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food successfully with their smart-
phones. Everyone needs help,”
Chan says.
She finds the instructions given by
the restaurant are not clear enough.
“There are some wordy instruc-
tions on the QR code paper. But the
actual operation is hard to under-
stand without pictures demonstrat-
ing how to use it,” she explains.
The elderly recalls she once wait-
ed for about 20 minutes to get help Instructions listed on a QR code order sheet.
from the restaurant manager to or-
der food through the digital plat-
form.
for elderly to help them better un-
“Overall, the dining experience Restaurant workers also dislike derstand how technology devices
was poor, and I may switch to oth- e-ordering. work.
er restaurants where customers can
order with a pencil and a dim sum “Many old people complained and “It takes time to build a habit, es-
list,” she adds. asked for help on the first day when pecially for elderly. Still, it is im-
the new system was launched. It portant for restaurants to develop
was really a hectic day, especial- user-friendly interfaces for cus-
ly during the peak hour,” *Mary tomers,” the researcher says.
Wong, a waitress working in Tao
Heung’s Yuen Long branch says. “The elderly not only face the
problem of e-ordering, but also nu-
“They did not know how to scan merous technological difficulties,”
the QR code. Some of them might he adds.
double-click the options and could
not find the confirmation list,” she Professor Yang Tian from the
adds. School of Journalism and Commu-
nication at the Chinese Univesity
“But it is better now as more peo- of Hong Kong believes old people
ple are adapting to the system. We are suffering in the digital age.
do not have to handle so many
complaints these days,” she ex- “This is not just a problem appear-
plains. ing in restaurants and delivery sys-
tems—the whole internet ecosys-
Committee member of the Asso- tem is not elderly-friendly which
Restaurants used to fully rely on
screen monitors to process food ciation for Hong Kong Catering altogether accounts for the exclu-
orders (Photo Courtesy of the As- Services Management Simpson sion of the elderly,” he says.
sociation for Hong Kong Cater- Chung Chi-yeung says the associ-
ing Services Management) ation offers a series of workshops “The current interface designers
