Experimentation, individual case study,
Hyper Island UX upskill program
Connecting youths and elders in a post pandemic world
Background the elderly
During the pandemic that started in March 2020, people living in Sweden where recommended social distansing and to work from home.
The elderly generation, 70+, practised strict social distansing and the vulnerable elderly at elderly care homes lived in total isolation with no visits from friends and relatives, and all social acitivities where shut down.
Background the young
For the younger Swedes the technology became a bridge for socializing, when social events swapped into digital events they used and developed online tools, apps and platforms in a creative way.
During the pandemic year students in high school have also had part of the time on distance, which made them become masters in communication tools like zoom etc.
Issues the elderly
Elderly were somewhat isolated even before the pandemic and did not receive as many visits as they wanted/needed on regular basis.
Having difficulties in keeping in touch with their life before the move to the elderly care home, creates limitations like shop for groceries, take walks or visit a coffee shop etc.
Issues the young
For the younger ones the pandemic made it impossible to have summer jobs at elderly care homes, jobs that provided opportunities for generations to meet, share thoughts and perspectives on life, provide activities for the elderly and meaningful work for the young.
Primary target group:
elderly 65+ that live at elderly care homes
Secondary target group: young people 16–19 years old that want summer jobs during holidays and at their spare time
Problem statements
PRIMARY PROBLEM STATEMENT
How might we design solutions that enrich the life for the elderly during and post pandemic.
SECONDARY PROBLEM STATEMENT
How might we design solutions that also give young people job oportunities during and post pandemic?
Experiment 1
Understanding the elderly situation
Survey on Facebook, 40 respondents
Understanding the elderly situation. Survey on Facebook.
ASSUMPTION
We assume that relatives take main responsibility for helping their elderly parents to use digitial devices for socializing purpose.
HYPOTHESIS
We believe that relatives would feel less pressure if elderly had a higher basic digital knowledge, so that they could meet more often and socialize easier.
FALSIFABLE HYPOTHESIS
We believe that digital tools do not help elderly to maintain their social life with relatives, and protect them from isolation and loneliness.
EXPERIMENT
Survey on facebook, 40 respondents.
CONCLUSION
Disproved. The survey show that digital tools have had an important role helping elderly and relatives to socialize during the pandemic. 87% of the elderly feel lonely, 89% get help from relatives when they struggle, and facetime is the major communcation app.
Experiment 2
Understanding their needs (and dreams)
Stay connected with what engaged the elderly before
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— Hi, now we are at Artipelag, the Art Hall at Värmdö. This is a fantastic piece that Jaume Plensa made in 2012, named Ainsa IV. So happy that you can join this beautiful day, in the upcoming spring.
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— The sculpture is made of letters and numbers and is situated in the bay looking at Artipelag across the sea. We had to walk on paths here, so joining on facetime is a perfect idea for you.
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— Now you can direct me, what do you want to zoom into?
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— Can you see the omega symbol at his back? So beautiful! What do you want to see after this, there are nine more sculptures here in the nature, and then we can go to the café. There you can point out what you want me to bring back for our afternoon fika.
Understanding their needs (and dreams). Stay connected with what engaged them before.
ASSUMPTION
We assume that even though the elderly is unable to move as he/she did before, there is still a longing to norish what interests them.
EXPERIMENT
Get out to the art piece in the nature and test if a facetime call could work as a bridge for the elderly. Is it possible to enjoy and get the feel of the details nearly as if they had been there in person?
CONCLUSION
Disproved. It worked very well, and the elderly enjoyed the excursion nearly as much as if they had been there themselves.
HYPOTHESIS
We believe that the possibility to join a family excursion on tricky paths in nature is not more than a facetime call away.
FALSIFABLE HYPOTHESIS
We believe that once the elderly have moved to an elderly care house, it will not be possible to enjoy an excursion on tricky paths with their family anymore.
Experiment 3
Understanding their preferences on socializing
Can an introvert and an extrovert have different needs?
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In this experiment we first had a social facetime talk, conneting and catching up on actualities and everyday life.
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Then we had another facetime talk that had a purpose to be more side-by-side, having breakfast and reading our own newspaper, not socializing. To be seen as if we had sat at the same breakfast table, waking up and minding ones own business. Not feeling the “presure” of dedicating the brekfast to a social talk.
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One could of course share an article that one saw in the newspaper,
like you would if you where sitting at the other side of the table.
“Having a face-time call and read the newspaper together gave me great energy into the day. I really appreciated it, and it also gave me a chance to discuss things that worries me that’s in the paper. So much information on the pandemic and vaccines right now, which feels stressful and confusing.”
Quote from test
Why this experiment?
What took me in this direction?
