Getting into the mindset of being ‘Ridiculously Client Focused’

At Morseng Thai Herbs Store – Golden Mile Complex

Today, I was on a mission to find out how tech savvy our aunties and uncles really are. I set out to speak to some of our senior citizens to find out if they are as ‘cool’ as the young kids in town.

I had a few simple questions in mind; Do you have an email account?, What kind of phone do you have? What is your favourite app? These questions would be enough to help me understand if aunties and uncles will use a web app or mobile app for their jobs.

Surprisingly, most said YES!  Age is not a factor! 7 out of 11 seniors I spoke with today, were not opposed to learn new apps on their smartphone. As for owning an email account, 6 seniors mentioned that they have their own personal email accounts, but rarely used. From that alone, I could guess that they are able to learn their way around using a computer and using a web app.

Another upside, is that 4 out of the 7 seniors that owned smartphones have Whatsapp as their favorite mobile app to use everyday. They use it to chat with families most of the time, and this clearly shows me that they know how to download and use a mobile app if they bother to learn how to.

The Best Uncle!  

At Chocolat World – The Arcade

The highlight of my survey was from Uncle Roland. He was the most senior among the rest I spoke with today, but the most tech savvy. Surprise!

Roland is using a Samsung S4 phone and owns an email account, which he occasionally uses. He loves to chat on Whatsapp with his family everyday. When I asked him was it easy to learn to use the mobile app, he simply says that “old dogs got to learn new tricks!”  Well said Roland!

The Take Away

This “hallway test” has revealed to me that the older demographic in our society, is getting on our tech savvy generation and willing to learn. They remain a relevant and viable target audience for us, and I have greater appreciation for them.