Designing for
Older Adults
Designing for Older Adults
Recreo is an app built around the specific needs of older adults to help them discover and register for local recreational activities. Based on user research and user testing, we aimed to bring the familiarity of an in-person interaction into a digital app, to empower users to maintain an independent, active, and socially connected lifestyle within their community.
Key User Insights
To understand both sides of the experience of program registration, we conducted eight total interviews. We met with baby boomers at local community centres, and used in-person visits and email to meet with various community centre staff who managed recreational programs. Learning from both the participants and the team handling their daily customer service interactions helped us identify three key insights.
In-person Registration Preferences
Many Baby Boomers prefer in-person registration as they find them more familiar, accessible, and easier to navigate.
System Complexity
The online registration process is challenging due to too many steps, cluttered interfaces, email requirements, and technical barriers.
Language Barrier
Non-English-speaking Baby Boomers struggle with registration due to limited language support, often needing assistance from another party.
Based on our interviews, we analyzed our research and organized the data into user personas, an experience map, and task flows. From there, we came up with three main guiding principles for the focus of our product design.
Guided User Experience
Include a conversational AI chatbot feature to assist users with customer support. Provide introductory walkthroughs and helpful audio instructions where possible.
Less Clicks & Clear Affordances
Prioritizes fewer steps to complete a task. Provide clear visual cues, confirmations, and easy-to-understand iconography.
Multilingual Support
Prompt users to choose their language supported by universial flag icons at first launch.
User personas, user experience map, and user task flow.
