In with the Old

America is aging. And going gray affects the way we think, the way we do business, and perhaps our attitudes about trying new things. Retailers and other companies using or exploring kiosks may need to study the habits of their older consumers to determine how likely they are to use self-service technology, and what will make the technology more accessible to them. After all, this will continue to be a big group of buyers.

Industry opinion varies on how older consumers accept kiosks. Some experts believe that older people are, in general, resistant to technology. Others think that the demographic group will use kiosks as readily as any other, as long as the kiosks are well designed.

What everyone does agree on is that older consumers are a market force not to be taken lightly.

"Improving accessibility to information for the elderly is important, not only because of its obvious humanitarian value, but for business reasons as well. By making products accessible to the elderly, we can greatly enlarge the market for our products," said Dr. Tom Holzman, manager of user experience consulting services for NCR Corp.'s retail solutions division.

Holzman said that worldwide, there are about 500 million people over the age of 65. About half to two-thirds of that population has some type of disability. The return on investment in accommodating their needs can be huge.

But there are real and perceived obstacles to overcome. Pete Snyder, vice president of sales for Kiosk Information Systems Inc., said kiosks today are "definitely targeted to the young."

"Clearly the software is written to kids," Snyder said. "But age is significant. If you're not paying attention to demographics, you're making a serious mistake."

Snyder, 59, said he believes most of his contemporaries wouldn't even approach a kiosk, and if they did, they would be intimidated.

In its market research of consumer demographics, Eastman Kodak found that not only are those under 35 more likely to learn about Kodak Picture Maker kiosks from TV advertising, this same age group is also more likely to actually use the kiosks.

Clear Benefits

Snyder said the industry has a responsibility to market the benefits of kiosks to older consumers. "We can tell them that waiting in line at the department of motor vehicles will take two to three hours. But going to a kiosk will take two to three minutes."

Holzman said that while all consumers can share the same benefits of kiosks, older consumers may value privacy in particular. For example, in retail settings, older shoppers may prefer that cashiers not see purchases of over-the-counter medications or personal hygiene products.

Store-locator kiosks could also be of particular benefit to the elderly, Holzman said, since they may not have the mobility or good vision needed to cruise up and down aisles trying to find a product.

Having control over the pace of the checkout process is another benefit of kiosks. Jeff Roster, Gartner Group senior analyst of global industries, retail, says anecdotal research shows that older people like to go slowly at checkout, looking again at their purchases as they scan them, for instance.

"Technology can go in either direction; it can speed you up, or let you slow down," said Roster. He said that field research might disprove the theory that older people are anti-technology across the board.

"Customers can interact with kiosks however they choose," he said.

Myths Undone

Rob Leathern, senior analyst at Jupiter Research, said his organization has studied public-access kiosks, as well as the use of kiosks for other tasks in retailer locations and airports. The data is segmented by age and other demographics.

The data from 2001 shows that while 47 percent of online users 25-34 years of age had used kiosks, only 31 percent of those 55-64 and 18 percent of users 65 and older had used kiosks from retailers, travel companies or financial institutions.

But Leathern said part of this difference could be attributed to the location of early kiosk deployments, and people's awareness of those applications.

For example, one of the biggest differences in usage patterns is in areas where there have been significant early deployments, like music/video sampling kiosks. With these types of kiosks, 44 percent of 18-24 year olds showed an interest in using them versus only 11 percent of those older than 65, according to Jupiter.

There's a much smaller difference in interest in using kiosks for checking in for airline flights, where interest increases among older demographic groups, Leathern said.

Overall, the Jupiter data shows that the elderly are not afraid of using kiosks, they will simply use them only if the need exists.

Dr. Marylyn Carrigan, senior lecturer at England's University of Birmingham, Birmingham Business School, has researched the technology habits of older consumers, age 50 and up, and confirms Jupiter's findings.

"We believe the notion that older people do not adopt new ideas has more to do with cultural attitudes than actual factual evidence," she stated.

Carrigan said older consumers need to be motivated to change their habits. In other words, businesses need to prove that kiosks can make their lives easier before they will try them.

Roster said he has not seen any kiosk vendor target technology specifically to older people.

Fine-Tuning Features

That's because most vendors do not have customers requesting features specifically for seniors.

But customers do request kiosk hardware and software that is accessible to customers with disabilities, which often addresses the challenges faced by many senior citizens.

Scott Hallihan, consumer service and kiosk manager for IBM retail store solutions, said his company favors a general accessibility approach to kiosk design.

"We think a well-designed kiosk solution should address the needs of the target population at large, which often includes older consumers. If there are specific concerns, those should be identified early in the cycle and be addressed."

NCR, on the other hand, takes a focused look at demographics.

"There is a real science behind designing kiosks for the elderly and those with disabilities. Successful kiosks for the elderly require a scientific approach to understanding the total user experience," said Holzman.

"People with training and experience in fields such as psychology, human-factors engineering, and visual design are needed to conduct and properly interpret research that will guide the design of kiosks."

Some organizations like NCR have labs where controlled experiments using prototype systems can be done with samples of users from a target population like the elderly.

Factors that can be studied include: how big buttons on a screen must be for accurate selection without taking up so much space that instructions of proper size can't fit on the screen; which colors provide sufficient contrast for good text legibility; and how to direct users' attention to specific screen elements through the use of color or animation without become distracting.

Holzman said using supplementary audio instructions or feedback with kiosks can also be helpful, especially for low-vision users or for situations in which the user must devote vision to other tasks like bagging merchandise.

Large touchscreen buttons with good separation between them help users to make accurate inputs to the kiosk. He said touchscreens employing resistive (pressure-sensitive) technology rather than capacitive (body heat-sensitive) technology can also simplify usage, because the resistive screens do not require users to remove their gloves.

Reading Signs

There are some important things to consider in addition to the user interface itself, according to NCR. Signage can be one of them.

Having an easy-to-read sign near the kiosk describing its advantages and features can be key to getting elderly people to give it a try and to reducing their anxieties.

Likewise, having the kiosk run a short "attract loop" that describes its purpose and how to use it can help potential users feel more at ease.

Having a store employee nearby can also provide elderly users some confidence.

And finally, it can be beneficial to provide incentives for trying the new technology.

"If there is no clear advantage to using a kiosk over some other way of obtaining the same result, people won't bother with it," said Holzman.

A good example, he said, is self-service gasoline. Many elderly people will pump their own gas even when full service is available, because there is a substantial cost saving in most places for self-service.