Aging comes with challenges that affect daily life, from memory loss to difficulty using modern technology. This project focuses on designing intuitive, accessible, and comforting solutions tailored to the needs for the elderly. an increasingly digitized world, India's rural and semi-urban elderly are usually the ones who end up more and more isolated, unheard, and cut off from the very communities they had once actively engaged with, many older adults moving to rural areas or stay there because of quality of life (QOL) considerations – what is relevance of this?. The scenic landscape and feeling of connectedness to the land, as well as the sharing and helping that are common among people in rural areas, are among the reasons why older people feel their QOL may be better in rural areas – why jumping right into rural migration?
In hindsight, this was a short but valuable project.
Designing for eldery population is a whole different scenarios when it comes to adoption and usability of the product. Most of the elderly population is living in a world which is too fast for them and i have learned how to manage the usability testing sessions well becuase this age group when in comes to technology shows filght or freeze reponses
lesson
There is no need to force a conclusion (experiments can be inconclusive), but we should find out some reasons why it might not be conclusive.Not all hypothesis are conclusive directions, experiments can be exploratory in nature.
lesson
It is important to stage a controlled environment for the experiment.
lesson
We should only take the data we need, and not over collect and analyse extra data which might confuse us. For example, total time and time spent on each screen might not have necessarily helped us in our synthesis phase.
factors influenced to finalize the concept
Nostalgic factor through Radio as inspiration for the product.
Website based audio sources for people to hear.
Prompts generation that can enhance interactions.
Recording option that saves and transfers data to server when internet is available.
Features that implement in the prototype
Talk/Listen mode
Offline podcasts
Live listening
content categories - mythology , Stories , History
Audio prompts
This project was part of 16 weeks “Design Thinking” class conducted at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur ,I Had to drove into the realms of Human centered design ,exploring the principles and methodologies that drive effective problem solving that can have an impact on the lived on the elderly.
This project was completed using the user centered design methodolgy .
Tools used
Known and unknowns map
stakeholder mapping
Reframe design statement
Rose Thorn Bud
Affinity mappingpersonas
scenario mapping - storyboard
user journeys
using the How We Might reframing the design statement
types of field research
Insights we got after following the process were
Post-retirement, there's a noticeable desire to stay engaged through small activities, spiritual practices, or community involvement to avoid feeling idle or purposeless.
Elderly individuals maintain structured daily routines, often involving early rising, spiritual practices, and limited outings, to bring purpose and stability to their lives.
Adjusting to modern lifestyle changes poses difficulties, including adapting to new family dynamics, dietary habits, and societal expectations, leading to a sense of disconnect.
Themes that emerged from the affinity mapping
Technolgy and accessiblity
Physical health and mental health
Lonliness and wellbeing
After some ideations from crazy eights we settled down one prodcut that would help the elderly in the times when they are unreachaable to the normal populaion.
We finalised this on the basis of impact on the lives of wide population
How Might We
Our project is “to enable interactions” that does, “ social engagement and meaningful activities in order to help elderly contribute to society in a manner that makes them feel valued and heard as senior citizens.
Rationale
Our project is“to enhance connections”that does,“improves communication, social interactions and engagement that help them contribute to society”, which makes them valued and heard for“senior citizens.”
factors influenced to finalize the concept
Nostalgic factor through Radio as inspiration for the product.
Website based audio sources for people to hear.
Prompts generation that can enhance interactions.
Recording option that saves and transfers data to server when internet is available.
Features that implement in the prototype
Talk/Listen mode
Offline podcasts
Live listening
content categories - mythology , Stories , History
Audio prompts
