AARP Study Reveals Older Americans’ Likes, Dislikes About Activity Trackers
Activity trackers and other fitness wearables aren’t just for “the 20-something triathlete or yoga instructor,” said an AARP survey report, released Tuesday, probing how such devices can be better designed for “50-plus” consumers. Older Americans “care about achieving positive health…
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and avoiding illness and see potential in using activity and sleep trackers toward these goals,” the report said. “Yet tapping this market’s full potential requires that usability challenges -- such as discomfort and perceived inaccuracy of data syncing -- be overcome first.” AARP researchers fitted 92 tech-savvy consumers with seven models of “off-the-shelf” activity trackers for six weeks and monitored their likes and dislikes about the devices. Of those participating in the study, 47 percent “reported increased motivation for healthier living, and 46 percent reported actually being more active, sleeping better or eating more healthfully,” the report said. However, many discontinued using the devices before the end of the six-week study period because they “perceived inaccuracies” in the data the devices were reporting, they found the devices uncomfortable, and syncing the devices was a common frustration, it said. It recommended improving activity trackers for 50-plus consumers by making them “simpler to set up” and “unobtrusive to wear and maintain” while building more “robust syncing capabilities” into the devices.