How We Think About Communication Devices for Elderly Users

When a customer comes to us looking for a fixed wireless phone, the requirement can sound very simple:

They need a phone that is easy for elderly people to use.

But in practice, this sentence leaves us with many questions.

Who will use the phone?

Will it stay beside the bed, in the living room, or somewhere in a care facility?

What happens if the user needs help but is not next to the phone?

And perhaps most importantly, how can we make the device easier to use without making it feel complicated?

These questions have influenced the way we develop our fixed wireless phone products.

The Person Buying the Phone May Not Be the Person Using It

This is one of the first things we consider.

Many of the customers purchasing this type of product are not buying it for themselves. Their customers may eventually provide the phones to elderly family members or use them in elderly care facilities.

That means the product has to work for two different groups of people.

The buyer needs a reliable communication device that is suitable for their market.

The person using it needs something that is easy to understand.

For us, this difference matters.

A function may look useful from a product specification, but that does not automatically mean it will be useful to the person actually holding the phone.

What If the User Is Not Beside the Phone?

This was one of the practical questions we had to consider.

A fixed wireless phone normally stays in one place. That is one of its advantages: the user always knows where the phone is.

But the user does not always stay there.

An elderly person may be in another room or moving around the home.

If an emergency occurs, asking the person to walk back to the phone first is not a very practical solution.

This is why we designed the phone to work with a 433MHz SOS wristband.

The idea is straightforward.

The phone can remain in its normal position, while the user can keep the wristband with them.

When the SOS function is needed, the user does not have to find the phone first.

This is a small change to the product, but it comes from a very specific question about how the device will actually be used.

The Same Thinking Applies to Everyday Calls

Emergency functions are only one part of the product.

For everyday use, we also look at how an elderly user actually makes a call.

For someone familiar with a smartphone, opening contacts and selecting a number may seem very simple.

For an elderly user, especially someone who is not comfortable with smartphones, fewer steps can make a noticeable difference.

That is why functions such as one-touch dialing are important in this type of product.

The purpose is not to add another feature to the specification.

It is to reduce the number of things the user needs to remember.

We Also Had to Think About What Happens Between Calls

Not every use of the phone is about making an emergency call.

Depending on the application, users may also want other everyday functions.

That is why the product includes functions such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi hotspot and FM.

But we don't look at these functions simply as a checklist.

Each one has to make sense for the intended user and application.

For example, a Wi-Fi hotspot can allow the device to provide connectivity beyond voice calls. Bluetooth can make it easier to connect compatible devices. FM provides a simple form of everyday entertainment that does not require navigating a smartphone.

These functions are not intended to turn a fixed wireless phone into another complicated smartphone.

The goal is to keep the main communication functions straightforward while giving the device some additional value when users need it.

Designing the Product Means Thinking About What Can Go Wrong

This is probably one of the biggest differences between designing a product from a specification and developing one around a real application.

A specification may say:

“The product needs an SOS function.”

But an engineer still needs to ask:

Where will the user be when they need it?

What happens if they are away from the phone?

How many steps are required?

Is the operation easy enough for the intended user?

Those questions may lead to changes in hardware, software, or the way different parts of the product work together.

That process does not always produce a more complicated product.

In some cases, it produces a simpler one.

And for elderly communication products, that can be more important than adding another feature.

A Phone Designed Around Real Use

We still think of this product as a communication device first.

The basic requirement has not changed: people need a simple way to make and receive calls.

What has changed is how we think about the environment around that call.

The phone may be sitting on a table.

The user may be in another room.

The person buying the product may be a distributor or care organization.

And the person using it may simply want to call their family without having to think about how the device works.

These details are what we consider when developing this type of product.

For us, the design starts with the person who will eventually use the device—not with the feature list.