Clear Language

Everyone has been in that situation. For me, a classic is when you're at the dentist; for some reason, they really love to confuse you with big scary words that you have no clue what they mean. One of the most annoying and frustrating feelings is when you can't understand a topic because of the vocabulary that's being used to describe it. This was one of our main worries for Riolu: we needed to find a way to make sure that everyone was understanding what we were saying, and draw the line somewhere to represent that language.

This truly is a simple idea; if executed well, it provides an extremely high benefit for realistically no work. We replace abstract and frankly overcomplicated jargon with simple language that doesn't impede the comprehension of the actual concepts we try to teach. For example, instead of saying something like, "Have you attempted to initiate the reboot protocol?" we would say, "You should try to turn it off and turn it back on." As you can tell in practice it's a very simple concept.

This idea again highlights the importance of not overwhelming seniors; technology gets a bad rep among many seniors as it is hard to understand and "too complicated." At Riolu, we stand by the idea that clear wording offers many benefits at practically no cost. Familiar language makes steps easier to remember later, instills a sense of security in seniors, and avoids overwhelming them, especially when the same words are used each time. When instructions feel simple and safe, people are more willing to explore and try a feature again.

When your dentist finally explains to you what's going on, you get a sense of relief, but relief always means that there was previously stress, so we try to simply nip the stress in the bud.