Skip the pillbox — the answer to taking your medicine might be in your hand

For older Americans, a simple notification that reminds them to take their medication could make a world of difference as they manage their health.

“If I had something that would beep and say, ‘Did you take your insulin?’ it would be really helpful,” said Ronnie McGill, a 55-year-old San Carlos man who has diabetes. “It would be annoying, but helpful.”

American adults who grew up without the Internet and once didn’t see the value in getting a smartphone or downloading dozens of apps are increasingly seeking out new technologies. This trend — along with the fact that Americans are both living longer and retiring later — has led to a whole new crop of apps created by younger startup founders with older users in mind.

But one major challenge: The employees creating the app are often a couple of generations distant from their user base.

“We’re definitely a younger company, which is a challenge for companies like us that want to solve health care challenges,” said Jason Oberfest, CEO of Mango Health, a San Francisco startup that creates tools for people to manage their health routines. “The key is to have people in the company who design and code software with empathy for those people that will be using it.”

About 42 percent of seniors now own smartphones — a dramatic increase from 18 percent in 2013, according to a May survey by the Pew Research Center. At the same time, 34 percent of those Americans surveyed said they are not confident in their ability to use electronic devices.

To mitigate this generational divide, companies like Mango Health conduct frequent user tests where they evaluate features such as font size, color contrast and navigation structures. Because sometimes, Oberfest said, the newest design trends don’t work for their user base.

“There’s always new design paradigms in apps, but depending on how intuitive they are, there can often be an adoption curve,” he said. “Our product is innovative ... but we don’t want to be too leading-edge for our users.”

Other startups focused on older users go through similar thought processes, said Sarah Thomas, executive-in-residence at community network Aging 2.0.

“Most of the successful companies who are targeting the older-adult experience are designing it with the older adult they are (creating) it for,” she said. “We very much try to make sure that the older adult voice is heard.”

On a recent afternoon during a routine user test, two young employees at Mango Health asked McGill and another man with diabetes, Edgar Young, a series of questions about their condition, from their eating habits to their relationship with technology.

McGill — who has had diabetes for several years — said he’s starting to realize how useful it would be to have an app to help manage his health routine. The old-fashioned way of a pen and paper is just too cumbersome and prone to error, he said.

“I’ve even tried the pillbox, and that was a problem,” he said. “I’m looking for an app.”