Seniors – part of an aging population – are one of the fastest growing segments accessing the web, and yet, they are often ignored when websites are designed. This talk will explain why including seniors as part of use cases should be a priority. It will explore who older users are, their behavior patterns, their attitude and physical limitations and how those should affect your design decisions. The talk will cover data from published studies, and both quantitative and qualitative studies we conducted in-house and will include real-life examples of design best practices and how they can make a difference in the success of a site.

1. THE CHANGING
LANDSCAPE OF
WEB USERS:
HOW TO
DESIGN FOR
AN AGING
POPULATION
CONVEY UX 2016
Lea Cuniberti-Duran
S r . UX De s ig n e r , Ap ix io
@lea_designer

2. HI T HERE!

3. WHO A RE SENIO RS?

4. WHY SHOULD WE DESIGN FOR THEM?

5. Power in the numbers!
Seniors are one of the fastest growing
segments on the web
Sources: 2010 U.S. Census
Older adults and technology from Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project

6. OT H ER CONSI DERAT I ONS
• Designing for seniors will make your site accessible to pretty much
everybody else
• Implementing good practices: Older Adults are particularly effected
by poor usability standards
• Other populations may benefit from a senior-friendly design
approach
• Low/impaired vision
• Little technological experience
• English learners
Source: Older adults and technology from Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project

7. S E NI O R S A ND TE C H NO L O GY

8. ATTITUDE TOWARD TECHNOLOGY
VARIES BY AGE
Image source: http://imgkid.com/old-women-laughing.shtml

9. I NT ERNET USAGE VARI ES BY AGE
• Seniors who use the internet and adopt
technology tend to be younger, more educated
and affluent.
• Baby boomers
• Have at least some college
• Income above average ($30,000+)
• Live in an urban or suburban area
Source: Pew Research Institute - Older Adults and Technology Use 4/3/14

10. OLDER ADULT S ONLI NE
• 59% who are 65 or older go online
• 47% have broadband
• Once online it becomes a regular part of their
lives
• 71% go online everyday
• 82% go online at least weekly
Source: Older adults and technology from Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project

11. s e n i o rs a n d
te c h n o l o gy
7 5 % O F S E NI O R GO O NL I NE TO S TA Y I N
C O NTA C T W I TH F R I E ND S A ND F A M I L Y
Sources: Advanced Communications Law and Policy Institute (ACLP) at New York Law School and Older
Americans Technology Services (OATS “Closing the Broadband Gap: How Seniors are Navigating the Digital
Highways.” - John Horrigan, Ph.D. April, 2014

12. T ECH NOLOGY
0
25
50
75
100
Cell Phone Desktop/laptop Smartphone Tablet
= Seniors over 65 yo
= All adults
Source: Pew Research Institute - Older Adults and Technology Use 4/3/14

13. T ECH NOLOGY ADOP T I ON
• A substantial majority of seniors express
trepidation about using new digital tools or
devices without assistance
• Physical challenges play a role in technology
adoption
• Less likely to go online
• Less likely to have broadband
• Less likely to own a smartphone
Source: Pew Research Institute - Attitudes, Impacts, and Barriers to Adoption 4/3/14

14. A GE -R E L A TE D PH YS I C A L
L I M I TA TI O NS A ND W E B U S E

15. EF F ECT S OF AGI NG ON T H E EY ES
• Presbyopia (not being able to focus at close distance)
• Cataracts (yellowing of the lenses)
• Reduced pupil size (heightened sensitivity to glare,
contrast, low lighting ).
• Decreased color vision
• Loss of peripheral vision. (Glaucoma)
Most common conditions experienced by older adults
Source: Web MD vision problem for aging adults

16. NORMAL VIEW

17. PRESBYO PIA (NO GL ASSES)

18. PRESBY OP I A (BIFOCAL )
Lea

19. PR E S B YO PI A ( PR O GR E S S I V E )

20. LIMITED VISUA L FIELD

21. D ES I G N T I P : U S E A N I M A T I O N T O G U I D E
U S ER A T T EN T I O N

22. C A TA R A C TS ( YE L L OWING O F
TH E L E NS E S )
YE L L O W IS HA R D TO D E TE CT

23. OTHE R C OMMON V IS UAL PE R C E PTI O N
D E F IC ITS
• Decreased ability to visually compare elements (what is the
same and what is different)
• Trouble decoding and recognizing icons

