SEPT 2023 - MAY 2024 | Ongoing
WISE Cites
Simplifying access to online resources for older adults to help them stay independent while aging in place.
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Accessible Design
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Designing for Vulnerable Population
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UX Design + Research
OVERVIEW
Team
5 UX Designers & Researchers,
CTO & Co-founder
Hats Worn
User Researcher UI/UX Designer
Project Facilitator
Project Manager
Team Manager
Timeline
Sept 2023 - Present
(9 Month Timeframe)
Tools
Figma & Figjam,
Notion
GSuite
Why I Wanted to Work With WISE Cities
Partnering with WISE was my top priority because I'm deeply committed to ensuring accessibility and user-friendliness in design. My passion lies in crafting solutions that are intuitive and easy for everyone to use, regardless of age or tech-savviness. I'm particularly drawn to working with older adults because accessibility is a universal issue, especially with the rapid advancement of technology. Older adults often face social isolation and are more prone to tech challenges, making it crucial to design solutions that empower them to navigate the digital world confidently.
The Long-Term Problem Statement ...
How might we develop a digital product that empowers older adults to stay active in their communities while aging in place?
This is a story of ...
How we navigated through 5 Sprints, Leveraging User Research to Design 3 Features and Forge an Optimal Platform for Older Adults.
The Landing / Search Page
The Events Calendar Page
In-app Tutorial Feature
BACKGROUND
Let's take a closer look at the client ...
Who is WISE Cites?
" WISE Cites is a female-run startup focused on designing accessible technology to address the issue of social isolation among the elderly. The company's first app allows seniors to form local groups and gives community centers and local businesses the opportunity to connect with this typically hard-to-reach audience. "
- Do Good Institute @ UMD
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How did we structure our project ...?
We Adopted Jake Knapp’s “SPRINT” Method
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We used the book "Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days" by Jake Knapp for our project process.
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The purpose of the Design Sprints is to solve big problems and test new ideas in a short amount of time.
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The Design Sprint is divided into 5 phases as shown in the diagram below.
Project Expectations
While creating design solutions to enhance older adults' experience with the WISE Cities online platform, integrating user research into our process was imperative to gather data for informed design decisions. Both user research and UX design were equally vital stages of the project, given the limited research available on older adults and their interaction with technology. Conducting both research and design simultaneously ensured a comprehensive approach to addressing their needs effectively.
So, what did our final project journey look like ...?
Our Final Project Journey
The research was conducted in parallel to design and was divided evenly among our sprints.
Total of 5 sprints in our process. Sprint 1 focused purely on research, Sprint 5 focused purely on design, while Sprints 2, 3 & 4 were a balanced combination between research and design.
The research flow included - Business Model Canvas, Competitor Analysis along with User Research through various different methods. While design included creating solutions, and suggesting improvements based on user feedback.
Sprint 1
Let's start by understanding what we wanted accomplish by the end of Sprint 1 ...
Our Sprint 01 Goals
Align ourselves with WISE Cities’ mission and business model.
Investigate the market, partners and competitors.
Identify users’ behaviors, needs and pain points.
Quick Overview of Sprint 01 Accomplishments ...
Developed a comprehensive Business Model Canvas (BMC) to gain insights into the WISE Cities mission and align our objectives accordingly.
Conducted research on more than 10 competitors, encompassing both direct and indirect rivals, to analyze existing solutions for older adults. This exploration aimed to discern unique opportunities for WISE to differentiate itself effectively.
Crafted comprehensive survey questionnaires and conducted in-depth user interviews with 5 older adults, exploring their online resource search behaviors, challenges, motivations, and the envisioned benefits of the WISE Cities platform. Building on this foundation, the survey interviews extended across multiple sprints, engaging over 50 older adults, enriching our understanding and ensuring that the WISE Cities platform evolves to meet the diverse needs of our community.
The first half of Sprint 01 was dedicated to aligning with the WISE mission and researching existing competitors and solutions ...
