Digiboomer Expert Review

Who are the digital baby boomers?

The baby boomer generation who are using the internet – “Digiboomers” – spent approximately £14.45 billion online in 2015. To take just one sector, this generation is now responsible for over half the UK population's total spending on holidays. By 2025, two-thirds of all online retail activity will be undertaken by the over 55s.

To be able to successfully tap into this market, it is important to understand the audience, and how to accommodate their digital accessibility needs.

As we grow older, the way that we interact with digital products changes. Some of this is due to physical conditions - reduced fine motor control, reduced vision, and so on – and some due to cognitive changes. The way we think about tasks and our approach to completing them is different.

Research has shown that giving up and leaving a website is higher amongst seniors than younger audiences (62% versus 38%, respectively). Redesigning a website to give seniors the same quality of user experience as younger users could result in a significant increase in business from them.

Digiboomer expert review

The Digiboomer expert review is conducted by a consultant who uses their knowledge and experience of testing websites with the over 55s to walk through a website in the role of a typical user from this demographic. The consultant will identify technical issues and recommend changes to improve usability for Digiboomers.

Rather than find a ‘silver bullet’, the expert review typically identifies a series of small recommendations that when implemented collectively can lead to large gains.