CLEMSON — Last year, Richard Pak wanted to help his septuagenarian parents decipher Medicare’s online registration mess. But the 33-year-old Pak wound up getting tangled in the electronic goo himself.

“I was shocked at how confusing it was for a person in their 30’s, like me,” said Pak, an associate professor of psychology at Clemson University. “Nowadays a lot more services and information are presented online only. Younger adults may be able to get it easily. But who needs Medicare information? Older adults.”

Google has tabbed Pak to study how seniors navigate the Internet and what design features make the experience easier for them. This summer, Pak studied the point-click prowess of 50 adults ages 65-and-older versus 50 persons 18 to 27 years old. The subjects were let loose on Web sites geared around two chassis: folder and key word.

“Two sites might look very similar but on the back-end and fundamentally, they’re organized very differently,” Pak said.

Dense, folder-driven Web sites are incongruous with seniors’ cognitive assets. As we age, remembering information for a short period of times tends to be a little more difficult. Searching through copious electronic folders requires such faculties, called “working memory.”

Uber-retailer amazon.com is an example of hierarchal, folder-after-folder design, Pak said.

“For example, when you go to the homepage, you might click the ‘books’ tab. It takes you to a page with even more options like ‘cooking, food and wine.’ When you reach that page, you are given even more options — ‘baking, canning, etc.’”

Web sites that use key words as navigation tools play to older adults’ mental strengths: experience and accrued knowledge. For a medical site, instead of searching for arthritis information in separate files for chronic diseases, bone diseases and, finally, arthritis, key word structure would simply bring up related entries. The concept is also referred to as “tagging.”

Pak said flickr.com, a photo management page frequented by youths, is surprisingly in-tune with older minds. Ditto for Google’s e-mail product, Gmail.

“There are no folders in Gmail; e-mails are organized by topic or who sent them,” Pak said.

If seniors are excluded from the continuing online revolution, both companies and older users stand to suffer. Pak compares the relocation of services to the Internet from hard copy or telephone to the digital TV conversion lurking in February 2009.

“Whether we like it or not, it’s moving that way,” Pak said.

Health-oriented sites, like webmd.com, are obvious examples of companies that would benefit from age-specific construction. Pak believes the ocean of online shopping outlets should also take heed.

“My perception is those companies aim for middle and younger ages. But actually, older adults have the most disposable income, and older adults have the need (for online) shopping much more than younger and middle-aged adults. Mobility comes into play.”

According to Pak, silver surfer upgrades could bolster financial sites, such as etrade.com.

“Older adults have a lifetime of finances they deal with,” he said.

Pak’s upcoming research includes a deeper examination of medicare.gov and other health-related hubs. Also on the horizon: a study of cutting edge sites that allow users to view and track their medical records for home. The emerging trend, seen on sites like google.com/health and Microsoft’s healthvault.com, connects with data on doctor and pharmacist systems.

However, there are some concerns, with privacy topping the list.

“People are going to wonder, ‘Are my health records secure? Is anyone else going to look at this?’” Pak said.

Offering free training is a prime avenue to familiarize older adults with online resources. According to Pak, libraries, community centers and family members can all serve as corridors to the Web.

“I think we will never be in a place where you can walk up and use the Internet without knowing anything,” he said.