A lecturer on soft skills at Hyper Island, revealed that different personalities can get either energized or drained. For an introvert side-by-side socializing can be energizing, like taking a walk in the woods without talking to each other, just enjoying the other persons company. Or having a quite dinner together. It struck me that this could be applied on some elderly people too. Their needs could be to “be in the same room” without socializing. How to best perform this on a digital device could be worth researching further.
A good friends’ mother died from dementia, and during her sickness stages she enjoyed just to be in the room, not feeling obliged to socialize. This talk was really the opener for my thoughts on this experiment. It can also be applied to different cognitive problems that comes with age or sickness, like hearing disabilities.
Understanding that personalities may have different needs
ASSUMPTION
We assume that different personalities can have different preferences on how to best socialize on video meetings from their personal needs.
HYPOTHESIS
We believe that we may reduce loneliness through active or passive video meetings with relatives or friends.
FALSIFABLE HYPOTHESIS
We believe that a video meeting needs to be active to reduce loneliness.
EXPERIMENT
Two facetime calls:
– one active socializing and then
– one passive, with each others comany while having breakfast and reading our own newspaper.
CONCLUSION
Neither confirmed or disproved. The experiment showed that it needs to be done on different personalities. In this experiment the test person enjoyed socializing so much that the experiment could not be carried out in a passive way.
Experiment 4
Understanding what could brighten up their day
Can we design a service that brings back good memories?
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The elderly say hi via facetime to the young girl and describes that she want her to go to the flower shop and buy a special kind of flower that she had in her garden when she and her former husband lived in their house.
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The girl takes her bike and bikes to the flower shop a few blocks away.
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Once she is there she dials on facetime to the elderly woman and via her mobile camera she can acompany the girl in the shop.
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— Oh, wait a minute, there they are. Oh so nice with that multicolor, but maybe I stick to the white instead? It looks so healthy!
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The girl put the flower in her
bike basket. -
When she delivered the flower the elderly woman got so happy!
This really made her day and brought back bright memories from the past!
Understanding what could brighten up their day – designing a new service?
ASSUMPTION
We assume that elderly feel disconnected and isolated from the active life they had before and would enjoy ways to experience it again.
HYPOTHESIS
We believe that digital devices could be an enabeler for eldery to enjoy the world outside. To actively take part and pick their own choices could make them feel more included.
FALSIFABLE HYPOTHESIS
Digital smart tools would not enable elderly to take an active part in the world outside, it would only be too difficult and stressful.
EXPERIMENT
A teenage girl is asked to go to a flower shop. Once there she makes a facetime call to the elderly, who gets to choose what unique plant she wants the young girl to buy for her. The girl put the plant into her bike basket and deliver it to the elderly.
CONCLUSION
Disproved. The elderly enjoyed the possibility to see with her own eyes what plants that where offered, and to carefully choose the nicest plant. A facetime call is surprisingly easy to make, and the girl met a really happy woman when she delivered the plant with her bike.
Both the elderly and the young girl enjoyed the test, and the young girl also felt that she did something meaningful that made a difference for the elderly woman that day.
Exploring possible services and understanding how young people would like to help through card sorting and interviews
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Shop with faceTime
Shop flowers, visit the pharmacy or supermaket with faceTime.
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Show features on mobile
Guide elderly on features and apps on a smartphone.
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Play cards
Meet and play cards.
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Play chess
Meet for a game of chess.
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Teach digital tech
Show how to use an iPad, apps or make video calls.
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Shop for a fika
Drop by a coffee shop and buy fika with faceTime.
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Take a walk
With faceTime in the elderly’s old neighbourhood, bringing back old memories.
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Family pictures
Look at old family pictures together.
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Play board games
Or challenge a crossword
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Pick flowers
Out in a field with faceTime and place them in a vase at the elderly home.
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Meet my dog
And come along with us on a walk on faceTime.
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Take pictures
Teach elderly how to take great pictures with the phone.
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Make a gift rap
Help the elderly to shop a gift and make a gift rap.
Experiment 5
Card sorting and interviews
Young helping Seniors is a youth service where young people get paid from the municipal per hour. The idea is that the young one creates a profile and chose what they are interested in doing for the elderly.
The test group liked the concept, and the top most favorite features were:
– Create a profile
– Create you own schedule with bookable times
– The ability to help the same person several times
Testing the concept
Exploring features within a concept from the young’s perspective
ASSUMPTION
We assume that young people enjoy helping and socializing with elderly if they can suggest activities that they enjoy doing or find useful for the elderly.
HYPOTHESIS
We believe that the service will be more successfull if young people can suggest activities that they enjoy doing or find useful for the elderly. We will know if it’s true from interviews and card sorting.
EXPERIMENT
3 Interviews and card sorting (15 cards).
CONCLUSION
I had three interviews and tests. A boy and a girl that is 19 years old. They where very positive towards the concept, and one interviewe suggested that this could be good also for students. So the third test person was a 22 years student. He was also very positive.
