winky cai
Overview --
Nowadays, more and more older adults live alone, though living in an empty-nest in one’s late-life runs in the opposite direction of traditional culture. They are separated from society and have no way to meet new friends, cultivate new hobbies, and feel lost while having nothing to do. Many of them live alone at home without friends, family, and help, emotional or wellness support -- and that is a problem. I created SnE to help extravert empty-nesters meet new friends, share common interests and encourage introverted ones to socialize. Finally, SnE can make their lives richer, even if their family is not with them.
DURATION
May 2020 - Jun 2020
ROLE
UX Designer
TEAM
Individual Project
The Goal --
To help older adults make new friends and enrich their lives
The Solution --
SnE: An intelligent activity recommendation assistant aimed to match and recommend the activities suitable for older adults
My design goal is to help empty-nesters have something to do after retiring and without the company of family members. I explored a system to identify their personality and recommend the best activities for them.
To encourage empty-nesters to socialize and find new friends, SnE will understand the personality and hobbies of the older adults, and according to the personality and hobbies, match the activities suitable for users, and recommend them to users. And aiming to facilitating some elderly people who do not like to use smartphones, I designed a smart bracelet for them specifically for social services
Context
A large amount of Empty Nester living in China and they always feel loss about it
In China, with the rise of the aged, there has been a trend toward the increase of empty-nester (Elderly people living with spouse or living alone). Unlike the western, according to Chinese tradition, parents bring children up, and then their children need to support their parents when they grow up. Therefore, parents tend to do everything for their children. However, children have to leave their parents because of making their new life in the modern city. Thus, old parents have to live alone and feel loss without kids company.
In this situation, the elderly’s social situation are of concern. However, the major problem of their social intercourse is still needed further research.
I think loneliness will lead to depression or economic loss. However, the obstacle of meeting new friends makes them too afraid to take the first step. Thus, I feel it worth my research and design an intervention to encourage them to meet new friends, breaking the deadlock of their frustration and physical disability.
Ecosystem Map
Empty-nesters feel so lonely that they chat with salesman more frequently than their old friends and children
To identify the current living situation and social circle of my target users, I draw a economy map to visualize
Site Observation
Current community activities for the elderly can be improved to encourage more seniors to involve.
After looking into the lonely situations of empty-nesters in China, I started to do a site observation for community activity according to the ecosystem. I found out that some of the elderly find it difficult to meet new friends who share common interests. And the activities are lack diversification, which is not attractive enough for the elderly.
User Interview
Design based on the real feeling of target users
My interview's primary goal is to identify the real needs and pain points of empty nesters toward their social intercourse to have a better understanding of their real feeling. I asked my mo,m’ retire colleges, and I also did a casual interview with a stranger in a community whose residents are seniors. I talked to them casually for two hours, making lots of notes. I conducted two contextual inquiries by accompanying my target users on their routine around campus, especially their social behaviors.
User Interview
When it comes to empty nesters, introverted seniors, extraverted old citizens share a same frustration and they have their own painpoints for community activities.
I selected 6 participants in a wide range of ages, personalities, health and social intercourse and collate their feeling in the following chart. All participants are over 60, living either by themselves or their spouses.
Affinity Map
Users daily life, frustrations and needs
To summarize the needs, frustrations, and daily life of target users according to the interview, I noted down all of the relevant messages in talking. I did a card sorting to brainstorm the possible features.
User Persona
Identify needs, goals and frustrations of target users
By consolidating both finding from secondary research and affinity map from users’ interviews, I generated user personas to help us identify two kinds of typical users' needs, goals, and frustrations.
User Journey Map
Insight
#1. The empty-nesters need more attention and care from other
During the process of contextural inquiries, I found that there were a lots of health care products (a kind of deception is to sale informal health care products by the salesman and its aim to senior citizens) in a participants house. Salesman always displays their “filial affection” to the seniors. Therefore, seniors were able to get attention from others which help them to get rid of loneliness.
#2.Part of the needs and pain points of introverted and extraverted are overlapped and the rest of them are same
The result from card sorting activity and interview revealed that empty nesters have a different attitude toward community activity and communication.
