Final project presented at the Faculty of Design of the Universidad del Desarrollo to opt for the Professional Degree of Interaction Designer.
This project involved ideation, conceptualization, ux design, 3D modeling, prototyping (product and electronics), 3D printing and production. It is currently being developed and continued.
Read full project:
How, through IoT and social networks, can the socialization of people over 55 be promoted and in this way enable active and positive aging?
The goal is to promote the active and happy aging of people over 55 years of age from a digital platform that allows social encounters between communities and the performance of joint activities to stay physically, socially and mentally active.
Problem Statement
Currently, older people are not experiencing positive aging, since the vast majority lead a sedentary lifestyle with bad habits; especially those who live alone or in a lonely situation.
Socialization promotes positive habits and is capable of improving the physical, mental and emotional state. Unfortunately, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain an active social life as we age.
Opportunity Statement
This is why the opportunity to enhance socialization is identified, through a digital platform with IoT, to help maintain an active lifestyle.
In this way, older people are integrated into social networks and remote connectivity; in order to improve their quality of life, stimulate their activity and retain positive habits.
Evermeet is a support-social network for the elderly (Baby Boomer segment), which seeks to bring the benefits of living together or in a residence for the elderly, but without losing independence or falling into the stigma of old age.
The objective of the project is to especially support those people over 55 years of age who are about to retire, so that they can find a community and activities to stay physically, socially and mentally active. And thus prevent loneliness, depression, isolation, early aging and the so-called "senior moments".
It is a "cross-platform phygital system" (Phygital: physical + digital).
It consist on 2 physical products (one in wearable format and the other for home automation) connected to a social network.
And as an ecosystem, they manage to bring the good things of living in a community, directly to your own home, without losing your space or independence.
It does this through a Matchmaking algorithm, just like Tinder, Linkedin or game matches; but based on our habits, interests, and how we use the space in the home.
This way, they can share moments in which they don't want to be lonely, like in this case preparing and having a meal.
Platform
The activities offered on the platform come from both municipal and regional government, at the national level; as well as online instances without participation limitations.
This is possible thanks to the fact that Evermeet works together with different public institutions to be able to increase the participation of older people in the current offer of activities, depending on the location of the user, such as, for example, their district of residence.
When registering, the person must enter their personal data (name, email, cell phone and commune) and then receive a video call from someone from their Municipality, to explain the project and explain the following steps (home automation). This step is essential, as it gives confidence to the user, knowing that the project works through a government entity, and they show more willingness to receive them at home.
When entering the social network, people have an “Onboarding”, where they must select their interests and hobbies.
Also, they have the option of answering some questions about personality, habits and behavior through 10-minute questionnaires, which can be filled out freely. This serves both for the user as a hobby of personal knowledge, and to better nurture the AI behind the platform.
In the same way, they can import their phone contacts and associate other social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Twitter and Netflix, to improve the platform's knowledge of the user.
This is one of the advantages of hyperconnectivity, since applications and social networks already have information about people, so they can offer more personalized options, with a greater possibility of generating interest in them; as well as knowing the relationship between the different users. For example "Facebook says that 2 people are siblings, or that they went to the same school".
5 Dimensions of beneficial activities
The App connects 6 dimensions of "beneficial activities" for this segment, which are currently not being fully covered. These are: move, grow, feel, connect, reflect and contribute (volunteer). In them they can find a community and hundreds of activities to do. These give purpose, accompaniment and health.
This way, you can find a list of all activities available, sorted by the type of
Benefits plan
When promoting healthy habits, such as socializing, contributing, taking a class or exercising, it is important to provide a benefit to motivate and retain the person (gamification). This is why Evermeet has an extensive network of benefits, including restaurants, local discounts, movie theaters, etc; where you can redeem rewards as you meet goals and challenges, whether individual or group.
For restaurants, this is also convenient, since no one goes just to have an espresso, but encourages consumption on the premises.
They also get a "Senior friendly" badge, which positions them as a nice place for the community.
Brand ideation
The name of the platform seeks to represent the Baby Boomer segment and, above all, to represent what the interaction that is going to take place will consist of: having the possibility of always meeting.
For the colors, it was sought to build a striking color palette that was not charged with gender (neither very masculine nor feminine), that provided enough contrast for accessibility and that would allow having a balance that worked for the isotype and use of the app.
Gradients are generated, since according to studies, it causes the sensation of perceiving something new, and can be more memorable than a single color.
Technical testing
For the technical testing, we worked with 3 different technologies, with the potential to achieve the same function. These were the Wyze cameras, a connectivity protocol called Zibee (motion sensors) and Estimote brand beacons.
The aim was to find unhealthy patterns (such as staying at home or in the bedroom for days) and to identify routines that were repeated during the week.
The goal was to see which one could register with greater precision, ease of configuration, feasibility of massification (in monetary matters, as well as technological architecture requirements in the system). It was also required to observe the comfort of the user with respect to having the different systems installed in their home. The data was then passed to the “Home Assistant” app and analyzed in detail.
Conceptualization
(pending to upload)
User testing
(pending to upload)
