Factors that improve the target emotional experience for seniors: The regression models (1) and (2) also supported the existence of the emotional gap between the elderly and non-elderly, especially in the seniors’ relationship to the factors that are believed to constitute the “expressive” dimension of aesthetics, such as original, sophisticated, fascinating, creative, and using special effects. These factors of “expressive” aesthetics, as evaluated by professional web-designers, had no observed significance in the regression on the overall impression of experimental web sites for non-elder participants, while for the elder participants their effect was actually negative. Consequently, it means that web designers should focus on “classic” dimension factors such as clean, clear, pleasant, symmetrical, and aesthetic while building e-business web sites for the elderly.
Elder user
Colorize hyperlinks for seniors: When websites violate the guideline to use different colors to clearly distinguish between visited and unvisited links, seniors easily lose track of where they have been. We’ve certainly seen the same problem among all age groups: It's confusing when websites change the standard link colors, and it's particularly confusing when the same color is used for all links, whether or not you have visited the destination page. However, seniors have a harder time remembering which parts of a website they have visited before, so they are more likely to waste time repeatedly returning to the same place.
Standardization of webform elements for seniors: The forms on an e-business website shall avoid standard html elements used in a non-standard way. Elder users rely to a high extent to their previous experiences on other websites and have harder time recovering from errors. Regular users better adapt to new and unusual usage of familiar elements, although re-purposing is always recommended only after a careful consideration.
Stability of interfaces for seniors: Elder users generally have slower reactions, and also they shall not be distracted without a reason. The designers should limit the usage of automatic system action on a website, such as auto-changing some fields in an input form, or automatically taking user to a new location (page) on a website. The usage of distracting elements, such as animated .gif pictures or aggressive Flash animation should be also limited if possible. This strategy is somehow contrary from design recommendations for regular users, who indeed may benefit from automation of some tasks and re-directing at web pages.
Using the default values when entering for seniors: The default values, however, shall be provided whenever possible, even if at the cost of flexibility. Also, in case of an error, elder users shall never be made to fill a form from the very beginning. Elder users spend more time inputting data and can’t always easily comprehend which data is obligatory and which is optional. Regular users benefit from defaults as well, but generally better quality of input information is favored.
Search reluts for seniors: If the search area of your site offers both a search and browsing interface, clearly separate the search box from the browsing area. (For all sites, make the search area and the area’s limits obvious.) Cross-reference terms to ensure that searches reap results. In search results, always clearly repeat the user’s query. Write clear and concise help for search, putting the most important information first. Precisely label the search field. Reserve the word Search for open fields where users can type in actual search queries. Ensure that search results are visible on the page without scrolling.