Original title: Do you know the old mode of App? The reporter personally tested more than ten items: it is not easy to find, and it is not easy to make
In the era of mobile Internet, the "age-appropriate" transformation of mobile apps will help allow more elderly people to cross the "digital divide". The General Office of the State Council has issued the Notice on the Implementation Plan for Effectively Solving the Difficulties of the Elderly in Using Intelligent Technology, proposing to promote the aging transformation of mobile Internet applications (apps). However, a recent investigation by reporters found that although the age-appropriate mode has appeared in some apps, it is not known by the elderly. The age-appropriate model itself also has various problems, and it is somewhat difficult for the elderly to use.
Some people don't know, some people want to look and can't find it
"The words are big and the page looks more concise!" Previously, Ms. Jiao only knew that there was a mobile phone for the elderly, but for the first time she heard about the mobile phone App for the elderly. The elderly grandmother now also brushes video entertainment and watches news from time to time, and she said that the next time we meet, she will change the settings of the old man's mobile app, so that the elderly can also experience the "exclusive" mode.
The reporter's investigation found that it is not an isolated phenomenon that people feel unfamiliar with the old mode of App. Ms. Zhang works in a nursing home and often interacts with the elderly. She said that in order to "play" with mobile phones, the old people around them still rely on the same old way - adjust the size of the mobile phone to a larger size, and for the old mode of the App, the old people have not heard of, let alone experienced.
The old model is "raised in purdah", on the one hand, the publicity is not enough, on the other hand, some apps do not have this function at all. According to the research report of the consumer supervision and evaluation project of age-appropriate apps released by the China Consumers Association in December last year, 40.3% of the 104 apps included in the evaluation still have neither a special version for the elderly nor an embedded interface for the elderly. The reporter's test found that among the apps for similar purposes, the degree of promotion of the old model is not the same. For example, grocery shopping apps, Jingdong Home and Dingdong Grocery Shopping are equipped with an age-appropriate mode, while Meituan grocery shopping and multi-point are not.
Although some apps have embedded old mode, they are not easy to find because the settings are not eye-catching enough. Under normal circumstances, the way to find the old mode of the App is to click "My" and then "Settings" to find the button to switch the old mode. But there are more cumbersome, such as the AutoNavi Map App, after clicking on the settings, you must continue to click the "Map Settings" menu to see the button to switch modes.
This search, not to mention the elderly, is not easy for young people. There are also some old people who complain, let alone the second step to find the old mode, and they don't even know where the "settings" of the first step are. The reporter saw that the "Settings" button of many Apps was made into a small icon that was not very conspicuous, without any text prompts, and the old man was really difficult to find.
Some apps have no text prompts for the setting button, just a small icon
Browsing is too tedious Voice input is also missing
I finally entered the old mode, and it was not so convenient to use. For example, after switching to the elder mode, the reporter clicked on a supermarket and wanted to buy beef in it, but there were only two edible oils on the page, and no other products appeared in the slide. Looking at it again, the original page was limited to the "Super Explosives" section, and you needed to swipe left and right in the scroll bar at the top of the page to go to other sections to browse products. In addition to the "super explosive" section with only two barrels of oil, the more advanced "second sale" and "direct drop" division, there are also many products that are not very relevant to the daily shopping of the elderly. For example, the "direct drop" zone, without any meat, eggs and vegetables, but a lot of cosmetics.
After swiping right in the scroll bar of the selection section several times, the reporter found the "meat, eggs and poultry" area, but only pork products could be seen here. It turned out that, as with the previous section, you need to swipe right in another scroll bar on the page to find the "Beef, Sheep and Rabbit" section to browse beef products. Compared with the scroll bar of the selection section, the scroll bar for selecting meat has a smaller font and is more "thin", and it may not be easy for the elderly with inflexible fingers to slide left and right.
Because it is not convenient to turn on the elder mode, some children will help the elderly to tune out the elder mode of the App in advance. In the elderly mode of Jingdong Home App, there will be a button to switch to the standard version in the upper right corner of the home page, if you accidentally click to, the system will directly switch back to the standard mode without any secondary confirmation prompt. At this time, the old man wants to transfer back to the elder mode, but it is more difficult.
