November 21, 2019

“Our users are old, they are not good with technology”

Said the Product Manager frustrated after hearing about all the support calls from customers with questions about how to use her product. “You haven’t spent time with them as I have” she insisted.

But is it true? Are they incapable of learning how to use a piece of software? Is it better to say that we are bad at empathizing with our users? Is it more probable that we are designing for ourselves rather than the people we are seeking to help? Could it be that we are not good designers, yet?

After all, I have seen many grandparents with smartphones using social media to post a lot of grandchild cuteness. Somehow they figured out how to use a smartphone, download an app, register an account, and post a photo.

It might be a fact that her users are older and less tech-savvy. The goal is to understand their challenges and design for them. It doesn’t matter how I use the app, it’s not for me.