Estevan Saenz
Design Document for
Millard's Ageism Training
Needs statement
Mr. Millard, the owner of Millard’s Department Store in Puritan Springs, has recently learned
that customer complaints from elderly shoppers in his store have increased. An initial meeting
with Mr. Millard and follow-up data collection is detailed in Appendix A of this document. Testing
an initial training prototype with a sales manager, gathering data from focus groups, sharing the
data with a SME (gerontology professor), and observations from the sales floor are analyzed.
Two themes emerged from the analysis and suggest training and non-training interventions.
These themes should be addressed in a revision of the prototype and in non-training
interventions (such as changes in management processes).
Youth orientation
Millard’s has a youth orientation. The salespeople are predominantly in their early twenties, the
marketing department are in their early thirties, and the managers are somewhere in between
their twenties and late-fifties. Observations of the marketing department reveal that advertising is
geared mostly for the young because, as stated by one account manager “the young change styles
more often, and buy more clothes.” Other evidence of a youth culture was loud music playing
throughout the store that would appeal mostly to the late teen, early twenties crowd.
Solutions to these problems are likely to be non-training in nature. For example, management
might explore changing the type of music played in stores. Sales incentives might not be based
solely on dollar amounts but on type of sales as well. Marketing initiative need to be re-explored. I
will bring these thoughts up with Mr. Millard.
Differential treatment
Both of the elder people interviewed complained of feeling invisible or of being treated like they
were weaker than they were. Salespeople complained that old people were too slow and
demanding and took their time away from customers more likely to spend money and help them
earn sales commissions. I sensed that the salespeople were highly uncomfortable talking about
the elderly because they did not make eye contact while talking about them and they were not as
forthcoming with information. Almost all of the Millard’s employees interviewed did not seem to
think of themselves as having any bias or prejudice towards the elderly, yet many of the
comments indicated stereotypical ways of thinking as well as a lack of empathy for the aging
experience.
Learner analysis
Initially the learner appeared to be the salesmen/women working the department floor. Focus
group interviews with two people from the sales department, two people from the sales manager
group, and two people from the marketing department revealed that sales managers as well as
Millard’s marketing department would benefit from learning more about age discrimination.
Millard salesmen and women are in their early twenties, earn minimum wage plus commission,
and work part-time rather than full time. Professionals in the marketing department are in their
early thirties, have college educations and work full-time, with an average of three-years
experience at Millards. Managers worked full time, ranged in age from low thirties to upper
fifties, and had a wide range of experience (from one to 10 years).
Analysis of focus group interviews revealed that all three groups valued a “youth culture” and
displayed differential treatment towards elderly customers. See Appendix A for additional
information.
Training for these groups will need to be presented in a “just-in-time” format that allows learners
to take part in the instruction during normal work hours, preferably during slow periods of the
day when fewer customers need assistance.
Several non-training interventions need to be explored including incentives to improve sales to
the elderly population. The marketing department might consider analyzing and reassessing their
marketing plan to include the elderly population. Creating a more elderly-friendly shopping
experience should also be explored. Better lighting, signage and sound systems are needed
throughout the store.
Objectives
Content type and level
Objective
Metacognitive: Integrate
as well as Affective:
Integrate
Terminal Objective
(see Appendix chart at
the end of this
document)

Given achievement of Objectives 1, 2, and 3
below (C),

Millard’s employees (A)

will create/produce (in writing) (B)

two (D)

plans to improve treatment of elderly
customers (B).
Affective: Organize
Enabling Objective 1

Given a scenario about discrimination (C)

the Millard’s employees (A)

will reflect on their own behaviors and
attitudes (B and D)
Affective: Organize
Enabling Objective 2

Given a the definition of prejudice and
examples of behaviors from old and young age
groups (C)
Concept: Organize

Millard’s employees (A)

Notice how they stereotype age groups (B & D)
Enabling Objective 3

Given a history of age discrimination (C)

the Millard employee (A)

will generate several examples of (D)

discriminatory behaviors and beliefs
(particularly the media)(B)
Fact:Select
Enabling Objective 4

Given a reading and brief test of aging facts
(C)

the Millard employees (A)

will select and identify characteristics of
growing old (B and D)
Macro Instructional Strategies
Sequence your objectives and describe type of overall strategy used.
(Sequential: list, familiar to unfamiliar, easy to difficult)
(Non-sequential: network, matrix)
Will use a sequential strategy (familiar to unfamiliar). A short story is part of the
strategy. Learners will listen to the story and will identify biased elements of the story.
The story example creates an experience, and each learner is involved in that experience.
This makes the overall structure familiar to unfamiliar.
Assessment
Objective
Terminal Objective

