Youth Economic Theory
Bridging the digital divide for the elderly cannot be "closed door"
The digital economy reflects the height of social development, and the "digital blank" reflects the temperature of society.
"Young technicians and product managers can't "work behind closed doors" and sit in the office thinking about what the elderly need."
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With the help of her daughter a few days ago, 65-year-old Ms. Zhang adjusted an app she frequently used to adapt to the old model.
But she found that, except for the larger font size and icon, the function operation remained the same as before.
"In fact, I just hope it won't be so cumbersome. Sometimes it really makes me feel dizzy."
Like Ms. Zhang, the 70-year-old Mr. Ye is also a little bit "dissatisfied" with the experience of an app suitable for the old version.
He said bluntly, "I thought the steps would be simplified, but I still don't understand what to do or not."
Suitable for aging is not just for the elderly to "see clearly"
Car-hailing, online shopping, appointment registration, living payment... Nowadays, the widespread application of smart phones facilitates people's work and life, but the complex functions and various apps in it often make the elderly feel at a loss.
When digitalization meets aging, the issue of how to break the "digital divide" attracts attention.
In order to protect the rights and interests of elderly users, in January this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology launched a one-year "Special Action for Ageing and Accessibility of Internet Applications" to address the difficulties encountered by groups such as the elderly and the disabled when using Internet and other technologies.
For more than half a year, many App developers have successively launched suitable aging versions such as "care mode" and "elder mode". The most obvious change is the enlargement of font size and icons, and simplified interface.
However, during the interview, a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily found that "at a glance" did not fully meet the needs of the elderly for the use of products suitable for the elderly.
Some people in the industry also believe that it is important to improve the visual experience of elderly users when using App, but only allowing the elderly to "see clearly" suitable aging is not considered successful.
In the opinion of Liu Xingliang, Dean of DCCI Internet Research Institute, in fact, many apps only focus on zooming in icons and font size. Some even have larger font size on the homepage. Clicking on the secondary and tertiary pages will return to the normal mode. This leads to a series of problems such as complex interface interaction, unfriendly operation, and difficulty in operating verification codes.
He believes that the app should investigate the actual needs of the elderly, and continue to adopt the suggestions of the elderly, so as to realize the continuous upgrading and transformation of the products suitable for aging.
"Young technicians and product managers can't "work behind closed doors" and sit in the office thinking about what the elderly need."
In fact, many elderly people are most troubled by the various cumbersome steps in the operation of mobile apps.
What Mr. Ye is most afraid of is to enter the verification code.
He told a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that his son recently bought him a smart bracelet. After linking to a specific App in the phone, he first needs to register an account.
"I followed the prompts carefully, step by step, for fear of making mistakes. I didn't expect that when I entered the verification code, I was still slow and the verification code became invalid. There is no way to do it again."
In this regard, Liu Xingliang proposed that products suitable for aging can be made with subtractive thinking.
For example, for the elderly, the threshold for the operation of biometric recognition technologies such as face recognition is lower than that of entering account passwords; mobile phone manufacturers can launch special elderly smartphones and provide richer voice and video functions; adopt similar " The "one-key" operation modes such as "one-key taxi" and "one-key order food" simplify the operation steps for the elderly.
"In short, we must try to figure out the details of the scenes commonly used by the elderly, improve their product experience, and use the simplest operation method to achieve their goals."
Dispel the old people's "frustration" psychology
In the digital age, some elderly people have taken the lead to become "digital immigrants", but some have become "digital survivors."
According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, there are about 274 million elderly people using mobile phones in China, of which about 134 million elderly people use smartphones to access the Internet. This means that nearly 140 million elderly people may not have access to the mobile Internet.
Even the elderly who use smartphones to surf the Internet, not everyone can use it with confidence.
The “Research Report on the Ageing of the Internet in the Post-epidemic Era” released in September this year by the Institute of Social Development Strategies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences showed that among the elderly’s fear of network technology, “worrying about being deceived” ranks first, and “worrying about the insecure of mobile payment. "56.49%, and 43.04% of the elderly worry that improper operation will damage their mobile phones.
During the interview, the reporter found that many elderly people are actually more willing to deal with "real people."
For example, even though bank staff have repeatedly recommended the use of mobile banking apps, they are still willing to go to the site to find staff to help with the business; once there is a problem in the operation of the mobile phone, they hope to call the "manual customer service" to help with one-click; even though I heard many Business can be completed on the mobile phone, but I still feel more at ease with offline errands.
Liu Xingliang explained that digital is not a panacea, so in addition to the "technical gap", to eliminate the "mental gap" that the elderly "dare not use", non-digital channels are indispensable.
He believes that the digital economy reflects the height of social development, and the "digital blank" reflects the temperature of society, bridging the "digital gap" between technology and the elderly, and "technology + service" is a new way to solve the problem of aging. .
It is understood that the "Blue Vest Action", a charity assistance and anti-fraud charity activity initiated by the National Anti-fraud Center, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Anti-fraud Center, and local government departments, volunteer organizations, Alipay and other enterprises, launched in March this year, adopted the community Lectures, resident service stations, digital life experience points, anti-fraud exhibitions and other forms have come to the elderly and actively help them solve some of the problems in digital life.
Chen Li, the initiator of the Blue Vest Action and the director of Ant Group's digital finance department, said frankly, "We later discovered that providing offline consulting services is more efficient and effective in teaching the elderly."
Suitable for aging also requires the elderly to say "I can do it"
Compared with the elderly who are “not using it” or “dare not to use it”, there are still some silver-haired groups who lack the enthusiasm for “touching the Internet” and become the “do not want to use” group.
67-year-old Ms. Li told the China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that although she does not live with her daughter, she is in the same city, except for having to learn to use the "health code" and "travel code" last year. She usually needs to use her mobile phone to operate it. Her daughter did everything for her. She frankly said, “I’m too old and forgetful, and my eyes are not good. I teach it again and I still don’t know how to use it next time, so I just don’t learn it.”
Tian Feng, a researcher at the Institute of Social Development Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, analyzed that many elderly people are affected by their family role positioning when they use the Internet.
The children think that the elderly should be the "care recipients", so they do not need to actively learn the use of the Internet to meet the needs of family life, and the children can do it for them.
If one of the elderly couples can use a smart phone proficiently, the other will not be motivated to learn.
"In fact, this will slow down the pace of some elderly people's integration into the digital society."
He believes that the ageing of the Internet should be two-way.
In addition to removing the technological barriers for the elderly to integrate into the digital society, the society should respect the voice and subjectivity of the elderly, make the elderly believe that they are "can do", and help them to bridge the "digital divide" and be willing to enjoy the digital life.
"In our research, we found that restructuring social roles and rebuilding social connections is the key. For example, some elderly people who volunteer after retirement have clearly demonstrated stronger motivation to use the Internet and ability to learn Internet technology."
China Youth Daily · China Youth Daily reporter Li Zhuo Source: China Youth Daily