Ecommerce Web Design Blog

Recent international research into the behaviour of older users when using web pages reveals some interesting insights to take into account when designing a website.

While children today have grown up with computers, many people over 60 have learned to use computers and the web from scratch. This means that seniors have a different frame of reference to compare the Internet to. Their expectations of what is possible and how it will behave are often different from people in younger generations, which poses some interesting challenges for web designers. How do you build a compelling and meaningful site that appeals to both generations? Part of the answers lie in understanding how seniors use the Internet, as identified in recent research studies conducted overseas.

Those insights are:

• Older people often do not scroll down a page. If they can't find the information they want 'above-the-fold', they will return to the search engine they were using or go to a different website. If you are designing a website for seniors and have content that is likely to scroll the screen, it could pay to actually include 'scroll down' buttons or some indicator that there is more information. Using small snippets of information with 'read more' links could also help you.
• Older users often assume that any key part of a web page (e.g. headings) can be clicked as links. Linking more parts of the screen to pages can help you keep the attention of older customers.
• Older users tend to prefer sites that change the colour of visited links, whereas younger users often have little or no preference for this behaviour
• Fonts that are less 12 points are difficult to read and can deter older users from staying on the website (and buying products). What's more older users often have their computers set to lower resolutions than younger users
• Internet-based phrases are not always well understood by older users. This has implications for developing manuals and providing support. It also suggests that older users are more likely to take advantage of things like glossaries or use search-functionality rather than browse through the structure of a website.
• Simple and clear language can help with readability and retain attention (this applies to all websites, not just those for seniors however).

When designing a site to take seniors into account, think also about the colours you use. Keep them simple, clear and take into account potential colour blindness or other eye issues.