Accessible Design for the Aging population

5 ways to make an Android phone more usable.

5 ways to make an Android phone more usable

When 2020 came around, my grandmother at 89, purchased her first smartphone so that she could more easily stay in touch with family and friends. What she didn’t realize was that her local Verizon store (a 5-minute drive from her home) stopped offering their senior support/tech classes due to Covid-19. When I called her for our usual weekly phone call, she said that

“navigating her new Samsung Galaxy was impossible, I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m 89 years old. I’m too old to learn how to use this thing”.

I understood how frustrating her situation was. As I love problem-solving, I started brainstorming solutions. After many hours of research and making a list of pros and cons, I decided I was going to use TeamViewer to connect remotely to her phone through usability testing learn about her struggles. During my weekly calls and classes (teaching my grandmother to use zoom etc.), I came up with the following solutions to make her phone more accessible and user-friendly.

1. Adjusted brightness
2. Raised the volume to the loudest setting
3. Enlarged the text and images
4. Moved all apps to the home screen with visible labels
5. Bought stylus pens for accurate and easy typing

I made a list of 3 observations related to my usability sessions with my grandmother with suggestions how to improve her experiences.

1. The zoom app is excellent for the average person but when my grandmother opens zoom, she finds it challenging to navigate. She said the buttons are confusing. She is unfamiliar with icons and their meaning. It would be great if zoom had unique features to benefit the older adult community. For example, I would recommend that zoom remove the camera icon and microphone icon for its aging users. Rather, there should be a few questions when one clicks on the app asking whether the microphone and camera should be turned on or off. Not having to think about how to use the app controls, the app will be easier for less technical savvy people to use.
2. My grandmother said that she can’t remember her email nor how to use the app. Gmail has so many settings and does not show the email of the owner of the phone. Making a simple version with fewer setting options, showing the email address of the owner of the phone, add voice navigation, like “opening email received today from “Joe” at 1:05 pm”, “viewing all mail”, “viewing only unread mail”, “typing email to send”, “deleting unwanted email” etc., reduces setting choices. These simple changes would greatly reduce the cognitive load and make it easier for older adults to use the app.
3. My grandmother always had a hard time clicking on a specific link or button. Not being aware, she would click on more than one item at once. If the screen she expected would not appear, she was confused and discouraged from trying new apps and learning more about her smartphone. My suggestions are to enlarge buttons and tappable elements.

As an iPhone user with no Samsung Galaxy experience, I found this qualitative research to be interesting. Being able to interact well with a device is essential for a positive user experience. I learned about the importance of having visual cues that are clear, decipherable, and set for easy interaction. When designing for this age group, there is so much to discover and learn about. I am excited to continue learning as I speak to my grandmother weekly and troubleshoot all her smartphone struggles.