Ageing and Technology

1
Ageing and Technology

• Dr. Deborah DiDuca, Chimera, University of Essex
• djdidu_at_essex.ac.uk

2
Assumptions

• Older people are more technophobic
• Older people are less concerned with aesthetic
  issues
• Older people are less likely to innovate
• Older people are less likely to purchase
  innovative products and services
• Older people find it more difficult to learn new
  skills, particularly IT related skills
• Older people are less interested in technology
• Older people arent excluded from IT

3
European Commission (e-Europe reports)

• No explicit mention of the ageing population in
  e-Europe reports, despite discussing elsewhere
  (Increasing Labour Force Participation and
  Promoting Active Ageing EC 2002)
• 2005 e-Europe Action Plan To make the
  European Union the most competitive and dynamic
  knowledge-based economy with improved employment
  and social cohesion by 2010.
• Not everyone will want to access broadband
  services through their PCs

4
Assumption 1- older people are more
technophobic.

• Attitude questions from E-Living data (Likert
  scale)
• The internet is a mystery to me
• I am interested in new technologies
• Computers are intimidating to use
• Computers can be fun
• Everyone depends on computers too much nowadays
• Computers will make life much easier if you have
  one
• The internet is fun
• The internet is very useful to me

5
Technophobia (contd)

• E-Living findings
• Differences in responses all in direction
  predicted by assumption, however
• Strongest correlations found between attitudes
  and knowledge/experience of computers, regardless
  of age.
• Therefore technophobia related to IT
  knowledge/experience older population generally
  have less IT experience and knowledge why??

6
Assumption 2 Older people less concerned with
aesthetics

• This assumption fits in well with common ethos of
  design-based companies
• Companies like to be seen as young, innovative,
  sexy. This means that ageing is not something
  they like to be identified with
• Russ Bodoff, CAAT
• Therefore very useful assumption means that
  companies dont have to bother thinking about the
  older consumer

7
Assumption 3 Older people are less likely to
innovate

• Plenty of counter-examples, e.g. Ansaphone used
  for call-screening.
• E-Living depth of internet use

8
Assumption 4 Older people less likely to
purchase innovations

• E-Living data supports this could be because
  innovations are designed for the young??

9
Assumption 5 Older people find it more difficult
to learn new skills

• The memory fallacy Alzheimers plus!
• Universities prefer older students more likely
  to finish course, more likely to apply themselves.

10
Assumption 6 Older people are less interested in
technology

• I am interested in new technologies
  significantly higher levels of agreement in the
  lower age groups of all 6 countries.
• BUT - Computers will make life much easier if
  you have one highest levels of agreement
  amongst 16-24 year olds in the UK, 55-64 year
  olds in Italy, 25 34 year olds in Germany, and
  no significant differences for the other
  countries.
• Therefore interest could be linked to needs?
• Embeddedness of IT

11
Assumption 7 Older people arent excluded from
IT
12
To summarise..

• Assumptions are useful in that they justify NOT
  having to think about including older people in
  the use of ICT.
• Whilst there is some truth in some of them, it is
  also important to understand why this is so.
• If older people use ICT differently, are there
  ways in which design of products and services can
  be geared towards this??

13
Areas for Emphasis

• Public Services
• Older generations more politically/socially
  motivated to get involved with local community
  more formal club and society membership, more
  likely to vote etc.
• Leadership of the older population, using new
  technologies, could encourage participation in
  the young.

14
Areas for emphasis

• Education
• Rising popularity of lifelong learning, e.g.
  U3A etc. leisure learning.
• Reskilling of work returnees
• Policy efforts designed to encourage later
  retirement might have limited success if older
  workers face pressure from technological change.
  On the other hand, any future delays in
  retirement, perhaps resulting from rising life
  spans or changes in Social Security and private
  pensions, may induce older workers to invest in
  new skills as technologies evolve (Friedberg, L.
  (2001)).

15
Areas for emphasis

• Health Services
• Advanced research
• Prevention and monitoring
• BUT aesthetic issues only just beginning to be
  taken into account

16
Areas for emphasis

• Employment
• Changing retirement age
• Self-employed
• Returnees
• Reskilling issues
• Baby Boomers

17
Areas for emphasis

• Leisure
• More time
• More money
• Longer attention spans!
• Alternative Internet access? (via TV?)

18
Areas for emphasis

• Communication
• With extended family
• To combat isolation
• E-Living figures on mobile and home phone use
  no significant differences across age groups.
• E-Living rise in use of mobile phones for
  recently retired.

19
Conclusions

• Some of the assumptions are true, but it is
  important to understand why.
• Cant use these assumptions as reasons for NOT
  designing for the older population.
• Several specific areas where products and
  services targeted at older population could be
  more lucrative
• We have an ageing population! this is your
  biggest mass market across Europe, the United
  States and Japan.
• Baby Boomers WILL innovate!!!

20
Common Factors youth/elders

• Flexible lifestyles, inc. part time work and
  study
• Love of (and time for) leisure activities
• Importance of friends and extended family
• Changes in lifestyle
• moving house
• changing job/study course
• Learning new skills
• Importance of self-identity
• Hate being patronised
• Easily bored

21
Thank you

• Deb DiDuca
• djdidu_at_essex.ac.uk