Bridging the “digital divide” for older consumers
—— App adaptation to aging has made positive progress
Our reporter Wang Haiqing
"Guangming Daily" (Version 10, December 9, 2022)
On December 8, the China Consumers Association released the "Research Report on the Supervision and Evaluation Project of Aging App Consumption".
The report shows that positive progress has been made in breaking the "digital divide" for elderly consumers, and 76.2% of the survey respondents are overall satisfied with the current status of apps suitable for aging.
Apps that serve daily life, such as catering, shopping, and social communication, lead the aging process
App aging is an important measure to actively respond to population aging.
In 2022, the China Consumers Association will organize a special survey to evaluate and investigate the status quo of relevant companies promoting the aging of mobile apps.
According to the relevant person in charge of the China Consumers Association, this evaluation covers two directions, one is the evaluation of the app’s adaptability to aging, and the other is the status quo, cognition, demand and evaluation questionnaire survey of the elderly consumers’ use of the app. Both ends understand the status quo of mainstream apps providing services for the elderly.
Among the 104 commonly-used apps evaluated, 76% of the apps passed the aging retrofit standard rate exceeding 75%, among which 34 apps that passed the aging retrofit evaluation by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology had a 100% compliance rate.
The evaluation shows that apps that have a wide audience and serve daily life, such as catering, shopping, and social communication, lead the aging process.
The relevant person in charge of the China Consumers Association said that the overall design of this type of app has taken more into account the needs of the elderly, and the comprehensive compliance rate of the evaluation indicators is above 90%.
This result shows that when the industry track of the app is relatively mature, the user scale is large, there is no obvious youthful attribute, and the app is closely related to the daily life of the user, the app can take into account the physical and mental characteristics of the elderly.
The evaluation shows that in terms of operability, it is more suitable for aging, with an overall compliance rate of 92.6%; in terms of facilitating the understanding of the elderly, there is a lot of room for improvement, with an average compliance rate of only 66.6%.
Some apps for aging should be more suitable for the physical and mental characteristics of the elderly in terms of hearing, vision, touch, thinking, and cognition; the compatibility of casual game apps and the security of audio-visual entertainment apps need to be improved.
The relevant person in charge of the China Consumers Association pointed out that the evaluation shows that the overall satisfaction of elderly consumers with the app for aging is stable at a high level, and their expectations for safety are still high. measure.
Aging-friendly achievements in medical health, pension information, etc. are more expected
The evaluation found that in view of the demand for apps for the elderly, elderly consumers have the highest expectations for apps related to medical health and elderly care information, and they also have a greater demand for apps related to life payment, communication and social networking, and community services; some apps still exist The embedded interface is inconvenient to search, 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.
The person in charge pointed out that to break the "digital divide", we should adhere to the actual needs of the elderly as the fundamental guidance, and suggested that demand-oriented speed up the aging process of apps 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.
Advocate elderly-centered app aging transformation
The evaluation shows that as many as 72% of elderly consumers prefer the convenience of operation, followed by the practicality of functions.
Elderly consumers also have higher expectations for property security, authentic and authoritative content, appropriate interface style, and privacy protection.
When the elderly use smartphones for daily travel, shopping, leisure and other activities, they will have corresponding consumption behaviors and face corresponding consumption risks.
This evaluation did not find the collection and processing of irrelevant personal information, but it was found that 54.8% of elderly consumers said they had encountered too many advertisements. Physical and mental factors have the greatest impact. Small fonts, many advertisements, and pop-up windows are difficult to close, etc., which trouble elderly consumers.
The person in charge suggested that, with personal information protection and financial information risk supervision as the core, the security of App should be improved.
First, App developers and App download platforms should fulfill the main responsibility of information content management, actively cooperate with the country to implement the network trusted identity strategy, and establish and improve information content security management, information content ecological governance, data security and personal information protection, and protection of the rights and interests of the elderly. and other management systems.
The second is to strengthen the safety supervision of the entire process of App installation and use. App pop-up windows, inducing clicks, and inducing payment should be prohibited on the old-friendly interface or version of the App. Links and personal information acquisition links should strengthen notification and risk reminders, and provide self-service or manual services for withdrawal operations to prevent the elderly from falling into consumption traps.
(Guangming Daily)