BAT focuses on the “large print edition”.
Editor’s note: This article from the micro-channel public number “hedgehog commune” (ID: ciweigongshe), of: a promise, Editor: principal.
App is suitable for aging and transformation, in fact, it can be convenient for everyone.
The “traditional” Uncle Wanwan, the small speaker is “Troubled Times” by the storytelling master Shan Tianfang, and you can feel the shadow of the sword and sword only by listening to the sound.
The “new trend” walking master, just open the mobile app, click “Tianjin Tianshi” in the “boys’ novel”, and enter the fantasy world with one click, and slowly enjoy the internet literary addiction.
Scenarios like this may not be common yet, but in the big print mode of the Himalaya App, it has become a reality.
In December 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced that it will carry out a one-year “Special Action for Internet Application Adaptation and Accessibility Improvement” to address the difficulties encountered by special groups such as the elderly and the disabled when using intelligent technologies such as the Internet. , The first batch will give priority to the promotion of 115 websites in 8 categories and 43 apps in 6 categories for ageing and barrier-free transformation.
The Himalayas, where audiobook resources are gathered, are naturally among them.
Normal mode and large character mode of Himalaya App
Only more than half a month after the notification was issued, the large-character mode was launched in Himalaya, and only one key switch can meet the listening needs of the elderly. In addition to resources such as opera, folk art, health preservation, and audiobooks, the “Science Brings Baby” module was also quietly launched, bringing parenting experts directly to the elderly audience.
The colorful content module is like an eyeshadow palette, with no ads and no pop-up windows. Although the function is simple, it is really “saving and worry-free” to use. Platforms like Himalaya that try to adapt to aging are increasing.
Under the promotion of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Internet companies are vying to bridge the “digital divide” and compete for the elderly users in the blue ocean. Internet companies that are accustomed to attracting the attention of young people have begun to separate some of their energy to focus on the elderly market, especially large Internet companies represented by Tencent, Ali, and Baidu.
Who is the sprinter who is suitable for aging and transformation?
The “First Batch” published on the official website of the Ministry of Industry and Information TechnologyThe list of apps suitable for aging and barrier-free transformation includes news and information products such as Tencent News and Sina Weibo, as well as social communication tools such as WeChat and QQ, and lifestyle shopping products such as Taobao, JD.com, Douyin and Baidu, and Financial, travel, and medical apps such as Alipay, Baidu Maps, Didi Chuxing, Dingdang Kuaiyao, etc.
The apps that have been named are all top products in their respective fields, and their users have a wide range of ages. From the perspective of the company to which the App belongs, it also responds to the famous saying “The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility.”
The special action plan pointed out that for the elderly, more products with features such as large fonts, large icons, and high-contrast characters should be launched, and more companies should be encouraged to introduce simple and easy-to-operate interface modes to achieve one-key operation , Text input prompts and many other barrier-free functions.
In addition, in view of the problem that there are many mandatory advertisements in current Internet applications, which can easily mislead the elderly, after the completion of the transformation of Internet websites and mobile apps, the old version, the care version, and the barrier-free version will no longer have ad plug-ins. In particular, there will be no inducing buttons for payment operations, so that various special groups can use it conveniently and safely.
As soon as the guidance came out, companies raced to run.
Baidu is the one with the biggest movement in the big factory. The “Big Character Edition” of Baidu App was launched on January 22, taking the route of a content platform and a toolbox. The functions are the same as the regular version of Baidu App, except that it has been screened and optimized for the needs of the elderly.
Baidu App large-character version of search and treasure box interface
“Big Character Edition” has modules such as information retrieval, radio companionship, short video recommendation, hot search rankings, etc. It also incorporates functions such as taking pictures and recognizing pictures based on AR technology, calculating pensions and other functions to satisfy the leisure and entertainment of the elderly and bring children. , Self-improvement, and the need to solve life problems.
According to the information disclosed by Baidu, the large-character version of Baidu App is in charge of the R&D team in Shanghai, from project initiation to coordination of 33 business parties.It took only one month to complete the functional adaptation and the product was officially launched. In addition to the matrix team of Mobile Baidu, the main line teams of Mobile Baidu, such as Dasou, FEED, Strategy Team, and Mini Program, have all joined this “race.”
