As someone with consumer electronics experience and a 94-year-old grandmother, I actually think #4 is brilliant. She will never understand how to maneuver to email on her iPad, and the abstract 'reply' and 'send' symbols we all take for granted are hieroglyphics to her. There's definitely a market for an always on, single screen email device a toddler could use. Perhaps the stylus isn't dead yet!
I don't know the first thing about marketing to senior citizens and their caretakers, but I know I spent hours searching for "senior citizen email app.."
http://www.zoodles.com/ is designed for kids, but I think it could be converted or re-imagined for senior use. The video mail system is pretty slick. I bet my kid will have it figured out before he turns 3.
Key features for such an e-mail system:
- simple addressing. In this case, just click on the picture for who you want to mail.
- a big fat "I'm done, send this!" button.
- email whitelist. No spam, no scams, just people you personally know.
- new messages should either be read automatically, or you should get some sort of overlay every time you go into the app that says "you have new messages from [people]! [BIG read now button] [smaller wait until later button]" This way, grandma will always see her new messages.
I don't know the first thing about marketing to senior citizens and their caretakers, but I know I spent hours searching for "senior citizen email app.."