It all started with a young girl offering me her seat on an airport bus. The simple gesture hit me hard. I had always assumed that my silver hair exuded only experience and wisdom. Little did I realise that for Gen Z, I was history — a fast-disappearing remnant of the analogue era. I had always believed that I was an outlier, with general rules of ageing not applicable.
Recalling my encounters in the digital world, I wonder how other septuagenarians handle these daily happenings.
When recounting my trials and tribulations, my son and son-in-law, IT professionals, pointed out that my cohort formed part of less than 1% of users of IT services. They hinted that even the coming few generations of senior citizens would not be digital natives. “Stop being grouchy, adjust, learn — you have taken stereotactic biopsies from the brain stem; this should be fodder.” Easier said than done; even if today, the basic necessities of life is “Roti, kapada, makan, and bandwidth”.
In urban areas, most seniors use digital devices and the Internet for communication, entertainment, banking, and healthcare. Grandchildren or the alpha generation help in damage control and crisis management. In minutes, with aplomb personified, they point out that “undelete” is not possible when the WhatsApp back-up on Google drive is deleted. Sundar Pichai did not ensure a repeat prompt “Are you sure?” exclusively for seniors.
Alas these “senior moments” occur too frequently.
Tyranny of processes
One-time passwords have become a cornerstone of online security. Supplementing traditional passwords with an extra layer of security, OTPs ensure that the legitimate user alone completes a digital transaction. However, visual and motor difficulties, arthritis, tremors, and slower cognition make receiving, reading, and entering OTPs within the seconds or minutes allowed a daunting task. This leads to annoyance. OTPs could be delayed, amplifying anxiety and potentially blocking access to crucial services. Cybercriminals target seniors who are less familiar with digital processes. Urgency induced by OTP prompts is exploited. A senior-friendly design with larger text, audio readouts, simpler workflows, and accessible support channels is too much to expect.
Captcha requirements do not take into account “age-related” visual and auditory challenges and reduced motor dexterity. These make precise mouse movements or repeated typing difficult. The distorted letters and surreal backgrounds compound errors, increasing frustration. Essential transactions and even logins become a challenge. Asked why designers cannot prioritise accessibility to ensure that seniors access important online spaces and services, I was told that “it is deliberately made more difficult, to identify humans”.
Authentication using fingerprint, facial recognition, iris scan or voice ensures security and convenience by verifying identity through unique biological features. For seniors, this should be less cognitively demanding than remembering passwords. However, reduced fingerprint quality occurs due to thinning skin, worn ridges, and other health conditions. Facial features change with age and medical issues. Unfamiliarity with biometric devices could be intimidating. Attempts to follow rapid instructions lead to multiple attempts and frustration.
Interactive voice response systems may be cost-effective and scalable and have privacy and security. However, most seniors find that IVRS presupposes excellent hearing, attention and concentration. Navigating menus, remembering options, and following complex instructions assumes absence of even age-related inevitable changes. Long hold times, inability to correct mistakes halfway, complex menu layers, and absence of a human increase frustration. This is exacerbated as one’s particular problem does not fit into the predetermined basket. There are no shortcuts or adaptive features. Voice-based IVRS may not accurately interpret speech of elders. Accent, low voice volume, tremulousness, and reduced clarity lead to errors in information capture and subsequent process discontinuation.
AI-driven conversational agents are becoming part of our lives. For seniors at present, challenges outweigh opportunities. Complex chatbot interfaces, impaired voice recognition, and small font sizes make digital interaction difficult. Chatbots currently lack expected empathy or ability to understand a senior. The latter, not having a diploma in prompt engineering, cannot use the language expected.
IT systems have multiple layers of redundancy and back-up systems. Why do they not factor in septuagenarian usage? Perhaps, they expect us to follow Charles Darwin’s adage, “It is not the strongest or the most intelligent of the species that survive, but the one most receptive to change.” Does the onus of change lie only with us. With populations becoming older, should developers and policymakers not factor in arthritis and tremors? Age does not mean a thing. The best tunes are played on the oldest fiddles. If I were to be Scotch, I would be worth quite a bit.
Published – October 12, 2025 04:58 am IST