Baidu’s emphasis on the elderly market is not only reflected in the large print version of the App.
The time goes back to 2009, when it was the golden age of portals. Baidu once launched a search channel for the elderly to aggregate common websites used by the elderly to reduce jumps and links and enlarge the font size of web pages. Baidu said that all the search results of the senior search channel came from natural search and did not contain any commercial promotion information.
At the two sessions in 2021, Robin Li also submitted a proposal on ageing-friendly Internet products, suggesting “guide enterprises to expand the supply of age-friendly smart devices, and fully popularize the use of language as the core, combining eyes, gestures, etc. Multi-mode interactive artificial intelligence assistant” and so on.
Xiaodu smart screen
The so-called smart devices refer to products such as speakers and smart screens. Now, these products have entered retirement communities and elderly families. By concentrating the elderly users in the big-print version of the app, Baidu can also collect the usage data of the elderly users on the App side, which complements the data of the smart terminal, and further iterates the elderly products based on this.
After being unwilling to accept Alipay, which is also a tool app, it further optimizes services for the elderly.
On February 9, Alipay officially stated that it will launch a “warm ocean line” for the elderly, and open a fast channel for one-click inbound calls directly to people. Anyone over 65 years old can directly enter the manual customer service without going through operations such as digital selection.
In response to the problem of using “health code” for the elderly during the epidemic, Alipay launched the “care version” in July 2020, which can be directly added to the mobile phone desktop to realize the health code, take public transportation, mobile phone recharge, and pay water and electricity with one click Features such as coal.
Taobao, which belongs to Ali, has launched a family version and a worry-free version; uc browser has launched a large print version, which is convenient for the elderly to search for information. Regardless of whether it is active or passive, the development of the elderly version has become the only way for giants to open up new traffic markets while assuming social responsibilities.
WeChat and QQ have different strategies
inSince 014, it has been unavailable one after another. After downloading it, Hedgehog Commune found that it was impossible to log in after changing multiple QQ accounts.
Although the desktop version of QQ Video has a long history, it does facilitate the social needs of the elderly within the limited time to go online.
A user nicknamed “Xiaotianwai” left a message saying: “I set up my grandpa to automatically turn on QQ video and broadband when booting up, plus automatic login. Now my grandpa presses the power button of the host and waits two minutes. When you enter the selection page, click whoever you want to chat with. When it’s over, press and hold the power button on the host to end it.”
Some netizens questioned that he was a navy army, and he replied, “It’s very good at first.”
It is worth noting that searching the old version of WeChat and QQ on the Internet can find a series of application download sites, which shows the strong market demand. However, these are basically provided by third-party platforms for downloading, and they do not appear on Tencent’s official website. It is difficult to ensure the security of the application.
Even if Tencent no longer considers re-launching the independent senior version of the App, it still needs to further increase its promotion of aging-friendly functions. In addition to allowing the elderly to learn by themselves, it also allows young people to perceive and feed back to their parents.
Kugou Music, both under Tencent, launched the big print version of the App as early as January 2020. The interface and functions have not changed much in more than a year. The content modules and presentation format are similar to the Himalayan big print model.
Kugou’s aging reformation started early, and it was not in the first batch of aging reformation lists, so there are still advertisements.
Hedgehog Commune opened the Kugou large-character version of the App and found that the opening interface is an advertisement for Pinduoduo. In the video segment, advertisements and short videos appear in similar forms, and brand launches involve K12 online education, real estate, online shopping and other categories. As for whether elderly users will accidentally touch the advertisement, a question mark needs to be drawn.
Kugou large print version of the interface and pop-up window
Invite friends to collect coins, Sign-in to earn gold coins and other user retention games are common in the Kugou large print version. “Listen to songs and get money” has become the logic to attract users. In the “Cool Friends Circle” of the large version of Kugou, most of the user dynamics are not the content released on the same day. It is March 2021, and the dynamics at the end of the previous year are still in the recommended list.
According to the App’s prompt, Hedgehog Commune chose to join the K song community, click the “Join Now” button, and immediately jump to the WeChat official account. You also need to scan the code to join the regional community. After entering the community, only 29 people were found , And 4 of them are Kugou’s operators.
