Older people and digital services: how can we help them and those who care for them?

Creating user-centric services
for Bouygues Telecom

The goal of the study was to enrich the company’s knowledge of the communication and access to digital services needs of vulnerable and dependent seniors and their caregivers. Twisting explored the material culture surrounding seniors' technological objects and tested initial service options.

+49%

increase of 75-84 yo people
between 2020-2030
(from 4,1 to 6,1 millions)

Why is Bouygues Telecom interested?

A real societal need : there is a growing demand for services that help seniors maintain their independence and stay connected to their loved ones. The elderly represent 11 million caregivers - 1 in 6 French people in 2021. The number of people aged 75-84 will see an unprecedented increase of 49% between 2020 and 2030, from 4.1 million to 6.1 million.

Keylearnings :

The fact that an operator offers services tailored to the needs of seniors and their caregivers seemed relevant to the respondents. That is, if they can demonstrate their commitment by meeting real needs related to maintaining autonomy and intergenerational ties.

Optimizing access to digital services via television: before imagining new screens, highly innovative connected objects that require an enormous effort of appropriation on the part of seniors. The study showed that it is better to focus on the object that sets the pace of their daily lives: the television.

The television is a central tool for seniors, not only for entertainment - which is crucial at a stage of life when the home is the main place to live and sometimes to socialize - but also for maintaining spatio-temporal reference points and for communicating with loved ones.

Two services stood out : TV videoconferencing and digital ephemeris.

These services can help seniors maintain their daily routines and stay connected to their loved ones.

Benefits

Relevant innovation also means relying on technological systems that are already present and appropriate in the home. We don't want to keep reinventing the wheel, especially for populations whose technological adaptability is lower than average.

This qualitative exploration allowed the company to focus its roadmap on useful services where it could add real value, rather than getting lost in multiple experiments that would have diluted its efforts.