Why is it Hard to do Simple? Apple Watch for Seniors Experiment

Steve Jobs once said, “Simple can be harder than complex.” Trying to create a simple mode on Apple watches for a huge demographic that just wants easy.

The Why?

This is my Grandpa. He graduated from Harvard. He was very smart, but our new technology made him feel stupid. Big UX problem. He passed away a few months ago. I was very close to him and observed the following:

• Our technical world is hard to understand for older people.
• He was frustrated with his complicated phone, Apple Watch, iPad, computer, and remotes. Nothing was SIMPLE.
• This demographic feels disregarded, lonely, and lost. Technology should help them, not frustrate them.
• We need to fix this problem!

So Much Frustration for our Elders

Not enough developers are assisting with the elderly demographic. Accessibility for seniors with regard to technology has a long way to go.

Trying to See Through Their Eyes

Now I am Helping my Grandma

• She wants to see and communicate with her family.
• She wants to see what she enjoys, but have the rest disappear.
• She does not want fake news, scams, or strangers on her devices.
• She gets so overwhelmed with this new world that she just wants to leave and join my Grandpa.

I need to change that. We need her around.

I chose to experiment on the most hated device for seniors — the Apple Watch.

Apple has put so much time and money into amazing features for seniors like:

• Fall detection and emergency services
• Monitoring heart, blood and oxygen levels

Reality

Apple watches are not user-friendly for our seniors.

• Too small
• Too easy to make mistakes
• Too many unwanted items
• Too complicated
• Hard to make personal or control

Starting the Process by doing Sprints

I brainstormed with four seniors, here are comments:

• I want to choose what I see and who I see.
• Want family and friends, no strangers; I need my privacy!
• Hate ads, scams, too much info.
• I just want it to be simple.
• I want to get rid of all this garbage.

They want simple and meaningful. They wanted to get rid of most the things on the watch and use just a few apps.

Sprint #1 Findings

I organized my data into the following sections and chose the most important findings:

Identified problems and the need for user-friendly and simple stood out.

Listed their concerns, the need for uncomplicated and safe stood out.

Identified the resources needed for this project.

Came up with questions to answer. Leaning toward the top question: Can we simplify and purge the unwanted?

Chose four Design Principles that could help with this project.

Sprint #2 Used Lightning Sprints and Mapping to find our Focus

Coming up with ideas quickly using the sprints. This process helped me end up with a focus on the Apple Watch interface. The focus on fixing the number of apps and view options was the most promising.

These are images of what I did with the Crazy Eights

Sprint # 3 Getting feedback on ideas. Using the heat map approach.

By using red stickers, I let my testers mark their favorite ideas. The bigger, simple options were favored even by the college crowd.

Design Principles I am focusing on:

Bigger Apps and scroll feature I added

KISS - Keep it Simple Stupid. Hicks Law. Focus on simple and get rid of the rest.

Accessibility and Affordance- Everyone should understand and have clues about how an object is used.

• Seniors don’t understand gestures. A younger audience knows to scroll or slide. Seniors need to be taught or it needs to be shown with arrows…
• Making things bigger and more visual help seniors understand.

Sprint #4 Creating a prototype for testing.

I have focused on hiding unwanted apps and on simplifying the app page with only a couple of apps visible at a time.

Sprint #5 The Testing of my Prototype

I tested eight different people with this prototype. One group was 50+ old, the other group was 25–35-year-olds. They all owned an Apple Watch.

I asked them “what are some things you don’t like about the Apple Watch?”

They all had similar responses. One of the top responses was “everything was too small on the small screen.” Other responses were that “it’s too complicated,” “too easy to make a mistake,” and “there are too many apps.”

After I asked a little about them, I had them test my prototype and gave them tasks to do.

• I asked them to go through the setup process on the prototype,
• I asked them to choose an app page option they want on their watch, and
• I asked them to go into the Enable Apps section.
• I followed up by asking if this would be something they would like on their watches.

I was worried about the name Senior Mode, and everyone said they liked Simple Mode better. No matter the age they wanted a better easier experience.

The first people I tested were my sister and brother-in-law. He works for Apple, so he knew what he was talking about. They tried it and they actually liked the settings and the simplicity. They suggested removing the “Great Job!” at the end because it was not consistent with the rest of the watch. He would know, so I changed it.

My 83 yr. old Grandma was tested. She is the one who suggested that instead of having the Hide Apps we have an Enable Apps section. This way you just pick the few apps you want instead of hiding the many you do not want. So we made the change and everyone I tested agreed that it was a better option.

These are the three options. Everyone, even the young ones did not like the existing App Page. “Too small,” “too busy” are things they said. They liked having options.

My Grandmother was so happy with these potential changes that she hugged me. I felt bad because these are great ideas but getting changes like this might never happen. I decided to go one step further to really help her have a good experience with the Apple Watch.

Here is my prototype, try it and see what you think.

Click here to view the project `Apple Watch Accessibility`

Apple needs to SIMPLIFY for Seniors but until then here's an even better idea…

I have found many great Apple Watch features that would make this an easier and more enjoyable experience for most owners.

If they just tried it, I believe it might help the hatred they have toward this device.

Rewarding those that try the features

What if when you actually try a feature four times, you are given a badge. You have proven yourself an Apple Watch Pro

After you try a feature four times, the icon will go from black and white to color. You can see how many features you have mastered.

Here is a starting list of features to try:

1. Move watch towards your voice and ask for things, no need to ask Siri anymore.
2. Use the Health App on your Apple Watch to track your heart rate throughout the day.
3. Ask Siri to fetch pictures of anything you can think of.
4. Your Apple Watch is able to tell when it is a friend’s birthday and will add in a special message option on a special day.
5. Swipe up and push the phone icon to find your lost phone. Makes a loud ping noise.
6. Apple Pay can be used with your watch. No more fumbling to find a card or money.
7. Clear all the notifications at once by pushing down on the notifications screen.
8. Notifications: If the senior does not have her smartphone at hand, which they usually don’t, they can feel a vibration and see who is texting or calling.
9. You can send your current location to someone by pressing down hard on the messages screen and selecting Send Location.
10. Have your watch nudge you in the right direction when using maps.
11. Choose a watch face that helps you and makes you happy.
12. Adjust all settings so it is just right for you.

Sometimes people just need to see how it is done and know what is available. Come on Apple, this is an easy fix. Simplify and educate!

All of those tested really liked the idea

Check out my prototype for simple mode and tell me what you think: https://invis.io/3ZZA6VGVMH8