This is what I learned from making a website for seniors
by Jouni FlemmingIt was late 2022 when my friend told me he had an amazing idea for a website. Of course, I didn't believe him.
He told me a story how he had just had lunch with another friend, who was a woman in her 60s who lives alone who had told him how she often wonders what would happen if something bad happens to her. It could take days or weeks before anyone would even know.
That's when my friend got the idea: a daily check-in service for seniors who live alone.
The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. That's why I said I wanted to help him and implement the website for him.
Soon after that, I realized I must do a website that boomers will like. Now, I don't mean this in any kind of condescending way, not at all. But I mean that different kind of people have different preferences.
I started to look at websites for seniors and also UX/UI design tips especially for older audiences. What I found was that basically, most UX/UI design ideas apply but when making a website for older people, one should especially focus on making it clear and concise and focusing on the content, instead of effects or visual gimmicks.
Another thing I learned was that some things that are more apparent to younger people might not be so obvious to older people. For example, most younger people know what a hamburger menu is. No, not the thing you get in a hipster restaurant from a bearded dude. I mean the button on the left or right corner of your mobile device screen that you can click to open a menu. For most people, it's clear that those three lines mean that clicking it opens a menu.
After some focus group tests, I found out that it's not as clear to older people. Which makes perfect sense now that I think about it: Why would three random lines at some corner of a screen mean that it opens a menu. It's not very intuitive.
I solved this UX issue simply by adding the word "MENU" above those three lines inside the button. It won't bother anyone, but it will make it that much more obvious, that it's a button that opens a menu.
This is how the website is currently looking like: https://imstillokay.com/
It looks like a boomer website, and I love it! It was a lot of fun to do, I learned many things and I hope it can provide value for people.
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This I like... but it needs a bit more because seniors will find it patronizing.. it needs secondary functionality... like reminders or updates or networking .. hit me up.. 773-661-3001...we can talk.. id be glad to help.
