ELDATH
ELDATH is a responsive and trustworthy caregiver that is dedicated to monitoring and safeguarding the well-being of your cherished ones.
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MY ROLE & RESPONSIBILITY
Product Strategy
User Research
Persona Creator
MVP define
Wireframes
UI Design & Prototyping
Usability testing -
TOOLS
Figma
Figjam
Illustrator -
DURATION
Two Months
Project Overview
Problem
Many elderly are left alone to live on their own, separated from their families and friends. This isolation can lead to overwhelming feelings of loneliness and sadness, eventually giving rise to severe mental health challenges. So, how can we support those living alone in establishing meaningful connections with others and their loved ones while also prioritizing their health? I aim to provide support and foster connections among the elderly community, ensuring they remain connected with family members and can make new friends.
Products/Solutions
Give elderly information about nearby events so they can take part and socialize.
Providing a user-friendly chat/video call platform, helps seniors maintain strong relationships with their families and connect with them with just a few clicks.
A reminder tool to help seniors remember if they have any appointments, plans, or the need to take medicine.
Offer caregiver support from a distance to add a family member or close one to monitor you when you miss a dose or forget any plan. (Made two sign-up methods during onboarding, Personal use & Caregiver)
Design Process
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Research
Secondary Research
In the United States, 28% of adults older than 60 years old live alone, totaling more than 14.7 million people (5 million men and 9.7 million women). - Merk Manual
According to ConsumerAffairs, Loneliness, and social isolation increase the risk of dementia by 50%
Other health risks related to loneliness include:
Stroke: Risk increases by 32%
Heart disease: Risk increases by 29%
Mental health disorders: Risk increases by 26%
Premature mortality: Risk increases by 26%
According to the University of New Hampshire, social isolation and loneliness are equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes each day!
Primary Research: User Survey
Conducted user survey to validate my research and gather feedbacks. I began by creating a 6 questions survey and asking elderly in person since posting online would not be an efficient way to reach elderly.
Sample Size: 10 (Age from 50-79)
Outcome:
80% of people have never used a caregiver app.
Solution: Develop an app that the elderly can rely on and find useful.
60% of users live alone, which is significant enough to validate my concern.
Solution: Assist them in finding security and trust.
90% are unaware of any resources to connect with other elderly people or participate in events.
Solution: Establish an elderly community.
60% of our users communicate with their families, but only on occasion.
Solution: Create a quick button to contact a family member as a solution.100% of user wants to talk to their family more often. Solution: Help them get attention and connect with their family.
50% of user forget to take their medicine and appointments very often.
Solution: Help set a reminder.
Primary Research: User Interview
Conducted five user interviews aiming to gain a deeper understanding of my user's experiences and thoughts. These interviewed users were part of the user survey above and all belong to the age group of 60 or older, which aligns with my target audience.
Empathy Map
Following the interviews and the collection of key insights, I used the empathy map technique to categorize these insights into 'say,' 'think,' 'do,' and 'feel.' This approach enhanced my understanding of my users on a deeper level which influenced the feature that I need to consider for this application.
Competitive Analysis
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Medisafe
Mainly focus on medication reminders. Add a family member or loved one to get notified in case you miss a dose - all discretely and free!
Weakness: Texts and buttons are a bit too small and might cause some problems when it comes to navigation which may result in a bad user experience considering its main audience is elderly.
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WeChat
A social media application that people can connect with each other. Many Chinese users use this app for texting and push-to-talk features. (including my parents)
Weakness: Many other features that the Elderly do not use and could pose a learning curve since the elderly are not too tech savvy.
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OurTime
An online dating platform that’s for the elderly, bringing people with similar interests together.
Weakness: Lack of event, or group event, lack of the feeling of community.
Define the Problem
Personas
After engaging in conversations with both the participants and user researchers, it became evident that each participant possessed a distinctive narrative. Consequently, I meticulously crafted personas for each user group, placing a particular emphasis on their objectives and problem statements. This deliberate approach significantly influenced the refinement of my final design decisions.
Problem Statement: Alex is an outgoing senior who needs help connecting with the community and identifying events in which he can participate because he feels lonely especially after the past of his wife.
Problem Statement: Mary is a mother and grandmother who wants to spend more time with her two sons and grandchildren because they live too far away from her and she feels separated from them.
Problem Statement: Steve is a senior who lives alone and needs a tool or someone to remind him to take his medicine or any upcoming plan that he has, because as he gets older, his memory is weakening.
Design Impact / So What?
Building out each persona representing each group helped me better understand my target audience and what they want. This process significantly influenced the development of critical decisions and features I must consider.
Give the elderly information about nearby events so they can take part and socialize.
Providing a user-friendly chat/video call platform, helps seniors maintain strong relationships with their families and connect with them with just a few clicks.
A reminder tool to help seniors remember if they have any appointments, plans, or the need to take medicine.
Offer caregiver support from a distance to add a family member or close one to monitor you when you miss a dose or forget any plan. (Made two sign-up methods during onboarding, Personal use & Caregiver)
User Stories & MVP
I outline my users' needs through Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) that must be developed before the launch. I provide reasoning for each MVP, explaining how it will benefit my users. Additionally, I've documented the user journey in the form of user stories, detailing how users will interact with the product. Lastly, I've identified the requirements to ensure the feasibility of these features.
Ideating Solutions
Brainstorming Session
I began by brainstorming and jotting down all the ideas I had for addressing the issues. I utilized Affinity mapping to group similar ideas together.
I categorized them into three main themes: Reminders, Community, and Connecting with loved ones. Furthermore, I explored the desired user experience and emotions users should be feeling when using ELDATH.
