A middle-aged woman holding her phone close to her face, pulling down her glasses.

Middle-Aged Vision

Accessibility research • Packaging

Middle-aged adults experiencing presbyopia would benefit from an increase in text size or bolded text, but the stigma associated with vision change and age leads this age group to reject the use of accessible settings.

This design research seeks to reframe vision change and age in a more positive light to provide agency and empowerment. The ultimate goal is to increase the adoption of accessibility settings.

Opened box, font library, and insert laid out in a row.

My research began with my mom: she had been experiencing presbyopia for the past few years, but it wasn't until recently that she changed her phone settings. It completely changed her experience with her phone, yet no one in my family had thought of it sooner.

The more research I did, the more it confirmed to me that my mom’s story was just one of so many others.

Photos of Joy Hwang's mom, framed in an array of different phones.
Photos of concept exploration, primary & secondary research, and research synthesis.
Photos of case studies and prototyping.
"By 40 years of age, 85% adults begin to develop presbyopia" (Katz et al., 2021).
Diagram of the gap between accessibility features and middle-aged adults.
"Globally, the population is rapidly aging, stemming from a recent decline in mortality, and an increase in life expectancy. 1 in 6 people will be >65 years by 2050" (Boakye et al., 2023).
Sketch showing optimal phone viewing distance to be 12-14 inches.

My primary research focused on in-depth interviews and observational studies. There were three main takeaways:

"1: Middle-aged adult don't associate the word 'accessibility' with themselves."
"2: There's strong reluctance about anything associated with the idea of "becoming older.""
"3: Community is a key factor that shaped the framework of aging in a positive or negative light."
Photos of primary research and participants.

This lead me to realize that the conversation about aging, accessibility, and smartphones goes beyond the realm of digital screens.

There’s a need for a shift in how we frame the idea of aging and disability, and this begins with family, friends, and close circles of community.

To better build joy and excitement, I reframed the idea of customizing your phone as a premium experience.

Font library booklet and m-a-v pamphlet.
Font library being unboxed.

I created a font library of every possible font size (for iOS), including bold weights for easy comparison.

To make the packaging more accessible, I included a ribbon pull tab and added a lanyard on the booklet.

Someone holding a white box that reads m-a-v.
Font library hanging from lanyard keychain.
Chipboard pieces for the font library.
Process of font library being constructed.
Font library before final touches.
'Font Library' booklet.
Flipping through the font book.
Close-up of font book.

Phone packaging provides a great opportunity to reframe ideas of aging and accessibility, so I designed the pamphlet insert to be able to fit into smartphone boxes. The insert provides instruction for using the font book and includes context about presbyopia.

I focused on creating representation and agency through tone-of-voice and imagery.  

Folded pamphlet insert.

Smartphones have become a means to live in a world that is increasingly more and more digitized. The possibilities of customizing your phone exactly to your preferences and needs is endless – visual customization is just the beginning.

It's your phone, your way.

© 2025