Silver Sage App
A social engagement app to promote active volunteering for the elderly.
Summary
Canada's population is aging rapidly, with a significant proportion of Canadians aged 65 or older, and the working-age population also aging. Many seniors want to continue working if possible. Seniors spend the majority of their time on sedentary activities, with a historical decline in active leisure. As social networks shrink with age, social engagement becomes more challenging but also more critical for seniors. To address these challenges, innovative solutions are needed to provide opportunities for active social engagement, which can improve seniors' quality of life.
Project Context
Personal project
Timeline: 2 months, winter 2023
Tools: Figma
Solution
Sign Up
Home
Neighbour’s side (when logged in as a neighbour)
Sage’s Side (when logged in as a sage)
Stories
Chats
Neighbour’s side (when logged in as a neighbour)
Sage’s side (when logged in as a sage)
Profiles
Problem Definition
Canada's population continues to age. On July 1, 2022, almost one in five Canadians (18.8% of the population; 7,329,910 people) were at least 65 years of age. The working-age population (persons aged 15 to 64) has never been older. More than 1 in 5 persons (21.8%) in this population is close to retirement, that is, aged 55 to 64. This proportion represents an all-time high in the history of Canadian censuses.
Insights :
Continuously increasing numbers and proportions of people who are over 60.
The number of retirees in their late 50s and early 60s is growing rapidly.
Most older adults (ages 55-79) hope to continue working in retirement as long as their pleasure of working and health allow.
As people age an increasing amount of their time is spent on leisure activities, however, most of this increase is attributed to more passive, sedentary, leisure activities, such as watching television and reading, rather than active pursuits. Compared to other age groups, the seniors spend the most time on sedentary activities. Moreover, the amount of active leisure amongst Canadian seniors has been historically decreasing.
It is important for people to remain socially engaged throughout the aging process. Older age is a transitional period when people experience changes not only in physical health, but also in social roles that can influence how seniors organize their time and social activities. While social engagement in meaningful activities and maintaining close relationships are particularly important for older adults, maintaining connections to family and friends, may be more difficult for seniors, as social networks become smaller with age.
For seniors, social engagement is, at the same time, increasingly important and increasingly unavailable.
A solution is needed to overcome obstacles,
and provide opportunities for active social engagement for seniors.
Competitive Analysis
I looked into a few current platforms that could work in a similar way. There are currently no competitors providing this particular service.
Result
I’ve nevertheless analyzed the most popular apps in the broader volunteering/social networking space, such as Point, Golden, Meetup, Carrot, Craigslist, and Kijiji. I found that none of them are specifically targeted to seniors. None provide the service for elder people to actively volunteer in their neighbourhood.
The analysis led me to conclude that currently existing apps do not provide a solution to the problem.
User Research
I sent a survey to collect information on behaviour and preferences to 10 people living in Canada and Korea, aged from 16 years old to 75 years old. This helped me narrow the target to Canadians. Canadian participants are more likely to encounter problems in their daily lives that could be mitigated by learning from the experience of the elderly, such as issues related to property-renovation and maintenance, or mental health counselling. Unlike Korea, Canada has many immigrants, and new Canadians often benefit from the experience of people who spent more time in the country. But most of the Korean participants are the opposite.
Findings about the young :
They face lots of chances that manual skill is needed. For example, fixing houses, repairing vehicles, gardening and farming.
They usually have a big faith in the wisdom of the elderly.
They are not reluctant to get as much information and realistic advice they need as possible from older people.
Findings about the elderly :
They are willing to share their experiences and techniques they have.
Most of them don’t really mind making money from sharing their knowledge.
They sometimes feel lonely and want to connect and contribute to society.
Interviews :
I interviewed four Canadians. Two were in their 60s. One of them is relaxing in retirement, and one is still employed working from home. The other two are in their late 30s, and one is working from home in a suburban area, the other is an architect who recently purchased a house in Toronto.
Affinity Diagram
And thought how might I provide seniors with opportunities for active social engagement?
User Personas
I created three personas based on the interviews. These three types of people represent people who need help for problem solving or participation of volunteering in their neighbourhood.
Ideation
I created User Flows.
Using my user personas and user flows, I sketched out wireframes using the Crazy 8’s method.
Based on the crazy 8’, I created flowcharts.
Usability Testing
After testing the product on 5 participants, I identified 3 main difficulties and awkward moments for users.
I've added subcategory steps where neighbours can select fields that are in high demand, prominent, and intuitive, aligning with their specific needs. This enables neighbours to be accurately matched with seniors who are a precise fit as soon as they complete their registration.
2. For explaining the functionality related to interests, I added hover-effect text boxes.
3. I reduced the step for neighbours to explore seniors. Neighbours seeking help would want to quickly see a list of seniors matched with them. In the previous design, the list was presented in a slide format that required swiping to view. In the updated version, the list of seniors can be viewed at a glance.
Prototyping
Based on wireframes, I created high-fidelity prototypes.
Takeaway
Throughout the design process, I aimed to strike a balance between the roles of seniors offering help to neighbours and neighbours requesting help from seniors. It was crucial to ensure that neither party felt compelled or pressured during these interactions. For instance, I introduced the term 'Sage' to represent seniors. Creating distinct interfaces for seniors and neighbours, tailored to their specific purposes, was a key consideration, all while maintaining overall intuitiveness for all users.
Looking back, this project marked my first solo endeavour, and I diligently strived to excel in every aspect. Overall, this project led me to understand the social problem deeply and think about solutions with the significance of user-centric design principles and the nature usability of the UI/UX design process.
Next Steps
As we see a growing need for increased social engagement, I’d like to enrich this project. The next steps involve conducting more user testing and introducing new features.
It would be great to expand the Stories community space where seniors can be more active.
To improve intuitive usability, it's essential to establish a more refined and clearer categorization for the field selection process.
Addressing potential identity theft concerns related to shared documents uploaded by seniors as proof of experience is crucial. A solution for the future involves implementing a secure, behind-the-scenes certificate verification process, without exposing actual documents to the public.
To further enhance seniors' consistent social activities, a strategy is to collaborate with local businesses and organize events. For example, distributing restaurant discount coupons would be a thoughtful gesture for our active seniors.