Redeveloping Project 2
For my project 2 idea I am now creating a UI kit designed for over 50’s. The UI kit will be available for web and app developers who are creating apps designed for this age group to guide them when designing components for a market which may not be familiar with using technology. The idea will be regenerating older traditions of internet interfaces in order to be better understood by a market which skipped this introduction to technology. We have developed the aesthetics of interfaces to become too busy and flashy, using symbols and icons which we are familiar with however 58% of seniors could not identify common icons and symbols. I aim to create a range of templates which simplifies this vast development which has been made through technology interfaces to bring it back to the beginning, introducing new ages to technologies yet still keeping it modern and appealing.
I want to reinvent skeuomorphism; we have developed into flat, simple designs. This makes it difficult for people who are not conventionally used to technology to understand what items are clickable, I want to relate the touchscreen elements to real life products in which this market is used to. An example would be to create 3 dimensional buttons to reiterate they are buttons and relate to the products they are used to. As seen below the development has not only created a flat aesthetic, the buttons have also become very close together, this not only makes it difficult to directly click on button without placing your finger over to the other button, but for members with visual impairments the thin line between buttons could also be difficult to perceive, therefore making it appear less like buttons to click on.
An important element I will keep as a theme is to integrate the aesthetics of real life objects into the design to keep it common knowledge as to what they are used to. An example of this could be to show time on a face clock rather than choosing a digital face and date to be chose on a calendar rather than writing the numbers.
The use of colours are also important for the over 50’s as colours become less perceptive and clear therefore a high contrast design helps differentiate between background and foreground colours. Shades of blue and purple are also colours to avoid as particular shades appear faded or desaturated therefore bold colours need to be used as oppose to pastel shades.
What is important to remember when designing this kit is that I will assume the target market will have no prior knowledge of technology or the internet therefore the challenge will be reinventing old traditions and aesthetics into modern designs for a market that is new to the internet.
I will be presenting the UI kit on a webpage, this will be how I market my product to sell to appropriate designers and app developers. I will explain why each element is important for appealing to the target market and why certain fronts, colours etc. should be used. Finally to test out my UI kit I will reinvent an existing app, I aim to find an app which is popular with the over 50’s and replicate some pages using my templates to compare the effectiveness of my designs.