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KIND System
Designing a system that enables better aging in place.
Background
The Hello Aging Team (2020-2021) of Institute without Boundaries worked towards identifying needs and challenges of older adults with the aim to help Canadians age better in place.
Problem
1 in 8 Canadians aged 65 or older experience social isolation due to loneliness and weakened sense of community belonging. This may be a result of physical limitations, cognitive health decline, and/or loss of family and friends.
Solution
KIND is a concept that was designed to meet these challenges.
KIND is a social innovation cooperative offers inclusive, scalable, and adaptable programs and services.
There are 3 pillars to KIND system , that try to solve 3 main issues.
Access to essential resources and services
Acces to entrepreneurial opportunities
Opportunity for social interactions and creating an intergenerational knowledge archive
Together they encourage social inclusion & better aging in place.
My role and contributions to this project
My Role & Process
IwB had completed the preliminary research on aging in place in Canada and identified the associated problems and reasons, from the insights. They had developed the initial concept of KIND as a solution.
At this point they had a concept that defined : What problems to resolve and with what?
I joined the team for the Production Charette, which went on for 3 weeks.
During this time we collaborated to Research, Ideate, Design, Refine and Prototype the concept for the KIND system. I wore many hats and played many roles, which involved - UX Research , UX Design & UI Design.
During the process we defined :
Methodologies
● What are the user pain points, needs, and goals within the KIND system?
● How does the KIND system help user meet their needs?
● What are the constituents in the system and what are the external systems that shall it interact with?
● How are the constituents of the system interconnected and how will the system work ?
● What is the digital interface going to look like and what are the user flows?
● What are the touchpoints and how does the user interact in the system?
Persona
Before we could start thinking about the system, and designing solutions, we decided to empathize with the users and so we built personas. This helped us understanding their environment, mental models, needs and pain points.
Our learnings :
User’s attitudes and preferences
Our solutions have to be low-tech and simple to use
With low cognitive load and ensure independent interaction
We learnt that we need to provide our users with different alternatives to access and use the services and resources offered under KIND
User Journey
Mapping the user's journey provided further insights about
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How the user can get in touch with KIND?
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What are their needs when interacting with KIND?
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How can we make the process of accessing the services easier and more friendly?
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What are the user’s motivations and frustrations during their journey from discovery of KIND services to using the services?
System
Mapping
Through intensive mapping and feedbacks from the focus group, the team was able to identify the missing pieces, and how the system can work.
During this process, we were also able to discover the feasibility of some of the proposed solutions.
At this point, we discovered a need for an interface that should be accessible as well as cater to different users.
While matching the users to their needs, it also needed to provide flexibility.
Hence, the need for KIND Concierge - a website platform that shall connect all the constituents of the KIND system, was discovered.
Prototyping
KIND Coneirge Interface
After identifying the need, and constituents of the KIND Concierge, we engaged in detailed research to identify the Information architecture of the digital platform that would have the following functions:
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Provide information about KIND and other resources for the Older Adults
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Registering to participate in KIND - Member, Volunteer, Partner, Employee, Donor
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Book Services under Kind Community apply to become KIND Vendor and sell goods.
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Locate the KIND pod.
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Donate
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Apply for volunteer jobs
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Profile creation
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Contact KIND & Support
Hi-fidelity protoype of
I worked on the wireframing and hi-fidelity prototyping of the KIND Conceirge Website.
Duration : 1 week
Herein I have included some snapshots of some of the pages that I designed for the website
Home Page
Profile Page
Outcomes
Feedback
The team presented the final concept, design and research on May 28th to various stakeholders - from industry partners to Older Adults.
The project received great feedback and further insights, especially from older adults, who are the main users of the concerned project.
Being involved in the process, our older adult participants, who helped us by providing valuable feedback during the research and design process, felt highly encouraged to identify and learn about the existing resources and use the same for a better living.
