Don Norman on how design fails older consumers

My partner's mom, age 94, got new hearing aids and the app that can control them (adjust focus on front/side/back, high/low/midrange, etc), runs only on iOS. We got her an iPad mini and I set it up so she can (A) read the Washington Post, (B) read a poetry app, (C) control her hearing aids, and (D) not much else (so as not to be confusing). Much to my surprise, the hearing aid app does not adjust it's font size…

Don Norman's gripe applies not only to the elderly. I think good usability benefits everyone, and I do sympathise with him when it comes to the direction Apple has been taking for the past 10 years or so. I don't think it's aesthetics vs usability that's at the core here -- I don't think at all that aesthetics and usability are somehow mutually exclusive. I think it's simply the lack of focus on first principles outlined by Don Normal himself…

There is a paywall on the WSJ article linked from this: https://archive.is/uvaPg It is amazing how even simple things can become difficult when you lose an ability. I recently had a hand injury and it became almost impossible to open packaging and jars: things you take for granted. Same thing with everything becoming touch screens: a lot of people tend to remember things spatially (especially as they age) and it becomes tough to learn where and what to do when…

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