Given achievement of Objectives 1, 2, and 3 below (C),

Millard’s employees (A)

will create/produce (in writing) (B)

two (rubric will show criteria
for each plan)
Plan can be implemented in the next two months
(1,
2,
3
points)
Plan clearly works to reduce discriminatory behaviors or enhance
non-discriminatory behaviors (1, 2, 3 points)
Plan shows creativity (something new and exciting) (1, 2, 3 points)
(D)

plans to improve treatment of elderly customers (B).
Enabling Objective 1

Given a scenario about discrimination (C)

the Millard’s employees (A)
Enabling Objective 2

Given a the definition of prejudice and examples of behaviors from
old and young age groups (C)

Millard’s employees (A)

Notice how they stereotype age groups by selecting either (true or
false), or (old or young) for each series of questions within the
training (D)
Enabling Objective 3

Given a history of age discrimination (C)

the Millard employee (A)

will generate several examples of (D)
Describes a card or locates a greeting card that has discriminatory
elements and states why those elements are biased.
Describes a media event with discriminatory elements and describes
why these are biased

discriminatory behaviors and beliefs (particularly the media)(B)
Enabling Objective 4

Given a reading and brief test of aging facts (C)

the Millard employees (A)

will select and identify characteristics of growing old (B)

by answering 90% of matching or true/false questions correctly (D)
Content
1) Recognizing prejudice in yourself: Select (acknowledge)
a) What do you think of when you hear this: She is wrinkled all over
her body, she drools constantly, and cannot control her bowels.
She cannot groom herself, so someone must bathe her. She cannot
digest solid food, and must be spoon-fed. She cannot communicate
very well, and has a hard time focusing. She cannot walk, and
must be supervised almost 24 hours a day. She sleeps most of the
day.”
b) The description of third year medical students. The lecture hall
filled with groans of disgust as the students imagined the
patient. Some were busy analyzing the facts and trying to come up
with a diagnosis and possible treatment in case the lecturing
doctor called on them. The lecturer showed a slide of the patient
– a two-week-old baby girl.
2) Do you think it is funny to buy cards that stereotype people as:
Select (acknowledge)
c) Over the hill
d) “out of it” when over 21 years of age
e) Activity
i) Find a greeting card that stereotypes the elderly elderly
Organize: Create examples/illustrates
ii)
Example (It’s your birthday, don’t forget to take your
nap!)
(1)
Example (Get out your glasses for …. Another birthday
– in small print)
iii) Why do we do this?
3) We simplify the world by categorizing – concluding that one person
or situation is like another that we already know about. But we can
deceive ourselves. Faced with ambiguous evidence, we find it easy to
make sweeping judgments based on what we already know, what we need,
or what we desire – even when those judgments are mistaken.
a) Test yourself. Do you attribute this behavior towards one age
group? Select (acknowledge) or maybe Select: (Determines
True/False)
i) Keep their distance from other age groups
ii)
Drive dangerously
iii) Think the world owes them a living
iv)
Opinionated
v) Never satisfied and always complaining
vi)
Can’t depend on them as employees
vii) Hang around parks and shopping malls
viii) Forgetful
ix)
Have more freedom than other people
x) Don’t act their age
b) Did you think in a biased way?
c) Which ways of thinking are discriminatory?
i) Disliking an elderly person because they were demanding and
ungrateful
ii)
Thinking other elderly people are unfriendly based on
interactions with an elderly neighbor?
iii) Avoidance of elderly people because they make you
uncomfortable?
d) B and C are discriminatory (explained)
4) Have people always been discriminatory? Select: (Determines
True/False)
a) Which statements are true?
True False Puritans believed that age was
considered a sign of favor
True False Puritans taught their youth to
treat the elderly with respect
True False Henry David Thoreau said “I have
lived some 30 years on this planet
and I have yet to hear the first
syllable of valuable or even
earnest advice from my seniors.
They have told me nothing and
probably cannot teach me
anything.”
b) Examples of disrespect
i) Codger
ii)
Media (Provide examples of disrespect towards elderly
Organize: Create examples/illustrates
c) How well do you know facts about the elderly? Select: (Determines
True/False)
a) Questions
i) People who are older do not see or hear as well as they did
when they were younger.
ii)
A majority of the elderly population is mentally
depressed.
iii)
Older people have less muscle mass than younger
people.
iv)
The elderly have more automobile accidents.
v) Older people cannot adapt to change.
vi)
Learning new information is much slower for older
people.
vii)
Older people have more in common with each other than
other age groups.
viii)
Older people are socially isolated.
ix)
Medical professionals tend to ignore the elderly.
b) Answers. T, F, T, F, F, T, F, F, T
5) What can you do at Milliards?
a) Describe in a one-page essay two strategies that Millards
could employ to improve the treatment of the elderly.
Integrate: Applies, Creates
b) Turn this in and you have completed your training
requirements.
