Grey and still active
Graduation project @TU/eSocietal and financial trends are showing that elderly want and have to be more autonomous. The challenge for designers and healthcare organizations is to provide efficient care to elderly. Research has already shown that people who are more active – in daily activities and on a social scale – have a better health condition. However, many elderly have difficulties in being socially active.
A solution needs to be found in lowering the participation threshold for elderly, especially for local social activities. In my Final Master Project, this idea has been translated into the EGGY concept. The EGGY concept is a communication medium, which users can use to invite other seniors in the neighborhood to participate together in social activities. The uniqueness of this concept is that elderly can show willingness and openness to undertake an activity with a neighbor in an easy, non-committal way.
Process & Activities
Reflection and collaboration with seniors, students and client stakeholders created a significant environment with much insights of different perspectives, such as user needs, probe functionalities and practical implementation locations in Eindhoven, provided many insights, and, hence an idea to help elderly to be more socially active.
More info below:
Contextual design process
I immersed myself into seniors, caretakers and other stakeholders by using various tools in workshop to evaluate the concept and to translate their experience and knowledge into a service design blueprint made to design, to communicate and to inform others about the complete service experience for users and stakeholders to become aware of problems and struggles that can be solved. It provokes discussion, new insights and highlights both strong and weak concept points, which can be used to develop it further.
Co-creation
Reflection and collaboration with seniors, students and client stakeholders created a significant environment with much insights of different perspectives. Furthermore, they have helped me to refine my concept of EGGY, by giving recommendations to develop the idea further. I have experienced that an idea needs support and help from others to grow to a product or a service.
Mentions 🤟
EGGY traveled to various exhibitions (around the world) to create awareness for loneliness among the elderly and inspire others to find solutions in lowering their participation thresshold. EGGY won the 'BrainsAwards' and the 'Slimmer leven challenge' and was exposed at: