Mental Fitness App 60+
By: Bettina Joswig
Tags: UX Design, Older People, UI Design, Silver Surfer, Inclusive Design

Infographics & Tracking Function

Based on user research, I identified a possibility for an app that would improve people’s daily lives. In the last 4 years the number of people over 65 in Germany has quadrupled, but this demographic tendency is neglected in the development of apps. The digital world is often designed by young, trend-conscious people who then design applications for a broad, yet exclusive target group. The needs and cognitive skills of older people or people with other forms of disability are not addressed. Btw testings with middle-aged users has shown that between the ages of 25 and 60 people’s ability to use websites declines by 0.8% per year.

Nevertheless, in this project I wanted to focus specifically on making the app attractive for older people. In terms of content, the app can be described as a mental fitness program that documents successes, adapts the test to weaknesses and compiles exercises individually.

What are the Requirements?

Who are the Competitors?

After reviewing the competitors, it quickly became clear that none of the apps actually included the target group.

Complicated and lengthy onboarding processes merge into complex structures, changing layouts and UIs. seemingly endless categories and very small font sizes, too short explanations, make use an initial challenge. Although some of the apps are elaborately designed, inclusion has been omitted. In addition, there are opaque premium accounts and award systems. During the error analysis, a good awareness develops of what should definitely be taken into account.

LUMOSITY

ELEVATE

NEURONATION

Competitor Analysis

Since there are already various studies on the subject of digital exclusion of older people, I was able to draw on these and incorporate the requirements profile I had compiled into the design.

The basic principle for the information architecture was to keep the structure of the app as simple as possible, without nesting or too many categories. The entire app only takes place on a maximum of 2 levels. The main level and simply structured sublevels. Unnecessary information is omitted and necessary information is displayed in large size. The visual language is clear and always contains sufficiently large text. In the user profile, possible impairments can be stored, which adapts the interface accordingly.

Below is the Midfidelity prototype, which has been tested and simplified several times and thus improved.

MID FI

simple User Flow for starting a game, going to the profile and checking the achievements

Once the midfi had been adequately tested, the next challenge was to develop an appropriate design.

BRAND ATTRIBUTES

After highlighting the brand attributes, a mood board was developed that guided the app’s design.

STYLEGUIDE

Friendly colors combined with large open spaces and simple menus. Sans serif fonts and well understandable self-developed icons. The logo adds some scrabble to the flair of a lexicon.

work in progress

Stylistically, the app was a big challenge, as it had to be entertaining but not too childish. These points were not yet achieved within the allotted time. As a follow-up, I would simplify the style further and do away with unnecessary animations, make the color profile more elegant, and increase contrasts. Since older people have proven to react positively to child schemes, an appropriate balance must be created here.

The requirements have not been fully met, but I will definitely continue to work on it and try to go through tests and improvements to ensure maximum usability for the 60+ user group. The most important thing is to keep the problem in mind and to move in the right direction.