Description of your cognitive load design decisions
How did you address instrinsic, germane, and extraneous load?
Implementation Plan/Formative Evaluation
Describe usability testing and formative evaluation
Summative Evaluation
You will not get a chance to do a summative evaluation. In all likelihood the product you
create this semester will be an early prototype that you continue to refine. Use this space
to describe how you would conduct a summative evaluation if possible.
Appendix A
Learner Analysis
Front end analysis
Information from initial analysis is shared in six sections:
Testing the prototype with the sales manager (we didn’t want to start out with the sales people
until we tested it out at this level first)
Sharing results of the testing and the initial prototype with Mr. Millard (the stakeholder)
Gathering additional data from focus groups
Sharing the data with a SME for advice/suggestions
Observing how salespeople interacted with customers
Summarizing and analyzing the data
1. Testing the prototype with the lead sales manager
I asked the lead sales manager from Millards to test my Powerpoint using a talk aloud procedure.
These are the comments he made as he worked through my lesson. I inserted my interpretations
in brackets.
“The picture [the old man on the first slide] seems … (laughs) like this is supposed to be funny?
Are you perhaps reinforcing a stereotype?”
“The writing [typeface]is too hard to read. It looks nice though.”
“I don’t like the graphics, they don’t match [each other, the style is inconsistent)
(Yawns)[The information doesn’t seem to engage the user]
“I think you should be more positive about aging”
[I notice while observing the user the slides seem disconnected, there isn’t much flow. Sometimes
the ideas from one screen to the next are lost.]
[The bullets make it seem like it should be presented by a live instructor]
“[Referring to questions on the last slide]. Am I supposed to do these things? What with?
When/how do I do these? [Needs to be specific about time and format, such as pen and paper,
computer input.] Who do I give [it] to? Am I done now? [Very confused]
2. Sharing results of the testing and the initial prototype with Mr. Millard (the stakeholder)
I met with Mr. Millard to share my progress and data (tester comments.) We both agreed that a
lot more information and work was needed, but it was a start.
I suggested to Mr. Millard that to learn more about the content for instruction, we conduct a focus
group interview, or perhaps several focus group interviews, if time permits. (A focus group is a
collection of people who represent different viewpoints or perspectives). I also mention that I’d
like to observe what is taking place in the stores by watching salespeople interacting with elderly
customers.
3. Gathering additional data from focus groups
I shared with Mr. Millard that ideally a focus group would involve people of a similar rank. For
example you wouldn’t conduct a focus group with salespeople and their managers. The
salespeople might find it uncomfortable opening up and sharing their opinions in a setting with
managers present. Mr. Millard and I considered a focus group of elderly Millard’s shoppers and a
focus group of managers and people from the marketing department. Because Millards is a
relatively small department store, and the budget for the project is limited, we identified two
people form each area to interview:
elderly customers
salespeople
managers
the marketing department
I decide to use Allison Rossett’s (1999) suggestions by centering my questions on the gap between
optimals and actuals. In other words, what is going on now at Millards and what “should” be
going on? This involves asking “where are we now at Millards?” and “Where should we be at
Millards?” questions.
Elderly-customer focus group
The following chart shows the data collected from interviewing two elderly customers of Dillards.
Both customers were female. It would have been better to interview both a male and female, but
no males agreed to the interview.”
Questions and prompts
Responses
Describe your shopping
experience at Millards?
What is it like? [prompt
with “what do you like
and not like about the
experience.”]
Customer A:
Generally positive. I like the merchandise and garments. The quality
is good. I wouldn’t shop here if I wasn’t satisfied with the experience.
Customer B:
I like the product fine, sometimes the clothing for our age seems a
little fuddy-duddy. Way too many of the clothing are for younger
people. Only a small section of the store works for the elderly
customer.
Customer A:
[Laughs]. Yes many of our clothes are a bit drab. Now that I think
about it, I DO get bothered by salespeople who seem insincere in their
friendliness. You know. Big smiles at you, but not really listening.
Customer B:
I’ve also found that some of the salespeople aren’t friendly in a
genuine way. I don’t just want some one to ask me “Can I help you? I
want them to anticipate what I need.”
Can you tell me more
about what seems
unfriendly, or how they
seem insincere?
Customer A:
Oh, just not being very helpful. Like [Customer A] said, when they
don’t anticipate things. If a size isn’t correct I’d like help finding the
right size. I probably wouldn’t even need help if the clothing racks
weren’t so jammed I can’t push the clothes far enough to get a good
look at things. It would be nice if [salespeople] would sort out
