CHANGING THE FUTURE
OF AGING CARE
Background
My classmates and I were tasked to create a smart home device for one of my UX classes at Humber College. As we are all international students in my group, we felt an affinity towards creating a smart home device that our almost-senior parents could make use of. Since we can't see them often due to physical distance, we thought of a device that could help bridge this gap and make our lives better.
Timeline
2 months
Stakeholders
2 other UX Designers
My Role
UX Designer
Tools
Figma
CONTEXT
Problem
Aging individuals and their loved ones need an app that allow the seniors to live alone whilst the family/friends have the ability to monitor and provide care virtually.
Who is the target user?
Aging individuals and their loved ones need an app that allow the seniors to live alone whilst the family/friends have the ability to monitor and provide care virtually.
Solution
The idea was this. An all around camera where children or caretakers of the senior parent, can closely monitor the senior parent who may be living alone. They might be not old enough yet to require around the clock supervision by a trained professional, however, they may have needs that necessitate being monitored by their loved ones.
The smart home device was named by our group: SeniorCare.
KEY FEATURES
Notification System
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I designed a notification system that benefits both the senior and the caretaker - it would keep notifications within the notification center so that if, for example, the caretaker is not constantly monitoring the camera, they can still receive notifications of the senior sending a note through in the form of a voice message or a video message.
The reasoning behind this design choice was to address the main point of the app, to keep both parties worry-free and able to continue with their lives with minimal disruption.​
Down below, you can find iterations of previous designs that led me to the final user interface.
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Reminder System
Secondly, a small but crucial design feature that I included was the “Share Health Profile with 911 Dispatcher”. This toggle would inform the authorities, in the event of an emergency, of the senior’s medications, allergies, and health records so that they will have all of the necessary information to make the most informed decision that they need.
I also designed a medicine reminder system that allows the caretaker to leave a detailed description that would give the senior the option to be reminded of when to take their medicine, how much of it to take, and how often. I purposely designed this portion of the app to be meticulous so that no details are missed out - this also would make it so that the caretaker has a one-time session of setting up the system, while the senior will have easy-to-follow instructions on their end when taking their medications.​
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Down below, you can find iterations of previous designs that led me to the final user interface.
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Scheduling Reminders
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Finally, there is a reminders feature of the application that has been integrated into the application. This will allow the senior to schedule events/tasks along with date/time reminders. This is incredibly handy for someone who has a lot of tasks they need to accomplish, or possibly might need an extra hand remembering smaller tasks throughout the day. Despite the size of the task, SeniorCare will be able to help accommodate their needs.​
Down below, you can find iterations of previous designs that led me to the final user interface.
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LESSONS LEARNED
In summary, I enhanced my interaction skills by ensuring that the flow of the application was intuitive and smooth for the user. I built upon several different prototypes, always with the goal of ease of use for the user in mind. I wanted to ensure that the details of the entire application were complete, but not complicated to use. I felt like I made the application an aesthetically pleasing interface, whilst still serving its overall purpose both logically and functionally.