Paper Wireframes
I began the design process with low-fidelity sketches that were needed to reach the user's goals. As a visual learner, these sketches helped me to envision my ideas before moving digitally.
These are the main User Flows
Create an account for personal use and get started with the app.
Add a medication reminder with the medication information.
Browse existing events and join one.
Add a doctor's appointment reminder at 1:40 PM to see Doctor Gee.
Start a chat with your daughter and start a video call with her.
Site Map
Created a sitemap to streamline the entire navigation, aiming to deliver a user experience that is both seamless and non-overwhelming.
Low Fidelity Wireframes
Digital Wireframes
After ideating, I moved to digital wireframes and then low-fidelity prototype using Figma to bring my ideas to life.
High Fidelity Wireframes
Brand Guideline
Before moving on to high-fidelity wireframes. Brand guideline, Moodboard, and Design System were created after gathering information that further helped me see the vision of how the product will feel and look.
ELDATH High Fidelity Wireframes (version 1)
Usability Testing
Usability Testing Report
Task:
Add a medication reminder with medical information and update the status as taken.
Browse Existing Events and join an event.
Add a doctor's appointment at 1:40 PM to see Doctor Gee
Start a chat with your daughter and start a video call with her.
Usability Finding:
P1(Critical): When updating a medication status, 4 out of 4 users found it confusing to hold and drag the medication card to the left for editing.
P1(Critical): When adding an appointment, 3 out of 4 users were not able to finish the task, the drop-down arrow on the header is not prominent enough.
P2(Major): During the onboarding process, 2 out of 4 users want explanations for both 'personal use' and 'caregiver' to be visible so they can get a better understanding of the distinction between the two modes.
P3(Minor): 1 out of 4 users stated that some font sizes might be too small for seniors to read.
Quotes from users:
"Font size might be too small for seniors to read"
"I don’t like the timeline style for the reminder tab, I would prefer a checklist over this"
"Editing the med is confusing, especially for the senior participants"
"Changing the reminder to an appointment is very hidden, it’s not friendly to us"
Finding Explanation
Issue #1
When updating a medication status, 4 out of 4 users found it confusing to hold and drag the medication card to the left for editing.
It was not intuitive for users to drag the card to the left to edit the status of the medication.
4 out of 4 users were trying to click on the card but nothing was triggered.
1 out of 4 users didn't like the timeline style and would prefer a list style.
Recommendations:
Remove the drag to left feature, I thought this was cool but it was not intuitive enough which is a problem.
Implement a tap-to-edit feature instead.
Update the timeline style to a list style so users don't have to scroll all the way down to see reminders that are set later in the day.
Issue #2
When adding an appointment, 3 out of 4 users were not able to finish the task, the drop-down arrow on the header is not prominent enough. It was not intuitive for users to drag the card to the left to edit the status of the medication.
3 out of 4 users did not notice the drop-down arrow on the header to change from medication to appointment and I ended up having to guide them where to click.
1 user stated that the arrow was too small to see and it can be easily overlooked.
Users were confused as to why they had to click on the drop-down to change the type of reminder.
Recommendations:
Remove the drop-down feature since it was not intuitive at all. Instead, create a new landing page where users can choose the type of reminder they want to add.
Issue #3
During the onboarding process, 2 out of 4 users want explanations for both 'personal use' and 'caregiver' to be visible so they can get a better understanding of the distinction between the two modes.
Users were confused as to the difference between the two modes of Dependent vs. Caregiver.
2 Users pointed out that they want to see the description spontaneously so it is easier to tell the difference between the two.
1 out of 4 users didn't like the word dependent.
Recommendations:
Make sure to show the description of both modes, all information should be transparent to users, also making sure that the explanation is easy to understand.
Replace the term 'dependent' with 'personal use,' as this better aligns with the mode's purpose, which involves users taking responsibility for setting reminders and participating in events. A caregiver, on the other hand, is someone who monitors and assists you in case you miss something.
Issue #4
When users navigate through the event page, they pointed out that there was a lack of information about the events.
2 out of 4 users expressed a desire for clarity regarding the proximity of events, particularly when the event is in person.
1 user wanted to know if there is a built-in map feature.
Users pointed out that the event’s distance and location is a critical factor in their decision-making processes.
Recommendations:
Provide additional event details, including the distance from user’s location, whether they are driving or walking. Additionally, provide the precise event location and offer users the option to ‘get directions’, guiding them to their preferred map application.
Issue #5
1 out of 4 users stated that some font sizes might be too small for seniors to read.
Recommendations:
Add a page in the onboarding process where the user can customize the font size or bold text for better readability. Users would have the option to adjust this later in the setting as well.
Currently, white texts do not pass the WCAG AA standard for normal text (4.5:1) against an orange background which is not ideal for my target audience and could possibly cause accessibility issues so I increased the saturation of the orange color.
Final Prototype
Prototype
Following usability testing, I incorporated all the feedback provided by my users and integrated it into this final prototype.
Take away & Next Step
Take away
Understanding the needs and challenges of elderly users
Importance of Accessibility feature (font size & color contrast)
Simplicity and ease of use are the key
Next Step
For my next step, I plan to conduct further usability testing and introduce this product to a wider audience of elderly individuals. It's crucial to ensure that there's genuine demand for this product in the market. Additionally, I want to talk to a software engineer who can assist in developing the app. Regarding my marketing strategy, I intend to create posters or banners to raise awareness of the Eldath app. An efficient locations could include bus stops, billboards, and distributing shirts with printed logo to spread awareness. A metric for success would be whether or not if the app is improving the lives of the elderly.
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