There seems to be an increase in products designed specifically for the elderly (IHT Sept 7th). Apparently populations are aging and the elderly (what does that mean exactly?) have more cash to spend so designers and manufacturers are after a slice of the grey dollar, pound, yen, or euro. Ok, this is good, though the motive: make more and more money, is not what I would have wished. In the IHT article experts talk about how firms want to ‘know how to adapt their products’ and that there is a clear need to create ‘senior-friendly’ products. This is where I get confused.
Can you really adapt a product designed for one type of user to suit the needs of a different user? As Alan Cooper said many years ago, sand a chair as much as you like, it will never turn into a table. Rather than try to adapt a product why not do the unthinkable and start by looking at people’s needs, motivations, and experiences and let this insight drive the design?
Which leads me to the second point: ‘senior- friendly products’? What the … does that mean? Does it mean creating products based on a designer’s assumptions of ‘elderly’ people’s needs, which will certainly result in a product patronising its users? Products for the elderly do not need to be targeted to the ‘elderly’ or look like they are made for them. OXO and Smart Design are making beautiful objects that anyone would like though they can be based on the needs of a specific user group.
My final point is that grouping users by age may work for marketers but not for designers, grouping users by needs, abilities, motivations, etc, that makes sense
Can you really adapt a product designed for one type of user to suit the needs of a different user? As Alan Cooper said many years ago, sand a chair as much as you like, it will never turn into a table. Rather than try to adapt a product why not do the unthinkable and start by looking at people’s needs, motivations, and experiences and let this insight drive the design?
Which leads me to the second point: ‘senior- friendly products’? What the … does that mean? Does it mean creating products based on a designer’s assumptions of ‘elderly’ people’s needs, which will certainly result in a product patronising its users? Products for the elderly do not need to be targeted to the ‘elderly’ or look like they are made for them. OXO and Smart Design are making beautiful objects that anyone would like though they can be based on the needs of a specific user group.
My final point is that grouping users by age may work for marketers but not for designers, grouping users by needs, abilities, motivations, etc, that makes sense
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