“Design for the young and you will exclude the old, design for the old and you will include the young”

BS ISO 17480:2018 - Packaging - Accessible Design - Ease Of Opening

The test methods in BS ISO 17480:2018 require a panel of adults aged for example 65-80 and records panel members overall experience of the packaging. This includes opening the package, extracting contents and re closing the package (if applicable). Whilst testing is being carried out the researcher can extract more information from the test panel, for example researchers could ask for comments on opening instructions - are they clear? too small? too big?. This information can then be utilized by the packaging manufacturer to improve their offering to customers. The age range required for ISO 17480 is a better representation of the population than ISO 8317.

By taking advantage of our accreditation we can offer clients a new perspective on their packaging. This will help them by considering elderly adults’ interactions with their packaging. Building brand value whilst serving a neglected sector of the population.

If we only look at chronological age elderly adults may be judged by society as old. However, research suggests the opposite. It has been demonstrated that elderly people do not actually feel their age with many revealing they feel ten years younger (Thompson et al, 1990). Nevertheless, even though perceived age may be younger,  ageing does bring with it physical and mental decline. An example of this decline and its relevance to the packaging industry is vision. Deterioration in vision can make it difficult for elderly adults to read smaller text. It also becomes harder to distinguish letters. For example, manufacturers should be careful to consider text size and colour contrast when creating packaging.

The danger arises when instructions are not clearly printed, or the font is too small. This is especially relevant for pharmaceutical packaging when the amount of medication to be taken can be a matter of life or death. Relying on others for this information can affect autonomy. Autonomy can be essential for high self-esteem.

As researchers we have witnessed this frustration first-hand during panel testing for child resistant packaging. Comments made by adults include ‘I have to wait for my son/daughter to come round and do it for me’, ‘I hate these packs’, ‘I do not buy (brand) anymore, I can’t open it and it makes me cross’ (personal observations when testing).

Problems like these can be overcome by panel testing.