Project Brief
This was a University Project which I had worked on in my 5th semester in IIIT Jabalpur. The Problem statement we had back then was we had to find a design solution for elderly people. In this case study I will be focusing on the different features this app provides to bring families closer through gamification.
Enhancing family communication through gamification for elderly individuals and their distant relatives.
Type
Problem Statement
Ties is an app which will give elderly people an opportunity to complete their daily task, exercises, chores etc. with contact with their distant family which will have a positive impact on their health and social life by creating a strong bond between family and grand children.
Who - What - Why
Cause in today’s busy world mostly grandchildren stay away from their grandparent’s cause of of nuclear families and children barely get time to talk with them and that communication barrier results in even less bonding. Even the 1–2 yearly visits to grandparents home are not enough to build that connection.
User Story
As a elderly person living away from family, I want to communicate more frequently with them, which will create a better bonding and understanding between us.
Type of user - action - benefit
User Research
Are you involved in any exercises routine and what are the exercises you mostly do?
yoga - 1hr - morning walk - evening walks to temple - stretching and deep breathing - pranayama - meditation - group exercises in park - light stretching
How good is your connection with family and grandchildren?
2-3 calls a week - rarely talking to grandchildren once they grow up - once a year visits if its very long distance - one visit once a month - good bonding only when living together as a joint family
How is your social life and do you talk to a lot of people?
friend to play music with - visit temple together in evening - chatting with people in park - very few old friends - lack of community
Will you like to stay in touch with the family more than just few phone calls?
Yes cause mostly the calls are very few and feel hollow and sometimes feel like a formality.
What are your hobbies and what do you generally like to do?
gardening- watching tv serials - walking - morning exercise - cooking - reading - writing
What are the major and minor health concerns that you have in your daily life?
diabetes - back pain - joint pain - arthritis - digestive problems - stress - balancing
What are the daily task/ activities that you find challenging?
bending to work - climbing stairs - heavy lifting - assistance needed in many chores
How is your bonding/relation with the friend circle compared to the relation with your family?
Friend might act as a bigger support when living away from family or even neighbors - social circles of old people are more acceptable
Major Problems Faced
Not frequent communication between grandchildren and grandparents
Lack of motivation for elder people to complete exercises/tasks.
Loneliness among elder people with increasing nuclear families in urban cities
The distance between the family members is unspoken
Friends are acting as a bigger support for elder people than family members.
1–2 visits a year and very few calls between parents and their distant children and grandchildren.
Competitive Analysis
Clever Copying Writing
Steady Progression
The Power of Streaks
Friends Quest
Notifications
Step to step guidance
Mobile apps
Short loading
Hot Streak
Collection
Daily Goals
Mini Games
Gamification
With the help of gamification we are trying to close the gap between families with different tasks, challenges, rewards etc. with points system.
badges - progress bars - leader boards - points - journey - rewards and achievements - challenge - social interaction - boosts engagement - evokes motivation - encourages friendly competition - streak - custom rewards
Iteration
Rules for the app
1 point - 2 point - 3 point
Writing a journal - 1 point
Sending a picture - 3 point (more than one can be sent in a day but points won’t be rewarded)
Streak - 1 point daily, 3 points on 7th day
Completing daily tasks- 2 point (set by the user and decided among the family)
Challenges- 1,2,3 point (points can be decided by the when sending the challenge, one challenge from each pt category every month)
Scratch Card - 1,2,3 point (will have a reward with the points awarded)
The person who calls first- 2 point
You can changes these points system as you please in the settings. This is just a rough map as to how the points system can work.
Information Architecture
Wireframes
Onboarding
We have included the phone number option on the login page to accommodate elderly individuals who may not possess an email address.
Furthermore, the home screen has been designed with a game-like appearance, deliberately omitting a navigation bar below to encourage users to remain on specific pages longer. (This approach aims to facilitate a deeper understanding of family members and discourage immediate navigation away from the platform.)
Home
The absence of a navigation bar at the bottom simplifies the app’s interface, focusing attention on the eight squares that form the core of the app, along with the task list displayed on the home screen.
