Identifying design barriers for older adults in food packaging: A usability study

Given that human physical and cognitive abilities change as we age, the food packaging industry should respond to the new necessities that emerge. However, ergonomics and universal design principles are frequently absent in the packaging design process, resulting in the implementation of package solutions that can become an obstacle for many users. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usability of ten food and beverage packages found in the market with two age groups of older adults (65-74 years and 75+ years). Participants’ hand-grip strength and lateral pinch strength were measured as background information. We evaluated task efficiency measuring opening and closing times, and identified interaction issues in opening, closing, and pouring liquids. We also explored performance differences between the two group samples by comparing opening and closing times. There was no significant difference between age groups in terms of hand streng.Usability test results showed similar difficulties and errors during package opening in both groups due to low visibility of interactive components, unclear affordances, and anthropometric incompatibilities. We also observed a frequent use of knives or scissors to open the packaging. We identified some problems to effectively close the packaging and no errors in pouring liquids. The comparison analysis showed a significant difference only in opening times between the two age groups for the thermoformed tray (laminated cheese). Our study can help designers and engineers to introduce usability testing in their design process and to create easy-to-use packaging solutions considering older adults’ capabilities and limitations.