Only adapt…. Tailoring for the needs of the senior market
Life longevity brings with it the need to facilitate older adults in preserving their independent, active and vibrant life-style. Companies offering products and services to the mature population that strive for successful accommodation for this market segment, must do so through adapted design and development that takes into account the changes in aging people.
Senior-user-oriented design is not a luxury. Lack of adaptation to the needs, preferences and accommodation to mature usability capabilities, can be the make or break of a mature user's choice to interact with a product/service.
Seniors are a distinct segment with unique needs and preferences, with usability and user experience demands that should be tailored to their preferences and contingencies
Many of the products and services designed today are usually planned to serve all. These offerings are usually created from an inclusive point of view. Although offered to the mature population as well, they are not designed based on 3rd age related factors that will facilitate usability, interaction and user experience.
An older person's total experience when interacting with a product or a service is not just about understanding his life style. For building a whole user experience for older people, it is first and most of all about understanding the changes that age brings with it - life style, sensory, age-related decline in perceptual, motor and cognitive pace of reaction, change of focal points, preferences and interactions.
A new challenge arises – creating an experience that is enabled by the adaptation to the seniors’ needs and capabilities, and turning products and services to usability enablers, facilitators and life-style enhancers, rather than limiting. Incorporating new technological advancements, new devices, communication platforms, information and entertainment services, building a whole new range of products and services that can facilitate a modern, updated, independent and connected life-style for the 55+.
In order to avoid miss-designed, unusable and non-marketable products for a very significant and most affluent market segment companies should strive to take a systemic view on their target audience. Even more designated products, offered to the partially impaired mature population will be avoided by the majority of the boomers as they become obvious signals of being old, and that is the one thing they do not want to be. They want to keep feeling and looking young and vibrant. (Look who is driving all the 4X4 cars)
When designing, developing and offering new products and services, companies and service providers that want to ensure a total user experience for this mature market segment, must take into account the changes in aging people , the decline in their sensory, cognitive and motor skills, and adaptation to their particular life-style. The accommodation of the special needs of this segment of the population will open immense opportunities for new services and markets.