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elderhood.com.sg
A business proposal to address problems elderly face in Singapore
DTVM/FT/2B/01 SC8120 Web Publishing Design Continual Assessment 2
Written by: Debra Lee Jazlyn Koo Ng Ching Peng Quek Kar Men Shawn Lui
We chose to focus on social and communications as they can be addressed with a webbased solution. Our problem is how the elderly are misunderstood due to lack of understanding. Following that, we defined the stakeholders who will or will be affected by this issue. They are listed below: Elderly Children of elderly Grandchildren of elderly Teenagers
Based on these stakeholders, we interviewed as many people from these categories where available. Elderly Koo Yam Pio 71 Retired Yuen Wai Chee 70 Retired Mohd Faizul 68 Hawker Gopal Singh 75 Retired Ho Lai Wun 66 Businesswoman Chan Wai Ying 73 Retired Liu Keng Hao 69 Teacher Yong Pau Ling 71 Retired Family of Elderly Angela Leow 51 Freelance teacher Jo Yi 9 Primary School Student Si Han 18 Student at Nanyang Polytechnic Pearl Lin Jin 18 Student at Singapore Polytechnic Rachel Tan 22 University student Foo Chee Lin 34 Accountant Linda 30 Caretaker of Elderly Cherise Ng 7 Primary School Student Mohd Zulfadli 40 Businessman Nazihah Mazlan 28 Retail shop owner Shaun Tan Yong Ming 14 Secondary School Student Valerie Seh 21 University Student
Based on our findings from the interviews, we came up with various inferences and key insights. These are categorized under the nature of their insights: Social, Physical, Identity, Communication and Emotion (SPICE).
Social
Elderly Doesnt mind learning leisure arts Likes company Likes travelling overseas Wants mental stimulation when old Fears being alone Gossip is one of the main forms of entertainment Feels lonely, wants people to talk to
Family of Elderly Physical Elderly Wishes shell grow old gracefully and not become senile Less mobile = less to do Wishes to be healthier Does activities with grandparents (i.e. TV, chores) Would like to live nearer to grandparents Wishes grandma would try some senior citizen activities Close to grandma, tries to visit at least once a week Tries to make it a point to get together every week Uncomfortable around old people
Family of Elderly Grandma quite healthy for her age, but after operation, body is weaker
Identity
Elderly Believes family is only one part of life, needs more than that Likes food a lot Refuses to change unless for own benefit Feels useless because of age, tries to help family Advises grandkids Believes humility gets you far in life After retiring = more time for self, wants to pursue own interest after retirement Likes privacy TV is a necessity in everyday life Thinks hard work alone will help you succeed Thinks we shouldnt waste food Fear of leaving this world
Family of Elderly Knows grandma doesnt want to learn IT skills Thinks old people are strong & wise Thinks grandpa is funny Grandma wants to act like their age Grandma is wise & shares wisdom about life & spirituality, volunteers at temple regularly Grandma is fashionable Old people will always find a way to entertain themselves
Communication
Elderly Not comfortable talking to relatives due to lack of contact Unsure how to communicate ideas due to age gap
Emotion
Elderly Family is very important Concerned about future of kids Worried about financial difficulties in the future Empty nest syndrome Cares for family
Family of Elderly Thinks elderly can learn to use iPad easily Loves grandmas cooking A LOT Kids would rather grandparents move on peacefully rather than suffer in their old age Thinks old people are sad (they become useless), scary (will become like them)
With these findings, we were able to gain a deeper understanding of the target users. In order to help us find the most pressing issues, we created a persona: Lonely Laura. She was originally male, but after we reviewed our findings, we decided that a female persona would better reflect what we have learned from our interviews.
Lonely Laura
Lonely Laura is a 65-year-old woman who has retired from her profession as a teacher. She is very close to her family, but through the years, has lost contact with many of her good friends. Her social circle is limited, and while family is important, so are peers. The lack of peers fellow retirees who understand her concerns and share her fears makes her a lonelier person than she should be. We aim to solve this key issue that elderly face: loneliness. Apart from the issue of loneliness, we also considered the most pressing issues inferred from our interviews. Again, we follow the SPICE order. Social: Needs outside friends, try & talk to grandkids Physical: Needs physiotherapy Identity: Finding new purpose after retirement Communication: Leave legacy for grandkids Emotion: Needs secure company, emotional security
Given these issues, we came up with possible solutions, such as: Compulsory e-learning Optional tutorials for different situations Online traditional games club Web-based social networking site
We decided on a social networking site as it address both the emotional and social needs of our users. However, we also decided to incorporate different aspects of the above suggestions into this giant networking site, where appropriate. This creates a more holistic and well-rounded online experience.
Concept Visualization
In our first planned draft, the site was dubbed elderly.com. We then changed it to elderhood.com.sg in our final draft. The domain name is a combination of elderly and neighbourhood.
Elderhood.com.sg is essentially a combination of Tumblr and Facebook two popular social networking sites. It combines the main functions of the two networking sites: the connectivity of Facebook and Tumblrs sharing of similar interests. The site will be catered to the elderly, providing a platform for them to connect with others who share their interests and to reconnect with those they have lost contact with. Family members can also make Elderhood accounts, allowing them to bridge the generational gap. If they choose not to make Elderhood accounts, we propose a partnership with Facebook. The site will also help organize activities for the users to attend, allowing them to be more active and increase interaction with others. As the elderly connect with those of similar interests, they can make new friends and enjoy a larger social circle. As many do not take adequate eye breaks, the site will have a pop-up notification every half an hour, reminding them to take a break. This is optional, until they reach the two-hour mark. Then the site will automatically play a health video to pause all activities on the site for five to ten minutes. The longer they stay on the site, the longer the duration of the video.
Minor site details As our findings suggest, the elderly are more well versed in their mother tongue, the site can be translated into the four main languages of Singapore: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. An introductory video will be played whenever the site is accessed, so that new visitors will understand what the site is about. In this introductory page, the elderly may select their default language. It will be remembered, and they can change the language at any time via settings. A basic tutorial will be provided upon registration for the user to introduce the site. During registration, the option to use their personal email or create an Elderhood email account will be available.
Site Map
Here is the site map of our proposed website. Essentially, the Dashboard is linked to every single page on the site via the Elderhood header at the top (refer to site previews). The sidebar, mainly Profile to Settings, as well as the navigational header, Featured to Tutorials, will always be available on every page to allow easy access back to the Dashboard. This removes the need for back links or main page links, and keeps the interface simple at the same time.
User experience
In conclusion, we would like to summarize the expected user experience, using our persona, Lonely Laura: before joining elderhood.com.sg, Laura would be a lonely person, with no peers to chat with. But then she finds the site, and first discovers a sense of identity in it she customizes her own profile, and makes it her little space on the web. Whenever Laura has physical ailments or needs to find a clinic, she can simply look up the extensive list of services compiled on the Elderhood site. Laura can make new friends via the forum and organize meetings. They can bond over a karaoke session, meet up every Saturday to exercise, and so on. Laura can learn to play online games with either her friends or family, forging closer bonds to the two most important groups of people in her life. And therefore, when Laura adjusts to the site and finds her identity there, she will also find like-minded peers. With friends, a purpose, and an identity, Lonely Laura will be lonely no more!
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