Getting to discuss the ethnographic research with our client, Pat Karen, helped clear several things up looking forward. First, he highlighted that we did not have a diverse enough population of interviewees. Our group did not include research on several races or socioeconomic statuses, which is a problem going forward. Our product may have to be tailored to the wealthier user, since most of our data is on upper class white men. Second, we need to find a way to incorporate the internet of things into the product. The product will be technologically advanced, and there are two categories we need to pick between: preventative and surveillance. That is, the technology should be used either to prevent the user from leaving their home or to survey or watch the user and help them in that manner. Last, the product needs to be simple, personalized, and engaging. Our research showed that retirees are resistant to technology and commands from younger people. By making the product personalized and simple, retirees should be able to engage with and enjoy the product. We also spoke briefly with the former Stanford design graduate. He provided some helpful tips on future ethnographic research, such as focusing questions around extremes. He also pointed out that observations of needs should be phrased in terms of verbs, while the solution should show up as a noun.

 

Key Takeaways:

1. The research we gathered was helpful and a great starting point, but we need to use more diverse populations and ask questions using extremes.
2. The product must center around the internet of things. Since our research shows that older retirees are more resistant to technology, our user should be new retirees (around 65 years old).
3. The product must be simple, personalized, and engaging. Users want to do retirement their way, so the product should be simple enough to customize, use, and engage with.

Product 1: Smartwatch

 

Consider the Setting:

For our smartwatch prototype, our best approach to receiving valuable feedback would be to test the product in the context where it will ultimately be used. Ideally, this product would be tested in the setting of a doctor’s office, where a doctor would discuss the idea of this new product with the patient. If by this point the prototype is fully functional, the user would get to take it home with them and use it for about a week in conjunction with their doctor. At the end of the week, representatives from our group would perform certain activities with both the doctor and the patient to better understand how the product was received.

 

Define what to test:

We need to see why our watch would stand out against the surplus of wearables in the market. With established wearables such as the Apple Watch and Fitbit, it is a tough market to penetrate. Our product looks to combine the positive aspects of both wearables, but will this be an incentive to use it or will it be too tech-savvy to use?  Testing how interactive the technology needs to be and how much work is required by the user is ideal. A health based wearable is not the most sexy idea, so what features should be added that will incentivize the user to use it.

We would also get feedback from doctors in order to understand how well the device works for them to monitor and communicate with their patients. Would the information from the watch be useful for the doctors to assess health? Also, do physicians even need constant data for anything other than emergency situations? Lastly, we need to test how many patients the doctor will be comfortable with having and if constant checkups with the users would be a better substitute.

 

Define feedback activities:

Interviews and surveys would provide the best and most detailed feedback from users. We would aim to record reactions and opinions about the product at the initial time of receiving the product as well as after some decided adjustment period.

 

Product 2: Cellular Application

 

Consider the Setting:

Scheduling will take place within the app, on a device owned by the retiree. The application can be used on the go. Scheduled events can take place anywhere, but recommended events will be drawn primarily from the local community to minimize the amount of travel required.

 

Define what to test:

The schedule will need to provide enough value for the user to use. We will test the importance of items that aren’t activities, such as simple games or inspirational quotes. Since the calendar is focused on forcing constant activity, we need to observe if the organized schedule will actually improve engagement. That is, if the user likes the schedule but does not actually partake in the activities, the product will be considered a failure. What level of “hand holding” or recommended/pre prepared scheduling do retirees want? One of our key insights is that the users do not like being forced into doing anything, so we need to test how forceful a prepared schedule would appear. While the schedule would ideally organize several activities each day, there should be a limit to how many activities users are comfortable with having. Do retirees want/need a schedule? We also need to see if newly retirees even need a scheduling service. Perhaps retirees will want to have no organization and live life on a whim.

 

Define feedback activities:

Interviews, surveys, use of google calendar as a direct comparison

 

Product 3: Retiree Job Board

 

Consider the Setting:

Product will be used in the retiree’s home. Work on job postings will take place primarily over the internet and over the phone. Certain jobs must be completed at a physical location that will be set by the users.

 

Define what to test:

The key thing we need to test is what rewards incentivize use of the product the most. Although the key component of the idea is to fulfill a sense of purpose in the user, doing labor for free is not always ideal. Rewards range from small cash prizes to coupons from local stores related to the area of expertise. The product is also aimed to provide a social aspect for the users by connecting them with people in similar areas of expertise. Since mostly anybody can post a job on the website, we need to figure out if users are okay with working with strangers and what the best method of communication is. Also, the product is aimed for constant engagement, so it is important to test how challenging the jobs can be and how often people will want to use the service.

