Target Audience notes

Just summarising what we've looked at in terms of target audience in our meetings and discussions so far. The brainstorm we made when we discussed this can be found here.

Target Audience

Age group: Our focus is on the elderly, approximately 65+, and primarily those who still live in their own accommodation. This potentially defines the problem area we wish to tackle, due to the lifestyle constraints an elderly person may have to endure.

It is important not to stereotype elderly people, as sources like this suggest, but even if constraints are not as widespread or severe in all elderly users as stereotypes like to suggest, there are certainly a number that may affect elderly users and, if relieved or helped in some way, could greatly improve their quality of life.

Typical constraints:
This was a really useful resource for looking into our target demographic. Some of the information and stats below I've drawn directly from it.

• "Not as fit as I used to be" - the general wear and tear of old age can make activities a younger user might find easy unfairly taxing.
• Lack of mobility - joint ailments and other health issues may limit an elderly user's mobility. Some users may simply become tired or out of breath quickly, while others might have hip problems etc. that mean walking even short distances is a pain.
• Vision - degeneration of eyesight may cause difficulties for many users. "Vision is the most common physiological change associated with longevity. While eyeglasses and corrective surgery can help correct nearsightedness and cataracts, others are faced with irreversible deterioration of their eyesight." The most common difficulties seem to be those such as reduced fields of vision, being unable to focus on near tasks (presbyopia), and trouble distinguishing between particular colours and light.
  
• Hearing - elderly users may experience reduced hearing sensitivity. Again, the scale of intensity will vary, but some sources estimate as many as a third of elderly users (in America) may suffer with hearing difficulty. That's a fairly large portion of the user group.
• Memory - the notion that elderly users are very likely to have poor memory is partly grounded in folk wisdom. There is, however, potential for memory loss in a gradual decline as a person ages, particularly the short term. It can be more prominent in elderly users due to factors such as stress, easily-triggered fatigue and other concerns reducing concentration, as well as more obvious causes such as Alzheimer's Disease. This links to the equal part folk myth that . . .
• Learning new things - is difficult for elderly people. Or is it? And if elderly users show an aversion to getting to grips with new concepts or skills, is it necessarily due to a genuine inability? Elderly users may be most comfortable with concepts they're already familiar with, or be genuinely intimidated by what might appear at first glance to be complicated new methods and technologies. The previous link also suggests that low self-esteem and lack of confidence, due in part to these entrenched perceptions of elderly people as being stubborn and technophobic, might deter them from trying to learn anything new. Therefore, while I think it's important to be aware that memory loss does occur in elderly users, it's not always as extreme as it's made out to be, particularly in terms of preventing them from learning anything new.
• Motor skills - may be reduced by conditions such as arthritis, or a general reduction in the accuracy of hand-eye coordination etc. This has the potential to severely affect interaction with whatever system or design we eventually produce.
  
• Living conditions - inevitably as we grow older, our friends and family do too, to the extent that many might no longer be with us when we reach a particular age. Remaining family will often be younger, and although each case is different for each user, this may impact on their quality of life. Elderly users living alone may be quite isolated and have limited contact with family, friends or other social groups. Others may still be quite surrounded by relatives and close friends. It's important that we recognise the range of potential scenarios so as to include as many user subgroups as possible.