The elderly are still troubled by the use of APP. How can the APP be more "appropriate for the elderly"?

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　　In order to cope with the "digital divide", in recent years, my country has accelerated the promotion of APP aging transformation. With the participation of multiple parties, APP aging transformation work has begun to benefit elderly consumers.

However, the latest report shows that the app for the elderly has not yet been effectively reached, and the elderly are still troubled by small fonts, many advertisements, and pop-up windows that are not easy to close.

　　In the process of using smart APPs, the most common problems encountered by elderly consumers are: small font, 58.1% of the respondents encountered it; too many advertisements, 54.8% of the respondents encountered it; the pop-up window is not easy to close (40.4%), complicated interface (39.7%), difficult operation (35%) and other problems also occur frequently.

　　Today, the China Consumers Association released the "Aging APP Consumption Supervision and Evaluation Project Research Report".

The report shows that with the vigorous promotion of relevant departments and the active participation of enterprises, the aging transformation of APP has begun to benefit elderly consumers.

However, although 86% of elderly consumers are aware of apps for the elderly, 44.7% of them said they have only heard of them but never used them, and 14% of them have neither heard nor used them. .

Elderly consumers hope that apps for the elderly should be more "appropriate for the elderly".

　　Should carry out APP aging transformation

　　According to the 49th "Statistical Report on Internet Development in China" released by the China Internet Network Information Center, as of December 2021, the number of Internet users aged 60 and above in my country has reached 119 million.

However, due to physical and psychological changes, many elderly people do not know how to use smartphones, and encounter inconvenience in daily life such as travel, medical treatment, consumption, etc., and cannot fully enjoy the convenience brought by intelligent services. The "digital divide" has become increasingly prominent.

　　App aging transformation is an important measure to actively respond to population aging.

In 2020, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Notice on the Implementation Plan for Effectively Solving the Difficulties of Using Smart Technology for the Elderly" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), clearly proposing to promote the aging transformation of mobile Internet applications (APP).

　　Since then, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has successively issued the "Special Action Plan for Internet Application Adaptation to the Aging and Barrier-free Transformation", "Notice on Effectively Solving the Difficulties of the Elderly in Using Smart Technology "Notice on the Implementation of Special Actions for Barrier-free Renovation" and other policies, and the "Special Action for Internet Application Adaptation to Aging and Barrier-free Renovation" will be implemented from January 2021, and the first batch of 115 websites in 8 categories and 43 websites in 6 categories will be promoted. The APP is adapted for aging and barrier-free.

It is understood that at present, a total of 648 websites and APPs have passed the aging and barrier-free transformation and evaluation.

　　The elderly are still troubled by the use of APP

　　In order to help elderly consumers adapt to the digital age and continue to cooperate with relevant departments to promote the improvement of aging-friendly supply-side quality, recently, the China Consumers Association organized a special survey to evaluate and investigate the status quo of relevant companies promoting the aging-friendly transformation of mobile APPs.

　　Zhang Dezhi, director of the Consumer Supervision Department of the China Consumers Association, said that the evaluation survey focused on 10 areas that are closely related to the lives of elderly consumers, such as social communication, catering and shopping, and navigation and travel. , Apps with more users and less obvious tendency towards younger audiences are evaluated, which fully represent APP products with different demand directions.

　　The results of the evaluation survey show that some apps still have problems such as the inconvenient search of the embedded interface, the information of the old version is not prominent enough, and the awareness and actual usage rate of the old version of the app are not high.

Small fonts, many advertisements, and pop-up windows that are not easy to close still plague elderly consumers.

　　According to the survey, around the overall direction of APP aging transformation, the preferences of elderly consumers from high to low are: convenient operation, practicality of functions, protection of property security, authentic and authoritative content, interface style, protection of privacy and security, indicating operation Convenience and targeted functions are the priority expectations of most elderly consumers for the aging transformation of APP.

　　Specific to the main aspects of page design, operation design, security design, etc., the main expectations of elderly consumers are: First, they prefer large fonts, large icons and simpler interfaces in terms of page design.

The second is to prefer a simple operation process in terms of operation design, or provide auxiliary functions such as guidance prompts and screen reading during the operation process.

The third is to strictly control advertisements (pop-up windows) in terms of security, and strengthen security risk warnings when it comes to online payment and obtaining necessary personal information.

　　Accelerate the aging process of APP in key industries

　　"The "Notice" clearly proposes to promote intelligent technology to facilitate the consumption, travel, and medical treatment of the elderly, and such goals and tasks can only be achieved when the results of appropriate aging are known and used by elderly consumers." Zhang Dezhi said, this time The survey found that although a considerable number of apps have built-in old-friendly interfaces or independently developed old-friendly versions, there are still problems such as the inconvenient retrieval of the embedded interfaces, the lack of prominent information about the old-friendly versions, and the low awareness and actual usage rate of the old-friendly apps. The situation shows that relevant departments can further strengthen the publicity and promotion of the existing work achievements of APP for aging.

　　The report released this time also pointed out that when the elderly use smartphones for daily travel, shopping, leisure and other activities, they will have corresponding consumption behaviors and face corresponding consumption risks. Improve interdepartmental cooperation mechanisms, comprehensively use credit supervision, "good and bad reviews" management and other means to focus on supervision of APPs that are prone to consumer behavior, urge APP developers and APP download platforms to fulfill their responsibilities, and fully protect the rights and interests of elderly consumers.

　　According to the situation of this survey, the report recommends to be demand-oriented and accelerate the aging transformation process of APP in key industries.

First, in terms of medical care and health, by simplifying the operation process and strengthening operation guidance, it is convenient for elderly consumers to register online, ask a doctor, and manage their health.

Second, in terms of pension information, the accuracy of information push is enhanced by simplifying the interface and eliminating irrelevant information.

The third is in terms of life payment, through "one-key operation", voice assistance and other methods, it helps elderly consumers to handle daily payment services without leaving home.

Fourth, in terms of community services, on the premise of connecting the community’s elderly care service resources, it provides elderly consumers with timely community elderly care services through “one-key calling” and emergency calls.

　　At the same time, strengthen the supervision of APP personal privacy and financial information risks, and strengthen the safety supervision of the whole process of APP installation and use. The advertising pop-up window of the version should be easy to close, the payment link and the personal information acquisition link should strengthen the notification and risk reminder, and provide self-service or manual service of withdrawal operation to prevent the elderly from falling into the consumption trap.

　　(Newspaper, Beijing, December 8th)

　　Yang Zhaokui (Source: Workers' Daily)