SC8120 Web Publishing Design CA2

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

Submitted on: 11th January 2012

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Background and Current Practice

Over the years, Singapore has transitioned from being a Third World country to being a First World country in a short period of time. As the result of such a quick transition, there are many things that get left behind, or are still in the process of catching up with how fast our society is moving today. With the transition into a First World country, the technology of the nation similarly improved, and became more accessible. With society advancing forward, many new things are introduced over time, and change is always constant. The elderly are hence put at a disadvantage, having been from later generations. Adapting to change is not the easiest of tasks, and with society advancing at such a quick pace, the elderly are being left behind. As some elderly may not be used to using forms of technology such as computers, such technologies being so widespread in Singapore also similarly puts them at a disadvantage. Coming from later generations, most elderly still retain the values, mindsets and lifestyles that they have grown used to during their time. Having been raised in that generation, they are used to their own ways of life, and often find it difficult to suddenly adopt a way of life different from the one they are used to. As such, the ways of thinking of the elderly are not always up-to-date. This causes a clash between the later and younger generations, both having grown up in times with different ways of thinking and values. Opposing views often end up clashing, leading to poor communication between both generations as a result of lack of mutual understanding. If the two sides do not put forward more effort to understand the other, the gap between them will only increase as the lack of communication grows. This lack of communication will eventually lead to another result the younger generation will have less chances to connect with and understand the past, and the older generation will have less interaction with the modern world and the people living in it, hence becoming unable to keep up with the present and being left behind.

Business Design Thinking

Empathy & Deep Understanding
The first step in business design thinking is to define the problem. The elderly face a number of issues, and we categorized them broadly into: Health Social/Relationship Communication

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 Caretakers of elderly Architects designing spaces for elderly

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Policy makers affecting elderly Website designers affecting elderly Media companies

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

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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 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

Physical

Elderly Wishes shell grow old gracefully and not become senile Less mobile = less to do Wishes to be healthier

Family of Elderly Grandma quite healthy for her age, but after operation, body is weaker

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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

Family of Elderly Finds it difficult to communicate with grandparents

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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

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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.

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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. The user can unlock achievements by using certain aspects of the site, such as uploading pictures, playing games, posting statuses, and so on. This also acts as a guide for them to fully utilize all aspects of Elderhood, and provides motivation for them to return. The font sizes will be adjustable, but the default size will be around 14 16 points. The site will have an FAQ page for the user to check if they are unsure of something. The FAQ page will also provide tutorials on basic programs, such as Microsoft Word and Google. There will also be information relevant to the elderly. The site will compile lists of clinics, emergency hotlines. Aside from that, there will also be advice on general health, a Did-YouKnow? feature that appears in between status updates on the main page, and articles on healthy food for the elderly.

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.

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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!