-DESIGNING PHASE PROJECT -PROTOTYPING
Connecting seniors with other seniors living in the housing society to lift their happiness, health and also make them interdependent
Roles & Responsibilities
- User Research: Surveys, Interviews, Competitive Analysis, Affinity Mapping
- UX Design: Crazy 8s, Iterative Wireframing, Testing Sessions
- Narrative Storytelling
Project Context
- Individual and team project
- Making society vibrant and lively
Tools Utilised
- Figma
- Sketch
- Whiteboards and Miro
- SimpleMind
This was the end of 2019 when I moved back with my parents due to their health issues to a cooperative housing society in Mumbai. I knew the issues what they and people of their similar age were facing – society was fragmented due to the lack of social connections and it was no different than before, however this time I did decide to make extra efforts to solve this.
- Society had bylaws in place which were more on the general rules and regulations and legalities around the building, tenants and landlords, however there was no focus on the general well-being and establishment of social connection for members, especially seniors.
- The events organised by the society had least amount of participations.
- There was no integrated platform for the information and social interactions to take place amongst the society members.
At the start of the project knowing my targeted segment was the key, as in, who were the most affected group and listening and knowing the issues of people living there was the first step. In order to do that, I had few friends and society people which I gathered in order to execute the research process and to get to the bottom of the issue and then to devise solutions. Though there were limitations on this project in regards to the iterations, due to the lack of some resources (time, situation and people volunteering in this project were also working elsewhere to support themselves). The few important questions which I wanted to get answers to, were necessary towards the end of the research.
- What changes were necessary in order to enhance the society members engagement?
- What all activities (monetary and non-monetary) are easy and practical (frequency wise) that could potentially increase participation for elderly?
- What platform (mobile, webapp or desktop application) would our focused group use often and is user-friendly?
Research Insights
Connection should be organic
Regardless of having the social platforms like facebook and whatsapp most seniors are leftout out without any social connection leading them to health issues. Physical connections were drastically reduced even with the existing social apps.
On-time support and platform missing
Though technology has advanced, however those did not ensure it has been channelised correctly to solve the main issue within the society. This was to change.
Measuring success & program continuity
Later on, once the technology is built, will have to ensure the success is measured and/or it’s processes are altered, if necessary in order to achieve the effectiveness and the continuity of its initiatives. Regular iteration was the key.
Turning Insights Into Design Ideas
Diverse group connectedness
Due to prevailing caste system in India, most of the society members were still not taking the initiative to get along with their neigbours. Our team had to make the effort to get this paradigm shift, which was crucial for the adoption of the new system.
Platform development
Not only was the challenge of building the technology, it was also important how the user experience could be enhanced for it to stick.
Encourage engagement and reward program
Focusing on the competition, awards, activities and games were the most tempting areas for senior members participation. Consequently, few experienced organisers within the society were to be appointed (with the few backups). Those were all unpaid voluntary and interest basis roles.
After understanding the nature of the problem and possible practical solutions discussed mainly with our potential users and with my team, I then had utilised mindmap to design the flow and the affinity map to organise the output in a low fidelity design by using a pen and a paper. Once that was laid, the high fidelity design was made using digital prototyping on Figma to get the exact look and feel of the UI what the user may finally use.
Feedback was crucial
After five iterations on the design upon taking users feedback, the holistic view got more clearer. The views revolved around the purpose of the app as to what the primary objectives were and then the focus was to find out what exactly was needed and finally how it would be implemented through the design. Those were the integral steps which guided me on every step of the process. As the main aim was to build strong connections amongst the elderly, by involving them in activities which provide fun and engagement and then all those list of activities and events would be integrated into one centralised system through which any senior could access and book those without seeking much help. Also during the iteration rounds quite a few of the elderly had requested for the option of having a guide or an organiser, because of their lack of experience of organising activities. The organiser option was introduced in the prototype.
Some of the options were reduced from the main landing page to keep the page simple and some options were shifted and embedded in the burger menu where it could be easily found too. The final design seemed much better than what was originally been thought.
Results
The core value of the app is in the features, to help the seniors to not only have friction-free app experience and glide through the results of their searches, but also encourage them to provide the activity details (low cost, great experience and safe locations to chose from etc) . It has also the option to invite different members, for the activities and interest in common within the same interface. For their convenience there were also different payment options to choose from, so that they could easily make payments securely online. This design project was successful in regards to the objectives we had, with some struggle due to government restrictions during the pandemic. The app is now in production.
