Top 10 misconceptions that sabotage marketing to mature audiences – #9

June 12th, 2009 by Robbie Magee

In my previous blog post, I addressed the first in a series of 10 misconceptions that sabotage marketing efforts to mature adults. #10 discussed how older adults are quite tech-savvy, contrary to instinctive belief, and are increasingly embracing the Internet. Continuing on the latter topic is misconception number nine:

#9: Designing your website with older audiences in mind will “wreck it.”

Not true. Applying best practices to designing websites with older audiences in mind—specifically when it comes to usability and accessibility—has actually been shown to improve the experience for ALL users.

When it comes to using and accessing information on Websites, older adults may face visual- and dexterity-related challenges. However, making accommodations for the sake of older Internet users—such as large font sizes, extra spacing, and an overall “cleaner” approach to design—does not dampen the experience. More importantly, it has also proven to enhance a site’s performance.

Admittedly, pleasing aesthetics are an important consideration. But a website is, after all, a tool. And like all tools, it should be designed with functionality being the first and foremost criterion.

Website functionality is to usability—or how efficiently visitors can navigate a site to find information and transact business—as simplicity is to accessibility. Usability and accessibility are very much intertwined, according to Jakob Nielsen, a guru in Web usability. The principal guideline for accessibility is simplicity, which increases usability for all users. This speaks to Nielsen’s belief that every website must be designed for Internet users who are “about as patient as a New York cabbie.” What he’s saying is that this includes everyone.

So why should companies consider designing their websites with older generations in mind? Because people age 70 and older comprise the fastest-growing group of Internet users. What’s more, the aging “baby boomer” population is more likely to increase consumption of Web-based services as the number of older Web users continues to rise in conjunction with the increasing population of older adults.

Ultimately, people want to find what they’re looking for easily and quickly, without having to work to navigate a website. When you consider sales/lead generation as one of the main reasons for having a website in the first place, it becomes more apparent how important it is to enhance the user experience by employing usability and accessibility techniques geared toward mature adults.

- Robbie Magee

This entry was posted by Robbie Magee on Friday, June 12th, 2009 and is filed under Design, MF, Marketing, Mature Market, Senior Marketing, Technology, User Experience. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.