 

Define feedback activities:
 Mock job postings, user feedback on UI and site layout, interviews

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.

Nicholas Homolka immersed in an assisted living care facility in order to observe the pros and cons of living outside of the home.

Date: 3/4/17

Type: Immersion

Location: Wood Ridge Assisted Living

Team Participants: Connor De Mill, Nicholas Homolka

User Characteristics:  “Residents of Assisted Living Care”

• Average Age of Residents: around 77 years (60-94)
• Cheaper living option with 24/7 care and surveillance from nurses
• “Not just here, but every place I’ve worked the residents have had issues with the way things were managed. Administrative issues. They want to see stuff changed and who is in authority.”
• “The administrator here is pretty cool about issues. She literally has an open-door policy where residents are encouraged to come in and share their issues. She will get on it then.”

 

Assisted Living Duration: Varies largely for Residents

Arrival: Referred by another facility, doctor, or family home (Where primary caregivers have been family)

Memorable Quotes from Interview: “Actually not trying to be funny but they complain about everything.”

Daily Routine

• Day starts at 8
• Daily Activities
  • Breakfast: 8 am
  • Lunch: 12:30 pm
  • Dinner: 5:30 pm
  • Meals are on a certain schedule so there is a good sense of variety
  • Open to use the facility in whatever way they desire
  • Certain group activities are offered

*Day is personal for each resident (do not have to participate)

 Top 3 Learnings:

1. Assisted Living homes are somewhat like apartment complexes, they just have the added benefit of nurse care and surveillance
2. The residents all have different situations, and one resident could be very active (like using an Amazon Echo and playing Candy Crush) or very inactive (sitting on the living room couch all day)
3. Family members do not visit as often since the residents are more independent. Thus, the residents must get to know each other or live in solitude.

Key Insights – (1) Doing anything besides sitting on the couch all day is helpful. Simple tasks such as doing one’s own laundry keeps the mind working for a longer time (2) Being alone is extremely deteriorating to one’s health. Retirees enjoy discussions about anything, so it is important to visit loved ones and spend some time with retirees (3) Retirees do not enjoy the care they receive, and would much rather be in their homes and not bossed around.

Activities:

• Examples offered in Nursing Home
  • Gardening
  • Family Visits & Children
  • Television
  • Music

Environment

• Wood Ridge Assisted Living
• 67 residents
• Toured facility
  • Bedrooms- singles and doubles
  • Administration Office
  • Front Desk
  • Welcome Area
  • Living rooms
  • Laundry rooms
• Early-Afternoon: 12-3 pm
• Other assisted living homes nearby

 Interactions:  

• Our Activities
  • Parked in Parking Lot
  • Entered through two sets of doors
  • Sat in Welcome Area
  • Met with Angela to set things up as well as take the tour
  • Placed graffiti wall in employee rest area
  • Observed lunch time in the cafeteria, the busiest time of the day
  • Interviewed Matthew and Annie
  • Left Facility

 Objects:

• Board Games
• Television Sets
• Tables, Chairs, & Couches
• Water coolers
• Garden
• Laundry machines

 Users:

• Residents
• Nursing Staff
• Administrators
• Loved Ones
• Guest Visitors

 

Gallery Day Reflection

Key Takeaways

• Our research was organized well & covered a wide range of the spectrum
  • The interviews we conducted spanned each age segment in the the retired population
  • The word cloud put this all in perspective
• Our team feels comfortable enough that we can extract insights & have a point of view with the guiding principles we develop
  • Each of the team feel they have a perspective & can recognize patterns between the research we have conducted
• We have a much clearer understanding of what Optum is looking for after showing our contact, Pat Keran, our research/progress
  • Geared to maximizing time in home
  • Early Age in Retirement Spectrum
  • Internet of things
  • Preventionary product/service
• Our team worked really together
  • Everyone was very knowledgable on our call with our contact
  • Each member showed up to prep & took ownership in a piece of the presentation

Gaps in Research

• Our research did not take into account a diverse population
  • Include women
  • Include minorities
  • Our interviewee’s were largely white males
  • Pat wants us to broaden the population of our research
• A lot of feedback on some short questions such as habits/needs would be great to further clarify our thoughts
  • Perhaps a survey?
• Our team does not have an opinion on current IOT solutions in the marketplace  

Plans Going Forward

• We will go back to our contact at Morningside Nursing Home to get other recommendations for experts we could talk to on pre-assisted living retirement
• We will reach out to those in our network who fit the mold of our new focus: early side of the retirement spectrum, we will also be sure to chat with a representative sample
• We will develop a quick survey to send out to gauge responses on quick questions so we can further distill our insights
• We will start researching current IOT marketplace solutions
• We will extract 15+ Patterns & 3 Guiding Principles from the materials we have prepared

 

Patterns + Guiding Principles

Point of View Statement (POV)

Early retiree needs a way medium of preventionary monitoring in a way that makes him/her feel safe/secure.