How Business Model Canvas (BMC) helped ...?
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Structured and visualized key elements of the business model
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Enhanced understanding of interactions between key elements
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Contribution to overall viability and success of WISE Cities
The BMC
The CAM
How Competitor Analysis Model (CAM) helped ...?
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Identified strengths and weaknesses of competitors
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Provided insights into differentiation opportunities
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Identified potential threats
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Identified areas for improvement
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Aided in developing effective strategies for WISE Cities
Click on the button below to see the full BMC & CAM on Figma
The second half of Sprint 01 was focused on understanding the pain points and challenges of older adults, as well as gaining insights into their behavior patterns related to online search and technology usage ...
The User Interview
What We Did ...?
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Worked closely with our client to come up with the interview plan.
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Found participants through personal contacts and the snowball method and conducted 5 virtual interviews.
The Findings from User Research
Created a comprehensive affinity map and gained insight into older adult's wants and needs. Below are our findings and how we structured the upcoming sprints.
Hover over each row to see more details and background notes.*
Discoverability
HMW & Sprints
How might we enhance search and filter features to facilitate easy navigation while encouraging exploration of new opportunities? Sprint 02
How might we create a calendar view for events that empowers older adults to quickly and effortlessly search for events? Sprint 03
Maximizing discoverability with a robust sort and filter feature:
Incorporated diverse filters and sorting options,
streamlining navigation, and ensuring easy access to relevant
resources while preventing information overload, thus
optimizing the user experience.
Tech. Comfort
&
Digital Literacy
HMW & Sprints
How might we incorporate interactive step-by-step tutorials that older adults can follow along to learn how to use the WISE Cities platform? Sprint 04
Enhancing user engagement through intuitive design:
Integrating a digital walk-through on WISE Platform to assist non-tech-savvy
users as needed.
User-Centric
&
Accessible Design
Sustain ongoing research:
Build a comprehensive repository to grasp target user behavior and emerging trends. Design with accessibility and older adults' needs at the forefront, informed by research findings. ALL Sprints
Identified 5 primary user archetypes. Leveraging research, we pinpointed 5 core
user groups who stand to gain from the WISE platform and will inform any
future iterations.
Sprint 02
What was Our Sprint 02 HMW Question ...?
How Might We design a user-friendly search function, that integrates tagging and multiple filters seamlessly, and enables older adults to effortlessly explore relevant categories, while minimizing cognitive load?
My Contributions for Sprint 02 ...!
Adhered to the design sprint methodology to research and develop search, sort, and filter features for the WISE Cities mobile platform, delivering innovative design solutions tailored to enhance user experience for older adults.
Crafted with a focus on accessibility for older adults, featuring clear, prominent buttons, and a larger font size to enhance usability.
Performed virtual usability testing with 5 participants, delivering data-driven recommendations for future improvements directly to WISE Cities' Chief Product Officer, ensuring our suggestions are backed by empirical evidence.
To understand the problem area during our discovery phase ...
Mapping Stage
Developed a User Journey map and validated whether our mental model aligns with the client's perspective.
Created HMW Notes to brainstorm, key design elements, resolutions,
Identified specific problem areas and narrowed down the targeted features/affordances to focus on.
Sprint 02 Mapping with HMW notes
Full HMW notes repository VS. the Prioritized HMW Notes
After voting on our HMW notes, we realized to prioritize the search bar and the sort & filter feature to enhance ease of use and discoverability through efficient navigation that reduces cognitive overload by refining search results.
" How Might We design a user-friendly search function, that integrates tagging and multiple filters seamlessly, and enables older adults to effortlessly explore relevant categories, while minimizing cognitive load? "
Sketching
Conducted a trend-research to gain insights into existing design solution offerings, identifying areas for differentiation and inspiration to inform our approach.
Facilitated numerous brainstorming sessions, both individually and collaboratively with the team, generating a wealth of fresh ideas and sketches to inform our design solutions.
