Author: Lei

Product: Optumal Jobs

 

Problem: Retirees desire to stay in their home as long as possible, but this can become a lonely life without a spouse. Loneliness leads to mental illnesses such as depression, which can accelerate the deterioration of the body and ultimately force the user to need care outside of the home. Also, users struggle to find a purpose during retirement and often miss doing what they love and know.

 

Entice:  Retirees will be able to volunteer to complete simple jobs in their area of expertise in return for jobs that they are not capable of completing. In addition, a tier system will rank and track the amount of jobs users have completed in order to distribute other rewards such as insurance benefits and coupons to local stores related to the users’ favorite jobs.

 

Enter: They can use their previous skills to sign up on a job board. Accessing the service through the website, users can create an account in order to earn rewards/points or complete small tasks as a guest. On the website, the user can browse for jobs that fit their expertise.

 

Engage: Retirees will be able to ask for tasks to be completed and complete tasks of their own that correspond to their area of expertise. This area of expertise most likely will be related to their former job, but it can also be a new hobby the user has picked up.

 

Exit: Once the user has completed/ shared as many tasks as they please, one can stop using the website whenever they please. The rewards, a sense of community, and a purposeful life should keep the user inside of the house for as long as possible.

 

Extend: The customized account will be on the internet for others to admire, and the experience and rewards the users may have earned should help the retirees pursue their hobbies.

 

Ideation Summary

Key Ideas:

• Medication management (1)
• Vitals Monitoring (1)
• Physician interaction (1)
• Wearable (medical device classification) (1)
• Scheduling (2)
• Points system (2)
• Learning and Mental Exercise (3)
• Depression/Isolation (4)

 

Idea for Product 1: Smartwatch

 

Main Goal:

 

• A physical way to do regular self check up for physical health state

• Emphasize on measuring health and making medicare more accessible by technology

• Emergency response built-in

 

 

The smartwatch will become the ultimate accessory for a retiree. Along with the capability for physicians (or family members) to constantly track the user’s vitals for emergencies and fluctuations, the watch will display reminders for medication, healthy activities that stimulate the mind and body, and a messaging system for contacting friends and family. There will be a homepage with a few amount of icons related to these functions. The user simply needs to wear the watch to benefit their long-term health, but more interaction with the icons will bring more benefits! Of course, the interface will be customizable to the user’s wants and needs.

 

• Entice: While this is an advanced form of technology, users will be enticed by the simple design and the fact that there is no subordinate telling them what to do.
• Enter: Users will enter by purchasing and beginning to wear the watch and setting it up with a family member or personal physician. After setting up a quick profile and customizing the homepage, the smartwatch will be ready for use.
• Engage: The minimum engagement would be simply wearing the watch daily, but the users will benefit more by engaging with the messaging system, acknowledging the medication reminders, and performing some of the healthy activities for mind and body.
• Exit: After checking in with their physician or family member, there will come a time when the user must need additional help for their safety. The watch could be worn until death, but most of the functions will be obsolete after a severe mental illness is found or a huge accident happens.
• Extend: The watch can be reprogrammed to the specifications of another user, say a family member. The initial user can comment on what they would add or subtract from the watch, and technological advances after several years will accommodate these preferences.

 

Idea for Product 2: Cellular Application

 

Main Goal:

 

• Individual retirement scheduling by day, by year and etc.

• Social forum for retiree interaction

• Real person phone call for reminder

 

 

Early retirees from now on are likely to have a smartphone of some kind. A cellular application can be easily installed and used by most retirees, especially the voice recognition technology is maturing. This application has two components to it: an individual page and a social platform. The individual page will focus on helping retiree to schedule their routine activities while providing advices from experts. The social platform enables app users to exchange ideas and opinions. Most importantly, it is like a forum with an emphasis on organizing social events online and offline, and to provide small professional tasks for retirees to do. Recommended schedules based on profile information provided by retirees. Option to request transportation to events.

 

• Entice: By following through the routine and completing tasks, they are awarded saving advices.
• Enter: App should be available for android and IOS users. It can be advertised by insurance company to companies and institutions.
• Engage: The reminders and voice interactions are real person phone calls. The social platform should be a way to create a sense of community. The app will age with the user to be more updated.
• Exit: Eventually, retirees need a fulltime caregiver and could not use a smartphone anymore.
• Extend: The immediate family member will realize the advantage of having this app and promote it to others. Interactions with the app can be created into photo album for recollection purpose.

 

Idea for Product 3: Retiree Job Board

Retirees often lose a sense of purpose after they stop working, leading many to get involved in charities and similar endeavors. A retiree job board would allow ex-professionals to continue to practice the skills they have been developing throughout their lives.

• Entice: Retirees can sign up to complete jobs in relevant fields either for a sum set by the job poster or pro-bono.
• Enter: Simple sign up requiring proof of retiree status.
• Engage: Retirees will be suggested job postings based off of their past work and life experience. They will be able to rate the quality of the job, and the poster will be able to rate the quality of the retiree’s work. EX: Retired accountant signs up to complete a job poster’s taxes for a small sum of money.
• Exit: At some point retirees will be unable to perform tasks at the appropriate level and will “retire” from the site.
• Extend: After retiring from the site, seniors will be unable to complete job postings, however they will still be able to interact with the community, rate jobs, and provide advice to others.