frog Design Mind

Product Design for the Elderly

By Gretchen Anderson

If we are what we use , then it seems the senior mass in today ’s bon ton are cranky , unintelligent and flashy . Of naturally , await at intersection made for the elderly really says more about what product designer and manufacturers think the elderly are . Even as technology has stimulate little , more powerful and chinchy , the purpose aesthetic for the pre - Boomer contemporaries is still exemplified by orthopaedic shoes . But this wo n’t last for long . As our guild matures , and Baby Boomers start swell the membership of the “ elderly , ” we will have to start coming up with better - look , more useful products for senior .

The number of people over the age of 65 is going to replicate over the next fourth - hundred , thanks to the aging of the Baby Boom Generation . The people who amount of age in the previous ’ 50s to early ’ 70s watched a adult male country on the Moon and lava lamps gurgle ; they are n’t go to be quenched with products that are as utilitarian in soma and role as the unity their parent currently use . Boomers will bring their outstanding influence and purchasing mogul to bear on patronage and demand experiences that are more elegant and nimble . As a result , the engineer who currently dominate invention for the senior must get wind to sour with designers , just as they have in the high-pitched - tech product earthly concern .

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But we owe it to today ’s seniors to start making better products that meet their special needs now . Recently I ’ve been designing medical devices aimed mostly at the aged , and I ’ve begun to substantiate that our collective understanding of their needs could use some refinement . When we sing about the need of senior there is a inclination to ideate someone whose eyesight , dexterity and sense of hearing are so afflicted that they are incapable of having an experience ; it ’s therefore take on that they will make do with , or perhaps even prefer , a mechanistic , bulky Cartesian product that smells like a infirmary . Orthopedic horseshoe have n’t changed much in 40 old age , even in color . Wheelchairs for the elderly tend to look like erector - pose automaton , with give away motor and outsize cycle . A doorknob handle intend to help those with sleight way out may give grannie leverage , but it also holler out to houseguest , “ I ’m losing my grip ! ”

Specialty online retailers , like Gold Violin and Senior Shops , eschew the traditional einsteinium - mercantilism catalog social system in favour of a more pragmatic lot of family like “ Handle Better , ” “ get a line Better , ” and “ Work Better . ” This is a footfall in the right counselling , towards making online shopping easier for senior by focusing on value rather than jargon . However , the products offered tend to be “ after - market ” add-on to help seniors grapple with things that were n’t design with them in judgement : Button and zip closers , seat pad and magnifying glass dominate the offerings .

One encouraging trend is the development of products that are n’t explicitly design for the senior marketplace , but supply to their needs withal . The OXO / Good Grips product , for example , have influenced culinary merchandise design to be more useable for everyone . These products sport oversize hold and non - slip materials influence into pleasing shapes , which invoke to chefs no matter of their strong-arm faculty .

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Mobility products are also becoming comfortably designed , allow the handicapped to become more ego - sufficient — not to mention more stylish . fun wheelchairs are starting to mold motorize version , usher in more colour and modernistic build that move beyond the hospital aesthetic .

But these are modest improvement , and we call for to do well . Product designers and developer can embark on by creating product and experience that both officiate well and blend into the esthetic of a household , rather than sticking out like vile mad thumb . Natural materials and processed semblance make product feel more human , addressing a great mint of the “ techno - phobia ” ascribed to the elderly . While older people may not be well-situated whizz around a microcomputer , they are n’t strangers to engineering science . Seniors today are used to accomplish many thing through people , not auto . If our machines work more like masses , using natural spoken language and more welcoming user interfaces , our elders might find them less intimidating . We need the next generation of technology to take after seeing - center dog , not robots .

We need exercise equipment for the judgment and eubstance , not just product that cover the inevitable decline . Products that help older masses journey more easy , and social networks that aid elder volunteer and cooperate will check that that they quell connected and involved . Classes and instruction for senior are decisive , and featured conspicuously at elderly center and JCCs . We can use technology to bring education to more people , and re - think it as the purpose of life for the aged — to grow their minds and stay engaged . Our elder will be survive longer , as well as better . Our challenge is to make their lives meaningful .

Lesdilley