UX Design for Seniors (Ages 65 and older)

Seniors (ages 65 and older) are one of the fastest growing demographics on the web. However, our usability studies show that many websites and apps are hard to use for seniors. For example, UI elements like dropdowns and sliders are more difficult for users with declining motor skills, particularly on touch interfaces.

This 214-page report offers 87 design guidelines based on our usability research. Discussions and 160 screenshot illustrations supplement our findings.

Article on our research findings: Usability for Seniors: Challenges and Changes

Topics covered

• Usability challenges that seniors face
• Seniors’ attitudes towards technology
• Performance, tendencies, and behaviors compared to younger users
• History of internet, mobile device, and computer usage and how this history impacts current behaviors
• Physical and cognitive considerations that affect technology use
• Recommendations for making digital products easier and more engaging for seniors
  • Content strategy
  • Page layout and visual design considerations to help older people process information and take action
  • Navigation considerations for the elderly, including for responsive sites, and in mobile and tablet apps
  • Best practices in creating social media content for older audiences
  • Forms that are easy to complete and not error-prone
  • Search design that makes finding information easier for older users
  • Ways to present personalized and customized content
  • Using images and video content in a way that attracts seniors’ attention and holds their interest
  • Customer support practices to make sure seniors are satisfied
• Detailed methodology section with tips for how to conduct your own usability studies with seniors
  • Considerations when writing usability testing tasks for seniors
• Differences between facilitating test sessions with seniors and younger counterparts

What's new with the third edition?

The third edition contains many new recommendations and updated examples. This edition covers several new topics, including:

• How seniors use smartphones and tablets
• Recommendations for tablet and mobile applications
• Social media usage trends and guidelines for social media content
• Personalized and customized content recommendations

Research method

The information in this report is based on three rounds of usability research, conducted over 19 years, with seniors 65-89 years old. We used four different research methods:

• One-on-one in person usability testing
• Contextual inquiry sessions where we observed seniors using their computers and mobile devices at a senior center.
• Interviews and focus groups for learning about seniors’ attitudes and preferences 
• Expert design reviews

We conducted studies in participants’ homes, offices, senior centers, coworking spaces, and in our testing labs.

Across all three studies, we conducted research with 123 seniors. 93 seniors tested the usability of 64 websites and apps, and 30 seniors participated in focus groups or contextual inquiry sessions. The studies took place in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Canada, and Australia.