Alberta Business Marketing

In this alberta@noon column on CBC Radio One with guest host Holly Preston and I talk about technology and how it impacts the aging. There’s a lot more tech being built for seniors. We chat about why and what are the changes in designs being made to tech to cater to seniors.

albertaatnoon March 9 2011

Unfortunately we only had 4 minutes in the end instead of the usual 7 or so we normally have, so I didn’t get a chance to get to any of the awesome examples I’d prepared. So in the interest of not having wasted that time I’ve included my notes for the interview below so you can see the examples. (Apologies if I’ve ruined a bit of the “magic” of radio for you by doing this.)

1. We’ve always had senior citizens, so why are technology companies only now starting to take our aging citizens seriously and design for them?

• If you’re thinking of starting a company the great idea that sparks you to action is usually a solution to a problem you have in your own life. When you reach retirement age most people aren’t looking to start a company, so all the ideas that are starting new companies tend to come from younger people.
• And because they are solving a problem that they have, they are not taking into consideration the needs of different parts of the populations – such as the aging.
• There are two main reasons we are starting to see a shift and more products and services taking older Canadians into consideration.
• The first is the sheer number of seniors. With baby boomers hitting retirement age, there are now more people 65+ than ever before. Any smart company who doesn’t want to immediately rule out a large portion of the population as a potential customer are going to think about how to market to this group.
• The second reason is comfortably with technology. The baby boomers that are starting to hit retirement age are more used to using technology in their lives over the past 20 years than the generations that came before them. Just because they are retiring doesn’t mean they are going to stop using a computer or a cell phone.

2. Why do we need to design differently for seniors? Aren’t they people just like everyone else?

• Yes, but there are differences in their acceptance of technology. And there is a sharp decline in Internet use after age 65
• A 2007 Pew Tracking Survey that showed 85 percent of adults in 18-24, 25-34 and 35-44 age groups used the Internet. By contrast, only 39 percent of adults between 65 and 74, and 24 percent of adults between 75 and 84 were Internet users.
• Secondly, as anyone who is getting older can tell you, the body doesn’t work the way it used to.
• Aging potentially involves reduced mobility, reduced vision, and even reduced cognitive resources. You have to design things with this in mind otherwise this group may have difficulty with your product.
• Research shows that as a result of the normal aging process it takes older adults roughly twice as long as younger people to learn a new word processor. That’s even true for older adults who have prior experience with another word processor.
• The reality is the older you get, the more you experience things differently.
• Researchers at MIT have formed a group called AgeLab where they have developed a suit which limits the mobility and vision of the wearer to simulate some of the conditions seniors face every day.
• You can’t lift your arms above your head, your head can only turn so far, your head is a can only tilt so far in relation to your spine, you wear glasses to limit sight, etc.
• The researchers then wore the suit to the grocery store and tried to purchase products that market research shows are popular among seniors. There findings show that much of the grocery store layout is very difficult for seniors and they are starting to publish that research in hopes stores will implement changes.

3. What other sorts of things are designers doing to make products and services easier for the 65+ crowd?

• If research shows cognitive abilities can be impaired and fine motor control becomes more limited it’s very easy to design with that in mind – and often those designs make the product better for younger people too.
• Some of the most popular design changes for seniors involve simplifying menus and interfaces, making bigger buttons, and using images instead of small text.
• It’s no coincidence then that the iPad has become such a hit with seniors. Anecdotal evidence shows it is gaining in popularity among this age group at a pace that far outstrips any recently released gadget. It’s easy to use.
• It’s not just new products being created however; it’s also proving to improve current products too:
• General Electric’s appliance design team has started empathy sessions for their designers where they do things like weighing down pans and taping the designers knuckles to simulate arthritis.
• This has lead to recent innovations such as the wall oven which is at a height that the user doesn’t have to stoop and bend as much and avoid imbalanced positions.
• Boeing, the company that builds airliners, is redesigned it’s interior cabin with aging baby boomers in mind as well.
• The interior of a plane hasn’t changed much in 20 years but now with an aging population (as well as a heavier population) companies like Boeing are giving design a second thought.
• They are getting rid of the bi-fold lavatory door in favour of a less cumbersome sliding option, and they are designing overhead bin latches to be more intuitive. At the same time they are doing research into the materials their seats are made of to make them thinner while maintaining comfort. The result is more leg room which is even more important for a customer with limited mobility.
• The car company Volvo is probably making some of the biggest changes however. They know with more seniors that means more people are driving at a later age. Eye movement they have conducted have shown that younger and older drivers literally see different things. For example when at a stop light  seniors focus on markings and road signs, while younger drivers focus on moving things like people and other cars.
• Building off that research we’re starting to see cars that can sense impending collisions and even apply the brakes themselves to avoid that collision if the driver is not responding.
• Most of these advances will not only help seniors but improve usability of the product for everyone else too.

Tags: CBC Radio Column, technology
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In this alberta@noon column on CBC Radio One with host Donna McElligott I talk about QR codes (quick response), which are little black and white squares you might have seen in event posters and newspapers, and why you’ll be seeing a lot more of them in the near future. When you scan one they can make your smartphone do all kind of fun things. Listen for more details on how marketers such as Chevrolet, Heineken, LittleBigPlanet2, fashion designers and New York City have started using them.

albertaatnoon Feb 23 2011

Tags: CBC Radio Column, qr codes, technology
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There’s a movement afoot and it is going to affect the makeup of the Alberta legislature moving forward. Each of the three provincial parties without a leader now officially has someone running for the position.

