To gather feedback on our prototype of the button, I decided to test the product on my elderly grandparents. This was a little difficult, because we obviously do not have the product in our ideal functional form yet and they live in a different state than I do, but I attempted to give them a version as close as possible to what the button would be like. In order to prototype this, I explained the project to my aunt, who lives in Las Vegas with my grandparents, and had her draw large red circles on a few different pieces of paper to show a rough version of what the button would look like. After I explained the product to my grandparents, I asked what metrics they would like to track during the day and where they would like to place the “button”.
My grandfather is currently taking pain medication, and my grandmother takes daily medication for high cholesterol, so we designated one “button” for each of them in order to track them taking their medication. They decided that they would want to place their medication-tracking “buttons” on the kitchen counter, and also wanted to place another button by the front door to mark whenever they left the house for exercise, socialization, or errands. To replace the actual act of pushing the button, I had them keep a pen or pencil by each button and make a tally mark on the piece of paper whenever they would otherwise push it. My grandfather made four tally marks on his medication button and one tally mark on his outdoor button. My grandma made one tally mark on her medication button and three tally marks on her outdoor button.
Useful Feedback:
- Both of my grandparents saw a lot of value in our idea. They said that they definitely could see it becoming a habit for them if they had an actual button to use every day.
- My grandma and grandpa both expressed a lot of satisfaction whenever they made tally marks on the “button,” and said that the thought of the button instantly “communicating” with my family made them feel happy and connected.
- They gave some insight about the button location, and suggested that some other useful places to put buttons could be the bathroom, by a nightstand, or by a garage door.
- Since this prototype obviously lacked the technological capabilities of our final idea, the only real “reminder” it provided to my grandparents was just being present in the chosen location. Both of my grandparents said that the large red circle caught their attention, but I asked them what the final button could do in order to more effectively remind them to push it and perform the chosen tasks. My grandma said that she would prefer as many reminders as possible, and suggested flashing lights and a buzzing noise or vibrating motion if it had not been pressed by a normal, pre-set time. This is an insight that we can definitely incorporate into our design.