Demographic changes introduced through population aging and the recent proliferation of technological innovations constitute indisputable realities of the digital era marked by rampant digital reliability. Research has brought to light that the existing standardized design principles for technology are insufficiently attentive to the specific needs of elderly population. This, in turn, has unduly affected technology adoption rate among elderly who are designated as the digitally marginalized segment, especially within the developing nations. This paper presents a systematic review to illustrate the complex relation between attitudes of elderly towards technology and the role of well-designed technologies curated for an ageing population in offering opportunities to improve the quality of later years. Research evidences from scholarly works are systematically collated to focus on structuring the numerous factors impacting technology (non)adoption and continued usage by elderly people. Adhering to the inclusion criteria of selecting studies only written in English, this paper summarizes the factors namely, personal characteristics, social contexts and technology-related dimensions, to provide rich insights into the chosen area of investigation. Here, we discuss the role of diverse technological interventions, and the challenges faced by those aged at least 50 years in maneuvering or coping with new technologies and adapting to the transforming structures. The findings suggest the necessity to focus on the opportunities created when technologies bridge the design gap. The corpus of evidence is pulled to recommend effective strategies to overcome present barriers. We suggest involving the elderly as co-designers. The paper concludes by addressing the directions for future research.
Trisha Bakshi (Wed,) studied this question.