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Home / Sessions / Learn to Design for an Aging Population, Cause Guess What? You’ll Be Designing for Your Own Future

Learn to Design for an Aging Population, Cause Guess What? You’ll Be Designing for Your Own Future

IAC 2021 /

Time(s)

April 29, 2021
11:00 AM to 12:00 PM CT

The Live Q&A for this talk will begin as soon as the livestream ends.  In the event the livestream runs over, the Live Q&A and any follow-up conversation will continue inon the Discord channel for this talk.

Location

Virtual

Description

Most of us know to design keeping accessibility in mind. But, you may not have thought much about what it means to design for a multi-generational audience. “Designing for aging” usually calls up images of medical or health-focused products, not the programs and websites used in business today. But the workforce around you is evolving at a rapid rate. Gains in longevity, advances in healthy aging, and increasingly flexible workspaces mean workforces in the future will look very different than they do today. More folks are willing and able to work into their 70s and 80s, and due to economic realities, retirement is not an option for many. Add in declining birth rates and you can see why companies are gearing up for workforces that may include up to five generations. But few are talking about how to design for these new users who are tech-savvy, but have needs created by aging.

After years spent designing accessibility into AT&T’s, recently, I began looking at how to design for this aging population. The good news is “We’ve got this. You already have the tools you need if you apply the VIMM model of user loads and the Accessibility Guidelines published by the WC3 to your work. In this talk, we’ll walk through the requirements of an older generation of worker and how to create effective solution using these tools. You’ll discover that the designs you start creating will bring you back to the basics of what good design is all about. By designing products that are accessible to all your users, you’ll be creating work that will enable the changing workplace to be a productive and inclusive space for all – including yourself. ‘Cause let’s face it – we’re all aging, but as the old saying goes, it sure beats the alternative.

About the speakers

Linda Chadwick-Wirth
Linda Chadwick-Wirth

Linda Chadwick-Wirth has been designing experiences for users of all ages since 2005. Since joining Critical Mass (CM) in 2010, her work has included digital campaigns & site redesigns for a wide range of clients that have included HP, adidas, Harley-Davidson, & AT&T, to name a few, but her main focus and special passion is designing experiences and flows that help users accomplish day-to-day tasks in an easy and intuitive manner. A card-carrying member of AARP (and proud of it), she is the Age Affinity Group Lead on CM’s Diversity and Inclusion Board where she works to foster a culture embracing multi-generational differences and strengths. She and her husband live in on a small farm In western Colorado with a menagerie of dogs, cats, chickens, horses, and a mule.

Sponsor IAC

We’re looking for organizations who share our commitment to building and sustaining programs that drive a more inclusive industry. Learn more on the Sponsor IAC23 page or contact us directly at info@theiaconference.com for more information.

Thanks to this year’s sponsors!

Logo for sponsor Optimal Workshop
Platinum sponsor
Optimal Workshop
Logo for sponsor Factor Firm
Gold sponsor
Factor Firm
Logo for sponsor Last Call Media
Silver sponsor
Last Call Media
Logo for sponsor Design for Context
Scholarship sponsor
Design for Context

Logo for sponsor A Book Apart
In-Kind sponsor
A Book Apart
Logo for sponsor Balsamiq
In-Kind sponsor
Balsamiq
Logo for sponsor MURAL
In-Kind sponsor
MURAL
Logo for sponsor Rosenfeld Media
In-Kind sponsor
Rosenfeld Media
Logo for sponsor UX Camp DC
Community sponsor
UX Camp DC
Logo for sponsor World IA Day
Community sponsor
World IA Day

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