When we talk about technology adoption, baby boomers often get unfairly sidelined. Contrary to popular belief, baby boomers are not afraid of adopting technology, especially if it means keeping their independence, leaving a legacy of impact, or staying connected with family and friends. Boomers are willing to spend money on things that improve the quality of their lives and give them peace of mind at a time when they may be struggling.

Take smart home tech as an example. Sales are booming in this demographic because this tech helps with independence and connection. It aligns with their values. As we age, our bodies fail us. Eyesight, fine motor abilities, and memory are key areas that product designers should strive to support. Feelings of frustration and anger can arise due to these natural declines, and if you’re in a business that caters to boomers, you have a social responsibility to mitigate these feelings through thoughtful design choices. Here are a handful of design patterns to consider:

Enhancing Eyesight Support

To help with eyesight, any digital product should have text that’s larger than average. Pay attention to contrast and colours, too. For example, it’s easier to see black on white than grey on white. Use ample white space to differentiate visual groupings of information and avoid rotating images or videos that autoplay. Make sure any clickable items look clickable. I’ve seen a lot of sites using grey text as the link colour for embedded links. I’m sure this looks more streamlined, but customers with poor eyesight won’t see it as clickable.

Facilitating Fine Motor Skills

Buttons, links, and dropdown menus can be difficult to navigate if fine motor skills have started to decline. Make sure buttons and other clickable elements have large click targets, especially on a phone screen. Ensure there’s enough room around them as well. For example, when there’s a list of links and a user is trying to click one in the middle, if there’s not enough space, they can easily misclick. Conditions like arthritis make this even harder. Typing can be tricky, especially from a phone. Consider voice and chatbot technology to alleviate the need to type small print.

Supporting Memory

Change can be harder for baby boomers, and they may need more in the way of onboarding instructions, especially when seeing something new. Introduce new features gradually over time instead of doing a refresh that changes everything at once. Ease them into it. For habitual actions, provide reminders and cues. Before implementing changes, always test with users. If you have a mixed audience demographic, make sure you’re getting feedback from older customers too, because they do things differently.

The Importance of Values

In the end, baby boomers value independence and connection above all else. If your products can help them stay connected, maintain quality of life, and discover peace of mind, they’re sure to keep coming back.

Designing with these values in mind, while addressing physical and cognitive challenges, ensures that you’re not only meeting the needs of baby boomers but also creating products that resonate deeply with this powerful demographic.