duplicates of the same size to help me look.
Customer B:
I’d just like some attention. Sometimes they talk to each other and
ignore me. They are all just so … young! A little silly when they are
together. The just make me feel invisible.
Customer A:
I know what you mean. I feel invisible too … until I ask for something.
I’m hard of hearing and the salespeople tend to speak too softly. So
when I ask them to speak up they sometimes overdo it and literally
shout at me. What really annoys me are the ones who think I’m
incapable of doing anything and they overdo everything, acting as if
I’m nearly blind or deaf or utterly dependent upon them.
What would make your
shopping experience
ideal?
Customer B:
Truly helpful salespeople. Good lighting, uncluttered clothing racks,
attentive salespeople.
Customer A:
Respect for me as a person.
Customer B:
A good product line. Not overdoing the attention in a way that is
condescending. I don’t want to feel old.
Customer A:
That is true. That can be very degrading. I’ve been shouted at when all
that needed to be done was to turn down the music or to enunciate
more clearly.
Salespeople focus group
These are my interview notes. One male and one female participated in this focus group. Both
salespeople had approximately 3 years of sales experience with Millards.
Questions and prompts
Responses
“Describe your
experiences working
with the elderly shopper
(someone over 65 years
of age) at Millards? What
is it like? [Prompt with
“what do you like and
not like about the
experience?”]
Salesperson A:
I find them harder to please. They seem to have more “requirements”
for the things they want to buy. It can get pretty hard to help them
find what they want.
Salesperson B:
Yeah, they seem to take forever to make a decision.
Salesperson A:
[Laughs]. Some are pretty slow. They shuffle everywhere. It takes
them an hour to get into the dressing room and back. Some of them
are sort of normal. I hate to say I resent helping them when I can be
making a commission on someone who is actually going to buy
something.
Salesperson B:
I find all of them to be picky or pure mean.
Are there things you like
about the experience of
helping the elderly
shopper
Salesperson B:
Yeah, when it is over.
Salesperson A:
I just like helping people, especially people who are not as lucky as
everyone else, like the old people. It makes me happy to find people
things that they want.
What do you think the
sales experience is like
for the elderly customer?
Salesperson B: They have a good time. They don’t have anything else
to do and most of them have tons of money.
Do you see things that
might need to change
about the experience of
the elderly in the stores?
Salesperson A:
No, I think we do a really good job welcoming them and helping them
find the things they need. The old folks are so much fun to work with.
Salesperson A:
I think they enjoy the experience.
Salesperson B:
Shopping is fun for them. Like I said they have all this money that
they need to spend before they die.
Manager Focus Groups
Two of the other sales managers were interviewed in this focus group. One male and one female
participated. The male had over 10 years of management experience and the female had one year
of management experience.
Questions and prompts
Responses
Describe how you think
elderly customers are
treated in your store?
Sales Manager A:
Our salespeople are top notch! We do a good job of training them to
be customer-driven. We hire only the friendliest, most attentive,
young and energetic staff.
Sales Manager B:
I’d have to say I really haven’t found that to be true [referring to Sale’s
manager A’s comment]. Most of them are either in high school or
studying at the community college part time. Their priorities aren’t
really on the job. They are there to make money, but not to really
serve.
Sales Manager A:
You must have a different group than I do. My staff is picked carefully
to be attentive and friendly. I make sure they treat the old duffers with
respect! We have a training session when they start here at Millards
that teaches customer service skills.
Sales Manager B:
[Shakes head smiling, grimacing?].
Do you think things
could be improved for
the elderly Millards
customer?
Sales Manager A:
If something’s not wrong, don’t fix it.
Sales Manager B:
We might do training on the needs of the elderly customer. I think
there are probably things we could be doing a better job of. Frankly, I
don’t really see that many of them around. I know that in this region,
we have a high retiree crowd with a large disposable income. Yet we
don’t see that many in the stores.
What do you think
working with the elderly
population is like for
your sales people?
Sales Manager B: They probably need to learn more needs of the
elderly population. It wouldn’t hurt to have some training on ageism
[age discrimination].
Sales Manager A:
I think my staff thoroughly enjoys the experience and doesn’t find
that they need to treat the old people any differently. Well, maybe
they have to talk a lot louder and help them carry their bags.
Do you have ideas on
how your sales people
might make the
shopping experience
more ideal for the elderly
customer?
Sales Manager A:
I’m not sure you even need to ask that question. We don’t really need
to improve the experience in my division.
Sales Manager B:
I think that it would be a good question to put out to the salespeople.
