There’s an old lady I know who couldn’t use her phone for 3 days because "the screen had gone black”. It had gone flat and gotten stuck in ultra power saving mode which just displays the time. There is a small glyph in the top left which is a box with an arrow pointing out of it, which I knew was tappable and which means exit but she didn’t. To make things worse even if she had tapped it the confirmation dialog that appeared was just some red text that didn’t look like a button at all.
She had no chance. Was about to buy a new phone, thinking the battery was busted.
She understood none of it. Why there is an ultra power saving mode, why it would automatically engage, why it’s a black screen, why that is an exit icon, etc.
After I fixed it she was very glad - the phone home screen background is a photo of her dog that died recently and she was very happy to be able to see it again. She doesn’t know how to access the gallery app so that’s the only way she can see the dog that she misses so much.
I think the only thing she can do with her phone is answer it when it rings and unlock it to look at the home screen.
Here’s a little something I learned about talking tech with older folks, boomers in particular…
With a lot of us, you can just be told what to tap/click/type in order to get the device to do what you want, or stop doing what you don’t want. And that’s good enough. For a lot of older folks, they also want to know why - what exactly did I do by tapping/clicking/typing that, and how does that fix the problem, and why is it designed that way to begin with? Knowing that helps them see beyond what’s on the screen to what the device is actually doing. And if they don’t get that info, then the problem with the device remains mysterious.
Whenever I find myself helping an older person with their phone or computer, I try to share as much as I know about whatever we’re doing. And if I can’t I just say, “I don’t know why it’s designed like that but this will fix your problem.” Goes a long way.
the phone home screen background is a photo of her dog that died recently and she was very happy to be able to see it again. She doesn’t know how to access the gallery app so that’s the only way she can see the dog that she misses so much
I hope you backed that picture up to at leat 3 different places and printed one for her
That’s my mom, currently doing some code-fu on ollama mixed with a lot of scripting to try and make a voice assistant for her that isn’t connected to satan.
Weather
Play a song - then it searches youtube for her answer
Play __ is a struggle. Jellyfin, Youtube. Where is __? Will she specify? Won’t she? I can automate remote inputs, could I have an Ai replace the search string with her answer?
There’s also input lag, whether or not something freezes or doesn’t, it’s fun.
Yes with all the brain damage from Covid I’m pretty sure assistive tech for dementia will be huge huge huge in a few years. Definitely a deep well to draw from, that one.
I have the wireframes of an app sketched out but that’s as far as I’ve gotten.
There’s an old lady I know who couldn’t use her phone for 3 days because "the screen had gone black”. It had gone flat and gotten stuck in ultra power saving mode which just displays the time. There is a small glyph in the top left which is a box with an arrow pointing out of it, which I knew was tappable and which means exit but she didn’t. To make things worse even if she had tapped it the confirmation dialog that appeared was just some red text that didn’t look like a button at all.
She had no chance. Was about to buy a new phone, thinking the battery was busted.
She understood none of it. Why there is an ultra power saving mode, why it would automatically engage, why it’s a black screen, why that is an exit icon, etc.
After I fixed it she was very glad - the phone home screen background is a photo of her dog that died recently and she was very happy to be able to see it again. She doesn’t know how to access the gallery app so that’s the only way she can see the dog that she misses so much.
I think the only thing she can do with her phone is answer it when it rings and unlock it to look at the home screen.
Here’s a little something I learned about talking tech with older folks, boomers in particular…
With a lot of us, you can just be told what to tap/click/type in order to get the device to do what you want, or stop doing what you don’t want. And that’s good enough. For a lot of older folks, they also want to know why - what exactly did I do by tapping/clicking/typing that, and how does that fix the problem, and why is it designed that way to begin with? Knowing that helps them see beyond what’s on the screen to what the device is actually doing. And if they don’t get that info, then the problem with the device remains mysterious.
Whenever I find myself helping an older person with their phone or computer, I try to share as much as I know about whatever we’re doing. And if I can’t I just say, “I don’t know why it’s designed like that but this will fix your problem.” Goes a long way.
Trying it but my grandma is stubborn.
Essentially the kind of “I don’t habe time for this shit” and “I am too old for this shit”
Oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Okay yeah I don’t have an approach for that lol.
I hope you backed that picture up to at leat 3 different places and printed one for her
I wanna print her dog pictures off her phone and give them to her on paper
Good idea, I’ll see what can be done.
That’s my mom, currently doing some code-fu on ollama mixed with a lot of scripting to try and make a voice assistant for her that isn’t connected to satan.
Weather
Play a song - then it searches youtube for her answer
Play __ is a struggle. Jellyfin, Youtube. Where is __? Will she specify? Won’t she? I can automate remote inputs, could I have an Ai replace the search string with her answer?
There’s also input lag, whether or not something freezes or doesn’t, it’s fun.
Yes with all the brain damage from Covid I’m pretty sure assistive tech for dementia will be huge huge huge in a few years. Definitely a deep well to draw from, that one.
I have the wireframes of an app sketched out but that’s as far as I’ve gotten.