Define

• Do you understand what the client is asking for?
  • Internet of things
  • Surveillance vs. Preventative
  • Pension Plan -> when you are qualified for retirement
  • Recently retired retirement
    • Age 35-50
  • Personalized, Engaging, Simple

• Does the client understand what they are asking for?
  • Yes, they have specific goals in mind

• Do you agree on the definition of terms?
  • Retirement
    • Financial stability
    • Pension
    • $ for 40-65 years

Research

• Do you understand the target market?
  • Recent retirees

• Do you have more research to complete?
  • Survey ND faculty + other people nearing retirement that are “tech-savy”

• Have you mapped your research on your Archetype Map?
  • Yes, we have

• Have you identified non-obvious insights?
  • Yes, we have

Patterns

1. Retiring at an early age would allow more flexibility in post-retirement activities
2. Early retirees are health-conscious
3. Early retirees are likely to have surviving spouse who are retiring too
4. Young retirees are more tech-savvy
5. Enjoy classy activities
6. They do not want to hold a job
7. Confident with their financial stability
8. The older you get the harder it is to use and adopt technology
9. Transportation is a must-have
10. Hate to be controlled by others
11. Stubborn: increases as age goes up
12. More (ancestry) family members that are alive
13. They have more activities to do (Options & interests)
14. They are very goal oriented
15. Early retirees have more of a desire to travel.
16. More migration (ex. Florida)

Guiding Principles

1. Personalize the product for the individual retiree
   1. Retirement does not simply come with age, every user will have different circumstances, needs, and goals.
   2. The product will have to benefit active retirees as well as sedentary ones.
   3. Retirement is the time for people to live their lives however they please, so the product should cater to the specific wants of each user.

Quote(s):

“Of retired population 10% is over 85. By 2030 30% of population over 65 will be over 85”

“It depends on the individual. Once you get to know them you will notice, like this is something they usually wouldn’t do. Like happy individuals will become cranky or irritable all of the time. Appetite is the big one, change in appetite.”

1. Prevent rather than survey
   1. While surveillance is important for monitoring the user’s health, we want to prevent the deterioration of the user rather than waiting until an accident occurs.
   2. Establishing habits and rituals early in retirement (or even before) allows the user to get on top of one’s health before it is too late.
   3. Activity, not necessarily physical, is key in prevention. Even the little things in life can help stave off mental illnesses.

Quote(s):

“Depression, is a huge thing. They are separated from their families. And sometimes families don’t get to come visit them. Or they don’t see them as often, so with that age it’s a big time to go more into depression. And it can be from somebody being tearful, to somebody just quitting to eat, or somebody just completely stopping to mingle with other people, and we want to prevent that.”

“Sometimes it’s a fall or sometimes they’re just not taking the medication the way they’re supposed to take it. I’ve had somebody come in, and they’re told to take calcium 3 times a day and they say, ‘you know I forgot my dose in the morning and I forgot it at lunch so I decided to take 3 pills at night’. It happens. Or, ‘I just decided to skip my insulin’ and their blood sugar is way up so when it goes way up there try to double dose and then the blood sugar goes way down and then they’re in critical condition.”

1. Instill a sense of engagement and simplicity
   1. Older retirees are typically resistant to technology or in need of help using it. A simple design that doesn’t rely too much on the internet of things will cater to their needs.
   2. Constant engagement with the product means the user will stay active. Daily or weekly interactions will imbed the product into the user’s life.
   3. The problem with retirement services is that the user resists help. The user’s well being will only be improved if the product is actually used though. Thus, without forcing engagement, the simple design will not deter use and leave options up to the user.

Quote(s):

“You need your mind to be sharp in-order to keep your body sharp”

Design Criteria

Design Goal: 

What have you learned about the target customers?

• Very diverse population
• Wide age range
• Need routine
• Connectivity with family
• Resistant to technology
• Needs assistance from stakeholders

What ends does the design need to fulfill for the target customer?

Functional: Rooted simplicity & Technologically

Emotional: Caregiving

Psychological: Sense of Safety

Social: Interaction between stakeholders
Design an internet of things product or service for the newly retired population.