24. T I P : ADD EX P LI CI T LABELS

25. “Visual search is the common task of looking for
something in a cluttered visual environment. The item
that the observer is searching for is termed the target,
while non-target items are termed distractors. ”
– Scholarpedia.org
VI S UAL S EARCH

26. VISUAL SEARCH IN OLDER ADULTS
• Significant changes in eye tracking speed and
accuracy
• Reduced ability to detect changes in the visual
stimuli
• Decline in peripheral vision
Source: Visual search for change in older adults. Veiel LL1, Storandt M, Abrams RA.
Age-related decline of peripheral visual processing: the role of eye movements. Beurskens R1, Bock O.

27. O L D ER AD UL TS HAVE TO D EVEL O P C O PING
S TRATEGIES TO D EAL W ITH THE
PHYS IO L O GIC AL C HANGES .
Source: http://www.lasikeyejacksonville.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/old-eyesmall.jpg

30. TYPOG R A P HY B E S T PR AC TIC E S F OR
OLD E R AD ULTS
• Font size: 16 px or greater
• Font weight should be at least regular
(avoid thin, light, etc)
• Contrasting font color
• Left align

31. TYPOG R A P HY B E S T PR AC TIC E S F OR
OLD E R AD ULTS
Typographical golden ratio:
Line Width = Font Size x Font Height
Source: www.pearsoninfied.com Secret Symphony: The Ultimate Guide to Readable Web Typography

32. E F F E C T S O F A G I N G O N H E A R I N G

33. EF F ECT S OF AGI NG ON H EARI NG
• Seniors have difficulties with:
• Filtering background sounds
• Loss of high pitch sounds
• Understanding fast speech
• Think about this! How many instructional videos currently
on the web have one or more of the characteristics listed
here?
Source: National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders - Hearing loss and older adults.

34. Photo source: http://yntsites.com/kathy/tag/hands/

35. EF F EC T S O F A G I N G O N M O T OR
S K I L LS
• Lower dexterity
• Seniors look at keyboard while typing
• Fitt’s Law is amplified: mice are hard to use

36. EF F EC T S O F A G I N G O N C O G N I TION
• Reduced processing speed
• Greater tendency to be distracted
• Reduced capacity of their working memory
• Reduced confidence as they question their own
abilities and memory
Sources: Center for Disease Control and Prevention - Older Adults: What Challenges Might Older Adults
Have? - Brain Aging - Models, Methods and Mechanisms, edited by David R Riddle.

37. E M O TI O NA L NE E D S A ND
C O NNE C TI O NS

38. T I RED OF “ S CARE T ACT I CS ”
• They express a lot of fatigue around negative
messaging
• “Don’t tell me what to do, let me decide and help
me do it”
• Hungry for neutral and unbiased advice
• Encouragement, positive spin, inviting,
empowerment all good themes

39. T RUS T I S S UES
• Lots of stories of people being taken advantage of
• Wary of the hard sell
• Suspicious of advertising: they know the cost gets
passed on to them.
• Read the fine print
• Often they have at least one story of having been
duped or bullied

40. T H EY DO I T T H EI R WAY
• Frequently print pages and emails so they can review
them later
• Will read every word on a page
• Use their own terminology

41. T RUS T BUT VERI F Y
• 50% want to pick up the phone and talk to a human being.
50% want to get information emailed to them or online.
• Very thorough about doing their homework
• Whether online or on phone, they want a human
connection

42. “The computer has a
language all its own
and sometimes
I’m intimidated by it
and I am right now.”
rce: http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1546627/images/o-SENIOR-TECHNOLOGY-CONFUSED-facebook.jpg

43. B E S T P R A C T I C E S I N
A C T I O N

46. - Increased the font size globally
- Focused on call to actions

52. QUE STION S?
THANK YOU!!
@lea_designer
lcuniberti@apixio.com