From her background in social work, Marie Gress understands older adults and how they interact with technology. In her current work advising mission-driven organizations on their communications, project management, strategic planning, and leadership, she finds that older adults would have fewer problems with technology if the devices were designed with them in mind in the first place. In this interview, Marie makes a number of observations:
Many devices (including smartphones) comes with features you can customize to improve readability and ease of use.
Many older adults still fear pressing the wrong button and losing all their work, but it’s almost impossible to do that.
Designers of tech products too often emphasize cool design over functionality.
Older adults need to be included on design teams and in test groups during the design process.
“You’re not the dummy; the designer was the dummy.”
You can learn more about Marie’s work on her website, kovir.org.
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