That in and of itself isn’t news, but what is of note is how they have each announced and how they’ve behaved in the hours immediately after that announcement. And it’s that “how” that is beginning to tell the story of what kind of a general election we are going to see once the writ is dropped.

Instead of the old-school media release and speech attended only by close supporters, each candidate has opened up the campaign to the public from the get go.

For both Alison Redford and Doug Horner — Progressive Conservative hopefuls — the first act on their first day as a candidate was to create a Twitter account. Redford used it right away and made her big announcement on Twitter.

Social media are changing the face of how politics is done.

Alberta Party hopeful Glenn Taylor and PC MLA Doug Griffiths took it one step further and announced their intentions using a live video stream, so anyone in the province who wanted to see their speeches could do so. Those videos are available online, where visitors to their websites are able to share them with friends on Facebook or Twitter at the push of a button.

Griffiths, a social media veteran by any standard, started his second day as a candidate by sitting down for breakfast with political bloggers to tell his story to them directly. Redford spent the afternoon following her announcement doing sit-down interviews with Edmonton media outlets. One after the other, she told her story one-on-one.

These candidates know the world of politics is evolving and see the role social media can play as part of that evolution. As Griffiths explained during his blogger breakfast, the candidate who engages directly with as many Albertans as possible will have the greatest chance of winning the leadership contest — something he sees the social media tool very effective in achieving.

If this is where these candidates are starting, it will be interesting to see how their use of social media has developed by the time election day arrives.

•••

Speaking of social media, that’s where you’ll have to find me moving forward. Today represents my last Metro column. I first started writing it to increase the public’s knowledge of issues during the Calgary municipal election, but I quit my day job to do that. I’ve recently accepted a position with the City of Calgary and so it would be inappropriate for me to continue writing here every week.

I thank my editor Darren Krause for the opportunity to share my opinions over these past few months, and I know Metro will continue its dedication to local news long after my departure.

See you online!

Calgary original: http://www.metronews.ca/calgary/local/article/777370–social-media-are-game-changers
Edmonton original: http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/777370–social-media-are-game-changers

Tags: Calgary, Metro Column, Politics, technology
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I’m not a big fan of party politics. I could care less which party is in charge. I care more about who the people in government are and what kinds of decisions they make. [Note: This last sentence was cut from the printed version, but I thought it was important so I added it back in for my blog.]

With three leadership races going on at the provincial level there is an immense possibility for new leadership, some names are even being touted as leader for more than one party.

To that end I posted a poll on my blog to find out which individuals would make Albertans proud to have as premier; regardless of party affiliation. I invited readers to pick one of the recently rumoured candidates or to pick several — after all I doubt there is just one and one alone we’d be happy with and I suspect there might be one in more than one party.

I would never tout the results of my unscientific poll as looking anything like the possible outcome of an election, but there were some interesting outcomes which could indicate some emerging trends and give some food for thought.

First, the parties with established leaders in Brian Mason and Danielle Smith didn’t outpace as many of the potential candidates of other parties as I thought they would. This should indicate to the Progressive Conservatives and Alberta Party that at this point their eventual leaders are not as far behind in public consciousness as one might think.

The news is not as good for the Liberal party however. Of the rumoured candidates for its leadership, none of them made much of a blip. Kent Hehr did okay. It’s clear he would be the only current Liberal with a chance of righting their ship. Of course rumours also say he’s being wooed by the Alberta Party and the poll tells me he’d probably have more success there.

My informal poll also shows that the two front runners for the Progressive Conservative leadership are Doug Griffiths and Alison Redford. Their support is solid enough I would be shocked if either don’t run.

The numbers also illustrate many PC hopefuls such as Doug Horner and Jim Dinning would run in the middle of the pack and not make much of an impact in a general election. (Don’t forget this is what they said about Ed Stelmach too though.) However the vote for rumoured candidates Gene Zwozdesky, Gary Mar, Jonathan Denis and Ken Hughes was so abysmal I’m confident in saying unless they have a big game changer in their playbook that no one else has they should save themselves the time and embarrassment.

The big surprise in the poll however was a name I had heard rumoured six months ago but not lately, which I included on a whim. Chima Nkemdirim, someone I thought would have polled near the bottom instead was right at the top. Nkemdirim is Mayor Naheed Nenshi’s chief of staff. If he were to run, I’m confident he’d make a big splash with broad based support from all areas of the political spectrum.

Calgary original: http://www.metronews.ca/calgary/local/article/769602–focusing-on-the-individual-not-the-party

Edmonton original: http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/769602–focusing-on-the-individual-not-the-party

Tags: Alberta Liberal Party, Alberta Party, Alison Redford, Brian Mason, Chima Nkemdirim, Danielle Smith, Doug Griffiths, Doug Horner, Gary Mar, Gene Zwozdesky, Jim Dinning, Jonathan Denis, Ken Hughes, Kent Hehr, Metro Column, Naheed Nenshi, Politics
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In this alberta@noon column on CBC Radio One with host Donna McElligott I talk about how reports of the internet fueled death of newspapers and magazines are greatly exaggerated. I talk about Avenue Magazine and their editorial panel, the Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal’s use of online chats, journalists joining Twitter to create one on one relationships with readers and to report breaking news, Metro and National Post’s use of Foursquare for content delivery, and a few other examples too.

albertaatnoon Feb 9 2011

Tags: Avenue Magazine, Calgary Herald, CBC Radio Column, Edmonton Journal, Metro Calgary, National Post, technology, Twitter
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