This design choice facilitates a smoother user experience for both elderly individuals and younger children, providing a straightforward interface with minimal distractions.
Task List
The task list feature allows users to list their daily tasks and track their completion.
Its primary purpose is to enable other family members to see each other’s planned activities and foster communication.
Failure to complete tasks may result in deductions or points, encouraging further discussion among family members.
Additionally, a message tab is provided for users if they check someone else’s task. This increases the engagement if they want to discuss something related to it.
Rewards
You can claim all the rewards you’ve accumulated here. Be it rewards from your family or just by being consistent user on the app.
Additionally, you have the option to share rewards with family members, either as a gesture of kindness or to celebrate their accomplishments.
Rewards may be in the form of points or presented as scratch cards, offering surprises when redeemed.
Challenges
This section displays challenges sent by your family members, allowing you to track completed and pending tasks, as well as send challenges in exchange for points.
Since it’s within the family, points allocated for various challenges can be managed within the group.
For many, the focus lies more on completing tasks and challenges rather than the points themselves, fostering a sense of accomplishment within the family.
Progress
This section allows you to monitor the progress of your family members and contribute to your own progress, ensuring that others see your active involvement and dedication to completing tasks.
This fosters a sense of accountability and encourages participation within the family.
Journal
You have the ability to write and review daily entries made by your family members in their journals.
Composing daily journals earns you points, and you can motivate others to write consistently by challenging them.
Maintaining a streak of entries for seven consecutive days will earn you additional points.
Photos
Users are encouraged to upload daily photos for points, allowing distant family members to stay updated on their whereabouts and progress over time.
The page also features a collection of everyone’s photos, providing a convenient way to view and share snapshots of each other’s lives.
This serves as a visual record of personal growth and cherished memories for years to come.
Leaderboard, Group and Streak
A platform where family members can view the points collected by each other, fostering a friendly competition and playful banter.
They can organize prizes among themselves, encouraging participation from all family members.
This concept mirrors that of Fantasy Premier League (FPL), where individuals create mini-leagues and the winner earns the predetermined prize.
You have the option to add additional group members or distant relatives as desired, enhancing competitiveness among the participants.
The streak feature allows you to track the days you’ve opened the app and those you haven’t. Maintaining a streak earns you additional points, giving you an advantage over other family members.
Profile and Settings
You can track your daily streaks, total points, number of journals written, received rewards, and more.
Settings encompass a vital aspect of the app, allowing for customization of the point system according to the members’ preferences. This includes assigning varying points to different types of tasks within the app.
Additionally, settings offer basic features such as dark mode, audio feedback through sound effects, SMS reminders, and more.
Challenges
Getting the elder people engaged in the app
Mostly elder people are not that interested in using the apps but if it came at the cost of communicating with the family member then they would try to use it and understand how it works. We tried to create a rewarding system for them in such a way where there daily engagement with the app would just keep increasing more and more and they will get all the family members involved or vice versa.
Creating talking points for between the family and elders
One of the biggest barrier to communication between the elder people and their grand children is that they don’t have a lot of points to talk about on a phone call. With the help of daily tasks, journals, challenges, rewards, points etc. a healthy competition between the family members is created and they would have a lot to talk about their daily lives regularly.
Making the illustrations
Bringing one set on of illustrations together which would match the theme of the app. Making a vector for every image was a big challenge and also to find the perfect image for a certain situation.
Making the user journey
With how much the app is trying to achieve the user journey became a bit overwhelming at a certain stage cause of how many app pages we had to make for every situation and click. But still we enjoyed the process a lot and gained a lot of knowledge on user flow and understanding how the journey takes place one page after another.
Conclusion
We focused mainly on health and social isolation through this app. Where grandchildren would talk more openly with their grandparents.
The app is not only good for old people but would have a positive impact on the family as a whole.
This is just a start cause, obviously, on a grand scale, this app can be made a lot better.
All the illustrations used were from the show Nichijou
