The Art of Ageless Design

Products for older adults should have specific functionality and features. Just don't make something that makes them feel "old" if you want to succeed.

Here’s a common conception about getting older that’s actually true. 

Two-thirds of Americans aged 70 and older “have clinically relevant hearing loss,” according to the Johns Hopkins Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health. The chance of developing hearing loss increases the older we get. 

Fortunately, we have technology that helps with this. The electronic hearing aid dates back to 1898, made possible by the invention of the telephone.

Here’s the problem. Only 20 percent of people in the United States who need hearing aids own one, which doesn’t include those who have hearing aids but don’t wear them – a group that accounts for between 5 and 24 percent of hearing-aid owners.¹

Why? 

Besides being expensive and ugly, older people simply don’t want to be seen wearing them. “They make me look old,” was the response when Jane Brody, personal health columnist for The New York Times, gifted a pricey hearing aid to her elderly aunt.

Hearing aids are designed to amplify signals entering the ear canal to compensate for hearing loss, but their real purpose is to help older people live better lives. Unfortunately, being seen wearing a hearing aid is actually detrimental to that goal. As Joseph Coughlin puts it in his book The Longevity Economy:

In such cases, the higher-level desire to look and feel a certain way overpowers the base-level physiological need to maximize one’s ability to hear.

And yet, we have people of all ages who walk around daily with various brands of wireless earbuds in clear view. Plus, the technology that allows for music, calls, and hearing assistance all in one device already exists inside Apple’s AirPods.

Whether or not you think AirPods look cool is beside the point. What they are is ageless technology that doesn't scream “old” even as they eventually evolve into multifunction “hearables” that replace the current conception of the hearing aid.

Going forward, some types of products will need to be specifically designed for older adults. But in many cases, all that’s required is feature inclusion that’s, well, inclusive of older folks.

Older People Like Hip Glasses Too

Eyesight is another function that diminishes as you get older, often beginning in middle age. And while people of all ages wear glasses, older adults frequently require progressive lenses, a technology that improves upon dreaded bifocals and saves people from needing two pairs of glasses for near and far sight.

Meanwhile, upstart Warby Parker entered the eyeglass market in 2010 with a mission to deliver stylish frames with prescription lenses at affordable prices. The fashion and the pricing made the initially online-only retailer a hit with the 18 to 34 demographic.

In their fourth year, Warby Parker made two important changes. They opened retail stores for the first time and started offering progressive lenses. Not only did this latter move bring Warby Parker into the longevity economy, but it also tapped into more than half of the potential eyeglass market that the company had been missing.

Did Warby Parker design all new frames to accommodate its new crop of customers? Not at all, because older people like hip glasses too.

Tapping the “Athletes Forever” Market

Nike is another company that has profited highly from the 18-34 market, which generates most of the company’s $37 billion in annual revenue. But Nike also understands that its customer base is getting older, just like the general population, which influenced its recent product development efforts.

Rather than targeting older consumers, Nike’s president of Categories and Product says they serve “athletes getting older.” While that may seem like a too-subtle distinction, it’s based on a smart observation that lifelong runners eventually move into a new stage of life where their pace may slow, but they aren’t going to stop.

The Nike CruzrOne was the brainchild of designer Tinker Hatfield and inspired by Nike co-founder Phil Knight. In the 2019 promotional video for the launch of the shoe, Tinker reveals that he was impressed that Knight continued to walk eight miles to the office every day.

Knight responded wryly, “I was running. Just not very fast.” Nicely done, but one thing not mentioned in the video is that Phil Knight is in his 80s and still going strong. Likewise, the marketing campaign for the CruzrOne focuses on pace rather than age, which can apply to younger people who prefer to walk or jog slowly.

Okay, So I’ve Fallen and …

Let’s briefly revisit our favorite example of terrible marketing aimed at older people – “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up.” What you may not know is that the product being advertised was generally a failure. 

The originator of both the device and the catchphrase went out of business in 1993 after only four years. Their successor was LifeAlert, a different company that resurrected the slogan for a similar product. Even then, the product failed to catch on with the intended over-65 audience, because who wants to be associated with such a cringe indicator of age and impending mortality?

And yet, I wear a device with similar functionality every day. It’s called the Apple Watch, and its fall-detection technology provides the exact same functionality as the hideous LifeAlert pendant. At this point in my life, I might only need it if I take a spill while hiking or cycling, but the included functionality has saved the lives of older people who have fallen and been knocked unconscious.

Of course, the Apple Watch has a whole suite of functionality to enhance your health and safety, ranging from exercise metrics to heart rate and irregularity monitoring to sleep tracking. It also tells time, which is nice.

Living (Not Just Aging) in Place

Despite the opportunity for mass copulation at retirement communities like The Villages in Florida, 90 percent of adults over 65 report that they would prefer to stay in their current residence as they get older. So-called “aging in place” presents a massive opportunity in the field of home renovation alone, and the necessary changes can be done in an aesthetically pleasing manner.

Alterations include wider doorways and hallways, enhanced lighting, good acoustics, multiple counter heights, and lever-style door and faucet handles. Shower areas, where an alarming number of injuries and deaths occur from slips and falls, are particularly critical.

Here we’ll let a photo do the talking, courtesy of MTI Baths:

This shower has a zero barrier threshold for walkers and wheelchairs, a seat, a hand-held nozzle, a foot bath with whirlpool jets, and an attractive grab bar. Compare this to the last time you were in a hotel room with accessible bathroom features.

The Importance of New Lifestyle Channels

We now return to our recurring theme – older people are people too. While they both need and desire unique features and functionality as they progress into their later years, older adults aren’t any more interested in associating with products that scream “old”  than anyone else.

That said, there are multitudes of products and services designed specifically for older people, and we’ll see countless innovations as the longevity economy kicks into full gear. For entrepreneurs, this will be an incredibly fertile market opportunity.

New marketing and media channels that speak to the various lifestyles that represent healthy older people who are actively living life while extending their healthspans are also needed. It’s not about how old they are but how their worldviews translate into demand for products and services that let them live their best lives.

This presents a tremendous opportunity for new independent digital publications, contributors to brand-owned media, and content marketers and copywriters who demonstrate expertise in communicating with older audiences.

1.  Coughlin, Joseph F. The Longevity Economy: Unlocking the World's Fastest-Growing, Most Misunderstood Market (p. 66). PublicAffairs.