Requests to simplify smart applications to be a friend of senior citizens

The use of smart services is a challenge for senior citizens, due to the complexity of the facades, the difficulty of use, and the fears of penetration of privacy, in addition to other technological obstacles.

These problems stem from complex designs, successive updates, and the acceleration of smart technologies.

A number of senior citizens assured to «Emirates Today» that some smart services do not take into account their actual needs, and do not consider those who are not good at reading, or who do not have technical experience, calling on the concerned authorities to design solutions designated for them.

The main problems faced by senior citizens with smart technology include: weak digital culture and confidence in it, the complexity and disturbance of the facades, and the fear of security risks, such as electronic fraud.

In detail, the mother (R.M.), who lives alone with a domestic worker, said that she suffers from receiving bills electronically, without a paper notice “which leads to the accumulation of bills for months to reach a large amount on them”, calling for the service authorities to take into account senior citizens, especially those who live on their own, away from their children.

In turn, Badria Al -Nakhi expressed its dissatisfaction with the application of the bank that it deals with, noting that it finds it difficult to deal with modern applications, especially with regard to banking transactions, as the digital transformation made the completion of the simplest transactions complicated, and the attendance personally requires the branch.

Banking applications

Lubna Al -Hay said that her mother, Mahra Al -Muhairi, cannot use smart applications, because she did not receive adequate education, and added that “the problem does not lie in the application itself, but rather the difficulty of the mother’s response with him, as she is not educated, even reading notifications within the application and understanding them is a great obstacle to her.”

She continued: «There are applications for certain parties, we communicate with the employee concerned or the communication center, when a problem occurs, and helps us solve them smoothly, but it is completely different with banking applications, as it requires solving any problem of going to the branch personally, and no one else can access or see the account except under an official agency.

Complex steps

In turn, Afra Abdullah emphasized that smart applications represent a qualitative shift in facilitating daily procedures and services, especially for young people, as they deal with technology daily, noting that “the experience differs greatly for senior citizens, who need a longer time and a greater focus to adapt to these tools, given their family, functional and social concerns».

And she added that «smart services have been found to serve all groups of society, not a specific age group, so it is necessary for the group of senior citizens to benefit from them, especially as it enriches them from visiting government or banking agencies.

Afra praised parties that developed smooth smart applications, which can be used from different age groups, whether they are senior or young, without the need for great technical experience.

She emphasized that “there are complex applications even for young people,” noting that “these challenges are especially repeated in some banking applications.”

She explained that «some banks have applications with a simple use interface and short account numbers compared to others, which makes the process of transfer and payment of bills very easy. On the other hand, there are other banks whose applications suffer a great complexity that is not commensurate with the number of its customers or its position in the market.

She said: “One of the biggest challenges in the application is the entry login phase, as it requires answering a large number of questions, such as the color of the car, the first school or university, and the first country to be visited,” noting that “these details may not be remembered by the user, and the biggest problem is that it is repeated at every entry attempt, which increases the probability of error, and prevents the user from accessing the service.”

Afra also noted that there are applications that require taking pictures of several angles so that the system is identified to the user’s face, and described it as “a stressful experience, especially for senior citizens.”

“I had to take more than 10 pictures, and though, the regime did not get to know me,” she said.

She called on the concerned authorities to review and update smart applications design, to be more simple and flexible, especially since senior citizens relied heavily on them to accomplish their basic transactions, such as paying bills, renewing vehicles and registering children in schools.

She emphasized that the vision of the rational leadership in the UAE is clear in this field, where it is constantly emphasized that smart services were found to facilitate not complicated, and applications must be able to serve everyone, especially senior citizens who represent an important and important segment in society.

Torment

Fatima Ahmed said that she depends on her children to activate the “Salik” service and fill the balance, and added: “No notices about crossing gates or low balance, except when the balance reaches 20 or 30 dirhams, which sometimes leads to the forgetting of mobilization due to the concerns of children.”

She emphasized that the application of the bank you deal with “is complicated, and the card can not be activated or the account can be activated except after an arduous journey that takes a lot of time.”

She explained that «the applications of some service authorities turn into something similar to a torment, due to the similarity of the available options, and the use of expressions that only the employees of the same party understand, as well as publishing unclear information, forcing senior citizens to go to the headquarters of the concerned authority.

She said: “Smart applications are supposed to solve these problems, but we have to take a number and wait a long time to solve a simple inquiry.”

Challenges

For his part, the expert advisor in the field of creativity and institutional innovation, Ahmed Shahrouj, affirmed that there are challenges that are already facing senior citizens, and the elderly in general in dealing with modern service applications, which are challenges that differ within this age group from person to person.

He pointed out that the most prominent challenges is the presence of psychological reluctance among some of the elderly in dealing with modern technology to accomplish their services and transactions, as we actually see some of the major citizens who prefer to visit the customer service centers, and bear the hardship of the road, to complete their transactions directly with the employees, and refuse to accomplish them through smart applications while they are in their homes.

And explained the behavior of the behavior of this group through several realistic experiences and examples, that it still believes that its completion of the service itself within the centers of the concerned authorities, gives it a social, psychological and health space that is not provided by smart applications, and it expressed explicitly some of them when they visited customer service centers in order to accomplish a service, when the employee tells them that the transaction can be accomplished through smart application, the customer’s response is that he does not prefer the application, and he loves To attend himself to accomplish the service, to interact with people and see his children from the employees, as some of the elderly believe, that dependence on technology has caused sitting at home, in a way that harms their health, and limits their interaction with society.

He pointed to another challenge related to some applications, as some elderly people find it difficult to deal with them and in the completion of the service and treatment, and here it is necessary to redesign the customer experience in the smart services provided to this category, so that they are more smooth and uncomplicated, and take into account the nature and aspirations of this age group, such as the use of pictures, sound or human support through the application, shortening the steps for completing the service, and reducing options, taking into account the psychological and social aspects And age, associated with this category when designing services directed to it.

Shalves suggested promoting the culture of this category in dealing with modern technology and innovative service applications allocated to it, through courses provided by the specialized concerned authorities, so that they are enabled to keep pace with this technology that saves them a lot of time.

For his part, the digital marketing expert, Faisal Al -Qudra, told «Emirates Today»: “There are two main sles to facilitate the procedures for using digital applications for senior citizens, the first of which is related to access to transactions, as reducing steps and linking transactions through certain pre -preparation applications, such as digital identity, to fill in personal information, will facilitate the procedures, in addition to reducing the number of pages to simplify transactions, while the second aspect is the design aspect It is necessary to enlarge lines and icons to suit the senior citizens, especially since the majority try to adapt to smartphones and touch screens. ”

He added: «There is an additional step that may require a great effort from the company or the authority, and is to allocate a virtual assistant who specializes in dealing with the elderly, as he asks them about the type of transaction, and helps them to reach the procedure and complete the required transactions, but that feature may need some time to be developed.