121: Could innovative design help us age better? with John Mathers
Watch my conversation with John on YouTube or listen on the podcast player below
John Mathers spent his career working in marketing, branding and design. At the age of 60 he retired and in the past four years, he has carved out what he deems to be a successful retirement – or next stage of life.
After a rebranding exercise opened the door to the problems faced by older people, John realised how much innovative design could help improve the lives of the older generation.
He has since co-founded Design Age Accelerator, a government funded initiative to help young entrepreneurs and designers. The initiative encourages designers to understand the problems those in later life face and use that insight to design products that will enhance the lives of the older generation.
In our conversation we talk about Johns’ own approach to retirement, how he got into the field of ageing, and the incredible work Design Age Accelerator is doing to get young entrepreneurs to think differently about the design of products for the older market.