If they think they originated the ideas, they might be more likely to
implement them.
Marketing focus group
These are interviews from the marketing department. Both interviewees were male with over five
years of experience with Millards in a marketing role.
Questions and prompts
Responses
How do you market to
the elderly (over 65 years
of age)?
Account Manager A:
We have a clothing line that we’ve used for years. We basically have
the distributor do the analysis for us. Our attention is devoted to the
younger dollar and attracting a younger crowd. They tend to go
through clothing faster, spending more money
Account Manager B:
I’d have to agree with [Account Manager A]. We haven’t paid as much
attention to the elderly population as we probably should.
Do you think there might
be a more optimal
marketing scheme?
Account Manager A:
I think it is always worth looking at the bottom line.
Account Manager B:
The elderly population in our region is unquestionably an affluent
group. We are missing out. They are missing out!
4. Sharing the data with a SME for advice and suggestions
I shared the data below with the Gerontology professor. The professor started by looking through
the focus group notes and then at the instructional prototype. Her comments were:
All focus group comments suggest that biased thinking towards the elderly Millard’s customer.
Training will need to explain why biased and prejudiced ways of viewing a group of people is
wrong.
Many stereotypes of the elderly were evident in comments made by the focus groups (slow, hard
of hearing, set in their ways…)
Disparaging words such as “old folks”, and “duffer” were used to describe the elderly.
Training must be directed to all Millard groups: salespeople, sales managers, and the marketing
department.
A good place to start would be help salespeople, sales managers, and the marketing departments
recognize how they themselves have biased attitudes towards the elderly.
Salespeople, sales managers, and the marketing departments would gain greater empathy and
understanding of the elderly customer with improved training.
A good definition of prejudice or bias is needed (categorical assignment of characteristics to a
group of people without regard for individual differences).
5. Observations
I spent a day in one of the Millard’s department stores. I was presented as a trainer who needed
to learn more about how the cash registers were run. From this vantage point I was able to
observe a number of things about how customers were treated unfairly.
The sales people did not treat the elderly customers with the same respect they showed younger
customers. One elderly woman was never acknowledged or encouraged to ask for help. An elderly
gentleman in great physical shape was treated by one sales person as if he couldn’t lift a 3 pound
shopping bag. “Let me carry that for you!” the salesperson shouted eagerly, oblivious to the fact
that the customer was in much greater physical strength than she.
There were a far greater number of clothing items for younger customers than for older
customers. One small section of the store, tucked in a back corner, as far from the doors as
possible, displayed merchandise of interest to the elderly population.
6. Data analysis
I used a qualitative approach to analyzing all of the data collected. The first time I read through
the information to get a sense of the findings. The second time I underlined sections or words that
indicated themes, or content that was mentioned in a number of ways. Two themes emerged:
youth culture and differential treatment. These themes should be addressed in the revision of the
prototype or in non-training interventions (such as changes in management processes).
Youth orientation
Millard’s has a youth orientation. The salespeople are predominantly in their early twenties, the
marketing department are in their early thirties, and the managers are somewhere in between
their twenties and late-fifties. Observations of the marketing department reveal that advertising is
geared mostly for the young because, as stated by one account manager “the young change styles
more often, and buy more clothes.” Other evidence of a youth culture was loud music playing
throughout the store that would appeal mostly to the late teen, early twenties crowd.
Solutions to these problems are likely to be non-training in nature. For example, management
might explore changing the type of music played in stores. Sales incentives might not be based
solely on dollar amounts but on type of sales as well. Marketing initiative need to be re-explored. I
will bring these thoughts up with Mr. Millard.
Differential treatment
Both of the older people interviewed complained of feeling invisible or of being treated like they
were weaker than they were. Salespeople complained that old people were too slow and
demanding and took their time away from customers more likely to spend money and help them
earn sales commissions. I sensed that the salespeople were highly uncomfortable talking about
the elderly because they did not make eye contact while talking about them and they were not as
forthcoming with information. Almost all of the Millard’s employees interviewed did not seem to
think of themselves as having any bias or prejudice towards the elderly, yet many of the
comments indicated stereotypical ways of thinking as well as a lack of empathy for the aging
experience.