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The AARP said in “2019 Tech Trends and the 50+” that 115 million Americans over 50 represent an enormous market for technology and that by the end of the next d

The AARP said in “2019 Tech Trends and the 50+” that 115 million Americans over 50 represent an enormous market for technology and that by the end of the next decade this group is projected to spend $84 billion on tech products. Yet major technology companies continue to make it difficult for seniors to do simple things, even though they think they're making things easier. The tech hipsters handling design for FAANG companies should follow around a group of 70-somethings for a week and try to see the world through their eyes ... and realize that a huge segment of the population is not being served.

skookumchuck 8y ago
A short list: 1. fonts too small 2. buttons that do different things depending on how long the button is held down 3. chording - needing to hold down more than one button simultaneously to do something 4. blink speed - slow blink means one thing, fast blink means another. Is that LED blinking "slow" or "fast"? 5. labeling buttons with icons that have no deducible meaning 6. modes 7. having to do the next step within a certain number of seconds or it fails and you have to start all over again
- yowlingcat 8y ago
  Reading each one of these made me silently scream inside. I'm not elderly yet (on the outside, I suppose), but each one of these things is poor UX and makes me absolutely livid.
  - skookumchuck 8y ago
    They're incredibly common. I can't get the radio in my car out of certain modes I accidentally get into. It doesn't even have an off button. I essentially have to wait several minutes until it times out. Many devices I have, once I lose the manual, are simply impossible to use because of the points listed above. My dashcam is simply impossible to use because of this, even though it has a bitmapped display. All it needs is power, menu, up, down, select and with a bitmapped display you can do anything with that. But noooo...

skookumchuck 8y ago

A short list: 1. fonts too small 2. buttons that do different things depending on how long the button is held down 3. chording - needing to hold down more than one button simultaneously to do something 4. blink speed - slow blink means one thing, fast blink means another. Is that LED blinking "slow" or "fast"? 5. labeling buttons with icons that have no deducible meaning 6. modes 7. having to do the next step within a certain number of seconds or it fails and you have to start all over again

yowlingcat 8y ago
Reading each one of these made me silently scream inside. I'm not elderly yet (on the outside, I suppose), but each one of these things is poor UX and makes me absolutely livid.
- skookumchuck 8y ago
  They're incredibly common. I can't get the radio in my car out of certain modes I accidentally get into. It doesn't even have an off button. I essentially have to wait several minutes until it times out. Many devices I have, once I lose the manual, are simply impossible to use because of the points listed above. My dashcam is simply impossible to use because of this, even though it has a bitmapped display. All it needs is power, menu, up, down, select and with a bitmapped display you can do anything with that. But noooo...