AARP Hearing Center
AARP Smart Picks: How We Test and Review Products and Services
We break down the process of how we evaluate consumer offerings with older adult testers — and why it matters that we get it right
Courtesy of AARP Smart Picks™
AARP Smart Picks delivers expert, in-depth reviews to help adults ages 50 and older make confident and informed purchase decisions. Whether we’re evaluating mattresses, blood pressure monitors or online dating platforms, we combine our collective knowledge in product testing — and unbiased input from subject matter experts and medical reviewers — with a data-backed approach to create thoroughly researched and rigorously tested reviews.
We want our reviews to make the purchasing process feel a bit more manageable so that you can find the products or services that are actually worth your money — and that actually can improve your quality of life.
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We base our recommendations on real, first-hand feedback from older adult testers. Testers assess products in their own homes, our Smart Picks test kitchen or our 40,000-square-foot testing lab. Every review we publish is shaped by this input from our testers, and we value the unique perspectives they offer.
Will, a 65-year-old tester, is shown here evaluating one of our medical alert system products.
Courtesy of AARP Smart Picks
Here's how we vet and test products and services
We’ve established a thorough testing methodology for every product and service that we review, tailored to what testers, survey respondents and focus group participants told us matters most. Read on to learn more about our process.
Research the market
We start with in-depth market research. Which products or services are popular and why? Which have rave reviews? And are these reviews legitimate? Our goal is to thoroughly analyze the market so we understand not only the most popular products and services but also the newer, more unique and niche offerings.
Conduct surveys and focus groups
Once we understand the landscape, we conduct surveys and focus groups with adults aged 50-plus to dig deeper into the topic we’re covering and the real-world experience of people who could use these products.
Surveys — such as those on sleep products and accessories use or medical alert systems — allow us to gain a broader perspective on the product or service we’re testing. We ask survey and focus group participants questions such as: Which product or service features do you consider important? Why did you choose the product or service you selected? Would you recommend it to a friend?
Recruit independent testers ages 45-plus to try each product or service
All products and services recommended by AARP Smart Picks have been tested and vetted by adults ages 45 and older. Independent testers follow our rigorous evaluation process to ensure we receive unbiased feedback. For instance, testers assess products and services in our lab or their own homes, and use them like any normal consumer would. They’ll sit or lie on a mattress or set up and use a medical alert system. Then, as part of this process, they’ll answer questions like: Did a product or service exceed their expectations? Or were they let down by a particular feature? These insights and feedback from testers then help to shape our recommendations.
We have also recruited members of the AARP community, including readers of The Ethel, to test certain products and share their voices in our reviews. The Ethel is a free weekly newsletter, website and online community that’s named in honor of AARP founder Ethel Percy Andrus.
Conduct controlled lab tests
We also carry out assessments in our testing lab. At this stage, our lab team conducts controlled and consistent tests on each product or service. In this way, we can compare test results and use an objective rubric to determine which products or services performed best.
For example, when we test a mattress's edge support, a lab tester places a 150-pound sandbag on the edge and measures how much that edge sinks. We then compare data to find the bed with the strongest edges. When we do our cooling test to gauge a mattress's heat retention, we use a cooling gun to measure temperature before and after adding a heating pad to the bed for one minute. We then compare the temperature differences to decide the cooling score.
These lab-controlled assessments — along with feedback from individual testers — help us to compare each product or service and decide which ones to recommend.
Our sinkage test (pictured here) is one metric we use in mattress testing to help gauge the stability of a bed’s edges.
Courtesy of AARP Smart Picks
Evaluate each company’s customer service
At AARP Smart Picks, we look for products or services from companies that are committed to helping customers and resolving their issues. That’s why we dedicate time to test the customer service experience.
As part of this process, testers contact service providers, sellers and manufacturers to find out whether customers can get help when needed, whether returns are easy, if customer representatives are responsive and other key information. We also ask our testers to provide insights into the setup process for each product or service (if applicable) and whether any related instructions were clear and easy to read.
Consult medical reviewers
Medical experts help inform our testing approach and review our articles to ensure they’re accurate and medically sound. These experts also draw upon their clinical experience to help us understand which product features would most benefit older adults.
These medical reviewers include experts in fields relevant to the topics we cover, including orthopedic surgeons, rheumatologists and board-certified physicians in private practice, as well as professors from universities such as the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Michigan and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, among others.
In general, products and services that perform well on these assessments make it onto our AARP Smart Picks lists for older adults. Have questions or feedback about our process? Email us at AARPSmartPicks@aarp.org.
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