#3. Channels of mutual information for assistance and activities should be deployed in the empty nesters’ community
After identifying the different personalities of empty nesters and their need for attentions from others, I found that they are able to help each others and balance each other out. At presents, they can hardly have a way to find each other. Thus, the channals encouraging them help each other should be built.
#4. Therefore, they can take dissimilar role when they want to help others in the community activity
After identifying the different personalities of empty nesters and their need for attention from others, I found that they can help each other and balance each other out. At present, they can hardly have a way to find each other. Thus, the channals encouraging them help each other should be built.
#5. The way for mutual assitance and socializing should be senior friendly
According to interviewees' body condition, I knew that most of the seniors have long-sightedness, physical strength drop, so reading tiny words like youngsters and complicated gesture interaction with computers is not easy for them.
Thus, the product designed for them should be an elderly-friendly app.
#6. Moreover, they needs bigger fonts , contrast colors and simple expression.
When I conducted the interview to other participants, I found that most of them have low vision. So they have less difficulty processing type faces like Arial or Helvetica. Without the serifs, it’s easier to recognize characters. The thing you’ll hear the most from older adults, though, is to make the type larger.
How might we
Provide a tool for the seniors in the community to easily make new friends sharing the common interest in the community activities naturally and help one another
Ideation: Brainstorming
Exploring Ideas and Categorizing
After the generative research, I conducted a “Walk-the-wall” activity to identify breakdowns, needs and design ideas. I put my different ideas on the board and explore how my research-backed them up.
I came up with 23 ideas, put them onto the wall and them catagorized them based on the similarlity. The catagories include design principle, basic functions, activities recommandations and person to person interaction.
Ideation: Storyboard
Testing my ideas and users’ needs from brainstorming with storyboards
Based on my ideas and customers' needs categorized upon, I created 6 storyboards and conducted 12 speed dating with potential users for the purpose of need validation and ideation.
In each sessions, I asked them individually to know their real feeling of my different ideas.
Feedbacks from Speed Dating Sessions
The storyboards and speed dating sessions help me a lot for developing the appreciation of my core users. Through the speed dating sessions, I found that my participants are very optimistic about the ideas of Smart Band, A prompt for activity happened closely and activity recommandation. As for the
Concept
What if adoptive community activities will be pushed to empty nesters?
Based on my ideas and customers' needs catagorized upon, I created 6 storyboards and conducted 12 speed dating with potential users for the purpose of need validation and ideation.
Matching System
1.
SnE obtain users’ personality and interest based on onboarding questionnaire and then create a profile for them
2.
SnE take the activities classification which is determined by the ratio of users with different personality and tags.
3.
Community activities will be pushed to users with profiles similar to activities classifications.
4.
Users participate in the activity and give feedback for SnE to develop their preference.
5.
The ratio of welcoming participants should be set up
Concept Development
Smart Wristband
In order to facilitate some elderly people who do not like to use smart phones, I designed a smart bracelet for them specifically for social services
Low-Fidelity Prototyping
My prototyping aims to provide elderly users with activity recommandation according to the tag about their interest,personality and body condition they select and the acticity they attended. They can also use the smart bracelets to receive recommandations and navigation in voice.
1.Boarding Page: Show a illustrations on the first page, users click next to log in or sign up.
2.Select Purpose: Initial setting for asking their primary need for the app.
3.Personality: Initial setting for set up their personality, and it will slightly change with following feedback.
4.Body Condition: Initial setting for set up their body condition. After that, the computer will get recommandation which can anser his(her) purpose.
5.Searching Page: The computer is searching for activity fit to the user.
6.Navigation Map: Voice navigation opened automatically.
7.Activity detail information
8.Voice Navigation: The text message is showed in the screen.
Smart Wristband
#Screen Lock: Show the time and it have access to Speech Interpretation
#Menu1: Select activity & contact & ask for help & personal information
#Recording for help: when users ask for help, it can input their information in voice message
#Menu2: Initial setting for setting up their body condition. After that, the computer will get recommendations that can answer his(her) purpose.
#Choose Time: Select the time they prefer for attending activity
#Searching Page: Search for activities
#Navigation
