MIT AgeLabs Joseph Coughlin as quoted in FastCompany
... A recent study showed that elderly Americans are interested in health tracking but don’t engage with wrist wearables because the devices don’t feel designed for them. For example, in the aforementioned study, older Americans said they have a hard time seeing the tiny icons and font sizes that dominate smartwatches.
“Maybe instead of calling older adults technological Luddites, we should acknowledge that bad design is when all consumers can’t use it,” says Joseph Coughlin, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab.
He says too much technology for seniors is beige and boring: “I do hope that in the so-called retirement years, there’s more to do than remind you to take your medications and your blood pressure.” Coughlin says designers and technologists should be making aging-in-place technology for more than medical purposes.