Simple and easy-to-operate modules, clear and clear annotations, no pop-up ads, jumps, pushes, less routines, and a lot of thought, so that many "appropriate apps" are labor-saving and worry-free, and are generally welcomed by the elderly. , And even "out of the circle" attracted the use of young people.
According to the seventh national census, there are over 260 million people in my country who are 60 years old and above.
In reality, in life scenarios such as medical treatment and online shopping, the elderly still face many difficulties in using digital products.
The General Office of the State Council specifically issued the "Implementation Plan on Effectively Solving the Difficulties of the Elderly in Using Intelligent Technology", and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Mobile Internet Application (APP) Suitable Design Specification for Ageing" for design guidance and specifications, prompting many APPs to add "old version" .
Trapped in "limited range"
Mr. Xiao’s grandfather, who lives in Haidian District, Beijing, is over a hundred years old, and his grandmother is also 96 years old. Most travels are driven by Mr. Xiao.
In May of last year, he took two elderly people who had been in the community for a long time to go for a drive. He did not expect to return to the gate of the community but was turned away.
The guard asked to show the health codes of the two elderly people.
"At the time, the two elderly people were not equipped with smartphones. My WeChat was bound to my own health code. For a while, I really didn't know how to get their health code." After on-site mediation, the staff tested the two elderly people. Wen and registered their identity before allowing them to enter the community.
Convenience services can reserve a certain amount of manual operation space for the elderly, but online shopping and consumption platforms will not send people to guide them.
Li Ziying, who has been rooted in a community in Beijing's Haidian District for 3 years, has started to teach more than 2,000 elderly people in the community how to use digital products.
In Li Ziying's daily contact, many cases made her feel the urgent need for ageing transformation of technology products.
There was an old man in the community who walked for several kilometers to find a shopping mall to buy a USB flash drive, and finally spent 60 yuan to buy a 16G USB flash drive.
Operational design is not friendly
In fact, many elderly people have great enthusiasm for digital products.
Li Ziying’s community offers various science and technology classes for the elderly every week, teaching skills such as computer software use, smart phone use, online registration, and online shopping.
In her class, many elderly people carefully jot down their knowledge in a notebook, and the 73-year-old grandmother Wei is one of them.
Before she retired, Grandma Wei was a professor of literature in colleges and universities. After she retired, she hoped to learn to use a tablet to check some professional information, but she encountered difficulties.
"In the past, you could edit a text message by familiarizing yourself with the position of the keyboard a few times with a button phone, but the tablet computer didn't have any buttons that you could touch, and you had to practice back and forth several times to understand how to use it."
In addition to the keyboard, the operation of some software also confuses the elderly.
When Grandpa Yue went to the restaurant to order recently, the waiter told him to use the QR code to order.
"I picked up my mobile phone to scan the QR code, but I jumped out to follow the official account first. After paying attention, I have to scan the code to order. If I want to add dishes, I have to scan the code again." Serve dishes with waiters, but it is not convenient for elderly consumers.
Li Ziying’s community offers 52 classes every year, once a week, but it is still far from enough for the needs of more than 2,000 elderly people in the community.
"On the one hand, the capacity is relatively limited, and each course can only accommodate up to 300 people for teaching, which will be reduced under epidemic prevention and control measures; on the other hand, the memory of the elderly is relatively limited, and some courses need to be repeated after they are taught. Explain and practice."
Let the elderly share the achievements of scientific and technological development
In November last year, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Implementation Plan for Practically Solving the Difficulties of the Elderly in Using Intelligent Technology", which proposed that under the guidance of policies and the joint efforts of the whole society, the difficulties encountered by the elderly in the use of intelligent technology should be effectively resolved, so that The majority of the elderly better adapt to and integrate into the smart society.
In Mr. Xiao's view, the family members and community workers of the elderly are to help them adapt to the end of the information society, rather than to solve the fundamental factor of the "digital divide" of the elderly.
He believes that technology companies should pay attention to the needs of the elderly when designing technology.
Li Ziying once gave talks on some public welfare occasions, and put forward the need for ageing transformation of digital products, hoping to get project support from technology companies.
"However, people are more likely to be moved by short-term and urgent needs, but ignore the embarrassing situation of the elderly around them."
Zhang Jiaxin, the person in charge of the "Sunset and Morning" Social Work Service Center, told reporters that the team has been focusing on solving the problem of integrating the elderly into the information society for the past 10 years.
In the process of promotion, he discovered that the needs of the elderly are not just about font size and picture style, but also about operating habits and thinking logic. These needs are difficult to directly feed back to technology companies.
Zhang Jiaxin believes that allowing the elderly to share the achievements of scientific and technological development is in line with the development needs of enterprises, and enterprises should take the initiative to respond to this part of the needs by adopting science and technology for the good.
"Suitable for the old APP" is a good start, but some people's livelihood industries also need to retain a platform for offline services.
Reporter: Liu Xiaoyan