older adults also affect younger people, just less commonly
Some impairments are uniquely due to ageing bodies/brains
Some guidelines are based on ageing; others are based on people who were older at the time of the research
B
C
A
D
If you remember nothing else… Guidelines based on ageing bodies (including brains) will probably continue to be valid
– but keep an eye out for new information!
Guidelines based on what people know and don’t know are very likely to become obsolete
You will always have to consider what is familiar to older adults, but the specifics will change
B
A
C
The eternal question
When you see a guideline based on research with older people, ask yourself this:
Is it because they’re older, or because they’re older NOW?
?
When a guideline is based on older adults’
knowledge, validate it!
Validate, validate, validate
Before you use a knowledge-based guideline,
make sure it’s valid for the older adults
in your audience
Some resources Designing for Older Adults: Usability Considerations for Real Users (Finn & Johnson) www.slideshare.net/KateFinn3/designing-for-older-adults-usability-considerations-for-real-users
Web Accessibility and Older People - not as straightforward as you think? (Sloan) www.slideshare.net/sloandr/web-accessibility-and-older-people-not-as-straighforward-as-you-think
Designing User Interfaces for Older Adults: Myth Busters (Finn) www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2013/10/designing-user-interfaces-for-older-adults-myth-busters.php
Age and web access: the next generation (Hanson) dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1535658
Designing inclusive ICT products for older users: taking into account the technology generation effect (Lim) www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09544820903317001
Designing Web Sites for Older Adults: A Review of Recent Research (Redish & Chisnell) assets.aarp.org/www.aarp.org_/articles/research/oww/AARP-LitReview2004.pdf
Designing Web Sites for Older Adults: Expert Review of Usability for Older Adults at 50 Web Sites (Chisnell & Redish) assets.aarp.org/www.aarp.org_/articles/research/oww/AARP-50Sites.pdf
Thank You! Any questions?
wearesigma.com - @WeAreSigma