User Perceptions: How important is your proposed offering to the target customer’s well being? Are there aesthetic attributes necessary to succeed with the target customer? Are there reputational aspects involved? What are the key research insights?

Our product is directly related to the wellbeing of the user. In order to make sure the user stays in one’s home as long as possible, we need to educate the user about their health and make it simple for them to improve it. The target customer, a new retiree (around 65 years old), will not be looking for flashy aesthetics. Instead, the product must have a simple design with clear and functional aesthetics. This is not a product for entertainment. From our research, retirees are resistant to technology, applications, and help from younger people, so the product should have a classical feel to it, emphasize getting straight to the point, and not force or demand the user to use it. The offering should point towards the future as to not make the retiree feel old or dying.

Problems/Needs/Opportunities: What are the target user’s preferred outcomes as they engage with the offering? What pain points does the target user experience with the existing options? What gaps exist with existing options that may hamper the target user’s ability to achieve preferred outcomes? What are the newly emerging needs or aspirations of the target user?

As of now, after retirement, the user has the option to live out their full retirement in their own home, do so with the help of a caregiver, or eventually move out to a nursing/assisted-living home. Retirees in the demographic we are looking at consistently have negative things to say about the potential option of leaving their home and almost all prefer to stay in their home. There are currently many problems that often force or accelerate this undesirable migration into the nursing/assisted-living homes. These problems often include personal lifestyle flaws including physical and mental inactivity and lack of diligence regarding personal medical issues. Our target user needs a product to make it easier for them to monitor and care for their physical and mental health.

Functional Attributes: Does the design of the offering need to accommodate specific use-case scenarios? List them in order of importance to the target customer. Does the design need to address compatibility or standards issues?

• Compatibility for all devices and need for internet
• Visually easy and pleasure for elderly
• Trustworthy

Constraints: What are the confines of our project work? What limitations might there be based on costs or requirements?

Our project work is constrained by a number of attributes of our target customers:

• Accessibility: Much of the older generation we are targeting possesses limited skill and experience with technology. Our solution must be very simple to use or it will not be adopted.
• Price: The target audience is economically diverse, and the majority of their healthcare spending is done by insurance providers. Our solution must be paid for by providers or priced very low

The cost of developing the product will be decided by Optum, however, the cost of prototyping must remain low.

Las Vegas is not the most picture friendly place, so I took some pictures off the internet to show some workarounds I noticed.

 

Each table uses chips instead of money, which allows the dealers to store and distribute the money in an easier way. Also, the chip design separates the user from the real value it represents.

 

Convenient signs outside of the hotel guide the uber drivers and users away from the crowded front entrances of the resorts. The rise in popularity of uber and lyft made this a necessary workaround.

 

Lastly, people in the sports book room would use any item, such as Sbarro’s pizza boxes or a hat, to indicate that they were still using a specific seat. This workaround came about since there was high demand for seating in the room due to March Madness.

Workaround #1 – While home brewing beer with my dad, we needed a faster way to cool down the boiling mixture so we set the pot up in a bucket with lots of ice and cold water circulating through via a hose.

Workaround #2 – When we kegged our home brewed beer, we did not have a compatible spout for the keg (since the CO2 tank did not allow a traditional keg tap to be attached). So we cut the hose and spout off of a traditional pony tap and fastened it directly to the keg.

 

Workaround #3 – In order to keep my toothbrush from resting on the sink counter, I put it on the ledge above the mirror where it does not touch anything. This is necessary because of how small my counter top is.

 

Workaround #4 – While driving back to South Bend from Florida, I saw these two guys driving and they presumably did not have working blinkers. I realized this was a workaround when the man in the back seat would use his arm to signal to the other cars that they would be changing lanes.

There are some very interesting insights emerging from your ethnographic research thus far.  Please be sure to err on the side of posting more direct quotes and insights.  A few takeaways that stood out to me:

• Quality of caregivers makes a world of difference.  What are common themes of quality? Can this be recreated through technology?
• The desire for individuals to connect and reflect on past.  How do we personalize?
• The importance of routines.  They are established at this point.  How do you add to them?
• I thought the quote captured from a grandparent interview where there was reference made to “chickening out” and leaving home for a care facility is interesting.  There is a lot of fear of the unknown as your body faces the inevitable declines of old age.  There is pride is living independently.  How can technology address these needs?
• What are the causes of depression and how do we address them?  Individuals value family visits.  Do retirees see family more if they are at home v. in a facility?
• Going forward, let’s get a more diverse perspective of individuals from other demographics.