Things that stood out: great to own your schedule, feels that I would do something that really makes a difference for the elderly, nice to meet the same person several times, that feels comforting also for me. And to suggest activities, that’s inspiring!
Experiment 6
Prototyping a service & job platform on iPad
“I get help from so many different people, and I never know who is coming to help me, or get a chance to choose.”
Quote from an elderly, which inspired the solution
Prototype Young helping Seniors app
Two screendumps showing examples of the prototype screens. The service provides a solution for both target groups: the elderly get appreciated help and can join with facetime, and it can also decrease the feeling of being isolated from the society at the elderly care home. The young people get a chance to work for some hours with things that they enjoy. They can also connect with and build a “relationship” with an elderly person.
At the right screen Agneta asked Lisa to help her shop flower plants. Lisa takes her bike to the plant shop and when she gets there they connect on facetime. Agneta gets both inspiration when Lisa is in the shop, and a chance to choose the perfect plants. Agneta can follow Lisa on a live map when she bikes (if they agree on it).
Functions
Exploring features within a concept from the young’s perspective
ASSUMPTION
We assume that young people would be even more attracted to work with elderly if they could offer their services on a digital job platform and build their own profile and schedule.
HYPOTHESIS
We believe that “Young helping Seniors” digital iPad platform could be a tool for young people to offer their services and create meaningful work tasks that the elderly are in need of and/or reduce the elderlys’ loneliness. We will know if it’s right when we analyze user tests and interviews.
EXPERIMENT
An iPad platform mid-fi prototype tested on young people.
CONCLUSION
The test persons think it’s a simple and good idea. They appreciate the freedom with building profile and schedule.
At this stage we found it more valuable to test if the young people liked the idea, in order to secure that we most likely have young people that want to join. In next step we will do user tests on elderly.
Experiment 7
Concept: 2 iPads and a learning group
Concept no. 2
Inclusive digital transformation skills, partly tested
In this concept both an elderly and a relative or friend would get an iPad, to be able to break the loneliness that elderly experience, both before and during the pandemic and support the digital transformation in the society. The idea was to use the pedagogic material Seniorsurfarna that UR have produced with the facilitater Kattis Ahlström. There are 30 min video sessions, as well as 5 minutes learning materials on different subjects. Learning groups would be set up at elderly care houses, in which all elderly would be included. No elderly would be left out! If they don’t have relatives or friends that can take part an support in the learning group, support would be offered from “Young helping Seniors” in experiment 6. This would be secured by the Head of the elderly home.
Why 2 iPads and a learning group?
The purpose of this idea was to enable elderly to gain digital basic knowledge and an iPad. This would enable them to break their isolation and increase their chances to socialize. They would also be able to take part of digital services that was offered in the society.
With the iPad relatives and close friends would have a bridge for socializing. The elderly could learn how to commmunicate with facetime and videocalls, take part of their grand childrens world and learn social media.
All Seniors would be included! If they don’t have relatives or friends that can help, they would be offered a dedicated help from “Young helping Seniors”.
This Idea would have to be evaluated further!
The process
The learnings
What did the experiments influence with
and where was it implemented?
CONCLUSION
The experimentation has only started …
— These conducted experiments are only a start on a research that have to be broader, deeper, and from more angles. The suggested solutions are based on insights from the experiments and from research. With the visual above I wanted to show that the solutions are not either one or another, they support and compliment each other, from my knowledge at this stage.
— The intention was to test, develop and iterate on the last experiment no 7, on all involved stakeholders, but was hindered by time and pandemic. I tested the idea on three young people. They where very positive, and also expressed the advantage of having a couple of booked hours per week (reflecting on the magic when you pause and stay silent in a talk, I need to remember that). I also asked my parents 84 and 85 years old to watch Seniorsurfarna. At first they thought it was to basic, but then they learned how to “write” a sms with their voice…
— I also wanted to build a solid business model. My thoughts for ”Young helping Seniors” are that the salary for both solutions are payed by the municipality, per hour. The finansing of ”iPads and a learning group” needs to be explored. There have been initiatives during the pandemic by companies like Länsförsäkringar in Skåne to finance 2 iPads-solutions, but that was in cooperation with Atea for learnings and suport.
— The above concepts involve building friendships, beating loneliness, connecting generations and giving young people jobs within the learning journey. That will be needed features even post pandemic. At my municipality and one close by, they have Seniornet with elderly teaching elderly, volunteers, and also recommendations to learn from UR Seniorsurfarna.
— Another important part of the solutions is that they include all seniors, making it possible for everybody to socialize and learn. It has to be an equal right to join the learning group and to be supported with iPads.
— I would also like to explore loneliness further. Elderly that still live at their homes may be even more lonely and in need of support by digital solutions like ”Young helping Seniors”, which would also open up for more young local jobs. Extending the target group for young with students could also be explored.