There are also apps that will "stumble" the elderly on the page layout. For example, in the elder mode of the ordering app Ele.me, as long as you stay on the page for a while, a "Help" floating box will pop up on the right side of the screen, which is easy to click. And this button, obviously can be placed at the bottom of the page that does not affect clicking, for some reason it is presented in the form of a floating box.
In addition, because they are not very good at typing, many older people need to rely on the "voice" function to enter text. However, the reporter tried and found that many apps, including the above-mentioned JD Home and Ele.me, did not have a voice input function in the old mode.
Garbage has many functions and even lures loans
The page is concise, the function is clear, and it can be used more clearly, which is the expectation of many elderly people for the old mode of the App. However, in some apps, the simple optimization of the old mode is obviously not in place.
In the Dingtone grocery shopping app, as soon as you switch to the elder mode, the most conspicuous position in the middle of the page is not the product, but a row of coupons full of discounts. However, after the reporter clicked to pick it up with one click, a line of small print popped up in the system, which did not meet the conditions for collection. At this time, the button on the page "108 yuan newcomer meeting gift to be collected" was still jumping and jumping, but there was no response. Going back to the previous interface, these unclaimed coupons still occupy the center of the screen, which is very annoying.
After switching the old mode of the Dingtone grocery shopping app, the coupon in the middle of the page is very conspicuous, but it cannot be received or removed
After switching the elder mode on the taxi app Didi Chuxing, the reporter did not see any changes from the previous standard mode, and thought that the elder mode was not turned on. Carefully comparing the two modes, I found that the elder mode is just a little larger than the original, and the various function buttons in the previous standard mode still exist, and the entire screen looks very "bloated".
These functions are basically unrelated to taxi, such as "driving", "riding", "refueling", and even "becoming a driver". There is also a "have a car" section at the bottom of the homepage, and after clicking, the content actually becomes "car buying recommendation".
On the homepage of Didi Chuxing's elder model and in the "My" section, the reporter also saw the "borrow money" function. This kind of function is not uncommon in other apps, and even induces and packs. For example, in the elder mode of Meituan takeaway App, after clicking "My", the button "1 instant discount has not been claimed" appears on the page. After clicking, a "+2.67 yuan" red envelope appeared in the middle of the new page, and when you clicked again, you found that the system required the user to apply for a loan quota in order to get the money in the red envelope.
The elder mode of the Ele.me App is similar, after clicking "My", there is a "420 yuan takeaway red envelope" button on the page, but after clicking it, it becomes a credit card opening interface of a bank. The FAQ column at the bottom of the page is marked in small print, although the card is free to open, any 6 purchases in the first year can be exempted from the annual fee for the following year.
The function has been cut and the transformation has been reduced to "a skin"
There are also apps, although the old mode looks much simpler than the standard mode, but the optimization in details is not thorough.
For example, after switching to the "elder version", only public toilets, barrier-free elevators, hospitals, banks, supermarkets, kindergartens, parks and other "just needed" places are retained on the screen, which is more obvious. But what is puzzling is that if you want to see the details of a specific place, such as a nearby bank, the page switches back to standard mode, the font becomes smaller again, and the old mode is just a surface "skin".
In this mode for the elderly, if the elderly want to go to the bank, there are two options: "walking route" and "bus and subway line". If you select the start and end points of the "Walking Route", the map will show the estimated time and walking distance of the whole journey, and you can further view the details, showing the detailed route such as how many meters to turn left and how many meters to turn right, but there is no navigation function in standard mode. In standard mode, a voice prompt is also issued after you tap on a walking route and start navigation. But after the old mode is turned on, this voice navigation function "disappears". The system completely became "dumb".
In other apps, the old mode has even lost its basic functions, and has completely become an "empty shell". In the standard mode of the medical app HaoDafu Online, modules such as "general outpatient", "expert outpatient", "appointment registration", "quick doctor", "find by department/disease" and "find by hospital" are densely packed and dazzling. After switching to the elder mode, the whole interface is simpler, but there are only two modules: "Telephone Consultation" and "My Orders".
Click "Phone Consultation" and the user will enter the chat mode with the medical consultant. When asked about "how to register in the elder mode", the medical consultant replied, "The operation that the elder mode can do is relatively limited, you can only view the order, you can change to the standard mode." ”