Kugou large print community
Whether the Kugou large print version will be further optimized is unknown. This also shows from the side that rushing does not mean that users can be preempted, and there is still room for improvement in the aging mode of the App.
Older version, do young people also need it?
Judging from the existing experience, there are no more than two modes to adapt to aging: adjust and switch the old model in the original version; develop a separate App product for the elderly.
The starting point of these two models is good, each has its own merits and limitations.
In the opinion of Xia Bingying, a barrier-free designer of human-computer interaction, setting a separate elderly version is not the optimal solution. For barrier-free transformation, it is important to integrate with the normal version, not to further isolate it. Only by enabling older users to use the same products as younger users can we truly achieve equality and respect.
Image source: Zhihu user@夏冰莹
First of all, most elderly people cannot find a special version independently, and it is not easy to switch to barrier-free mode. At the same time, the maintenance cost of the stand-alone version is very high, and the update of Internet products is very fast. Over time, it will bring a large amount of technical debt to the enterprise, it is very likely that there will be iterations behind, and the user experience will be greatly reduced.
Some people also think that if the elderly function comes with an aging-appropriate app, or if the aging-appropriate app is made independent, it can avoid the distress of the elderly because they cannot find the switch button.
The above points of view have been fully reflected in Didi Dache’s age-appropriate transformation.
As early as 2016, Didi launched a separate “Didi Respect for the Elderly” App, but it gradually faded out of sight after 2017. In 2020, Didi has integrated the features of the senior version into the basic version of the app. Users only need to find the “care mode” to switch to the large print interface with one click.
Older people are using Didi Senior Edition
These large print versions developed for the elderly have no advertisements, no pop-up windows, no financial services and games. They only have the simplest taxi-hailing service. You can set emergency contacts and common addresses. Relatives and friends can also call taxis on behalf of friends and relatives. Paid.
However, there are still some feedback from the elderly that the switch button of “Caring Mode” is a bit hidden, and it is difficult to switch if the “Settings” button cannot be found. At the same time, the number of frequently used addresses is limited. When the elderly temporarily want to go to destinations that have not saved addresses, it is still somewhat difficult to operate.
As a key product suitable for aging and transformation, Didi is still exploring how to improve its functions. According to the data, from December 30, 2020, Didi Chuxing will set up a special group for “elderly ride-hailing”, led by Cheng Wei personally, focusing on capital, talent and other resources, and investing 300 million yuan in budget in advance.
In January 2021, Didi launched a small program for the elderly, which directly synchronized the “care mode” function to WeChat, saving the elderly the trouble of downloading App to switch modes. As for other functions, further optimization iterations are needed.
It is worth noting that there are still many young people looking forward to Didi’s older version, some of them are born after 95. In their view, instead of calling it an old version, it is a simplified version. In recent years, the functions of many apps have become more complicated, with more and more information on the interface, more and more advertising pop-ups and various derivative services, and shrinking text and icons, which can easily cause accidental touches.
Comments on Didi Senior Edition
The elderly version with no ads and simple functions allows young people to get rid of the complicated functions of the app. After all, this is what a service app should look like. A 30-year-old netizen revealed that since using the Didi Care Model, he has never switched back. Some netizens even predict that the elderly version may become the trend in the future.
“Many of the needs of the elderly and young people are highly overlapping, so we should first improve the existing apps for everyone, rather than regard the needs of the elderly as special requirements.” Xia Bingying said when discussing with netizens.
The purpose of adapting to aging is to meet the needs of elderly users and also to convey the values of technology companies. The needs of young people are blown up in the air, but everyone will eventually get old. To be kind to the elderly now is to be kind to the future self.
The wave of technological iteration is surging, and the elderly should not be forgotten on the beach. With the aid of App products adapted for aging, many elderly people can surf as freely as young people, and even make young people feel bad. When the post-00s are old, post-20s and 30s don’t know what kind of products they are using. Maintaining care for users of all ages can make products more inclusive and more socially valuable.
App is suitable for aging and transformation, in fact, it can be convenient for everyone.