Designing for Older Adults: Principles and Creative Human Factors Approaches

Published:
January 14, 2004 by CRC Press - 176 Pages
Author(s):
Arthur D. Fisk, Georgia Institute of Technology; Wendy A. Rogers, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA; Neil Charness, Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA; Sara J. Czaja, University of Miami, Florida, USA; Joseph Sharit, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA

Purchasing Options

Hardback
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in your region
ISBN 9780415286114
Cat# TF1537
 

Features

  • Presents the development of comprehensive guidelines for the design of existing and emerging technologies for older adults
  • Provides a practical introduction to human factors and older adults
  • Translates the large academic literature on age-related changes in ability, learning, and performance into guidelines for design

    • Summary

    As life expectancy increases, older workers and the retired form a large and growing proportion of the world’s population. Professionals working to develop systems and environments need to better accommodate the user needs of the older adult.

    This new guide provides a practical introduction to human factors and the older adult. It considers the subject primarily from an engineering psychology perspective, heavily grounded in today’s scientific knowledge. The authors show how current understanding of age-related issues of perception, cognition, and movement control can be applied in practice. They also provide a reference source with guidelines and advice for design issues ranging from lighting, computer input device selection, and web site design, to training program development and work task design.

    The text draws on research-oriented work and presents this in a form that can be used by the broad audience of product designers, health care practitioners, managers, and others who need answers to problems and require sound recommendations for design.

    Table of Contents

    PART I: FUNDAMENTALS


    Toward Better design for Older Adults
    Characteristics of Older Adult Users
    Guiding the Design Process

    PART II: DESIGN GUIDELINES


    Improving Perception of Information
    Developing Training and Instructional Programs
    Design of Input and Output Devices
    Interface Design

    PART III: EXEMPLAR APPLICATIONS


    Making the Work Environment Age-friendly
    Maximizing the Usefulness and Usability of Health Care Technologies

    PART IV: CONCLUSION


    Synthesis and Comments
    References
    Index

    Editorial Reviews

    “… the goal for the book is to provide a primer on the issues that must be considered when designing systems, products or environments for older adults. … Overall, I think that this is a useful book for designers and ergonomists alike as it does provide a good summary of both, the effects of ageing and what we can do to help older people overcome these effects and continue to lead a full and active life. At the same time, life ca be made a little easier for the rest of the population.”
    — Magdalen Galley, Ergonomics Consultant, in Ergonomics, vol. 50, No. 2, February 2007
    “Guidelines are grouped by topic and presented in bullet format or in tables, which makes [this book] ideal as a quick-reference text. … This book is well written in a clear, straightforward language. … [A]ppropriate as a basic reference for practitioners and designers who want to better serve the aging population. I could also envision it being incorporated as a supplementary text in a course on aging and human factors. … I highly recommend [this book] for product designers or readers wanting an introduction to age-related design issues.”
    — Ergonomics in Design, Summer 2005
    “Recommended for professionals who design systems, products or environments for adult learners. Industrial engineers, product designers and others concerned with human factors and ergonomics would find the guidelines useful. Recommended for academic libraries with curricula in engineering, gerontology and related health and psychology professions.”
    — E-Streams, Vol. 7, No. 12, Dec. 2004

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