Careband is a technology company dedicated to ensuring human safety and health by combining emerging communication technologies and machine learning. The company's CEO Adam started researching emerging technologies to help Alzheimer's patients stay safe in 2014. My design team began to help Careband develop the functional design of new products starting in August 2020. After 4 months of research and exploration, we finally produced a new design solution that includes product packaging, industrial modeling and user experience.
Project background：
After Careband's team designed the first prototype of the product and conducted user testing in Wisconsin for several months, they found many problems with the product. The new design direction that the Careband team hopes will better help elderly user groups with dementia to use the product.
Challenge & Outcome:
In order to improve the quality of life and standard of residential dementia care, we would like to further elevate the current user experience including digital & physical touch points.
My role：
I'm responsible for user research, UI & UX design of this project. During the project, I was working closely with 3 teammates, They are responsible for industrial design and 3D rendering.
In order to better understand the group of people with Alzheimers, our team and the Careband user research team have conducted sufficient research and multiple rounds of design evaluations:
Understand + Define
Understand, through primary and secondary research, the stakeholders’ needs and context to uncover opportunity areas
Synthesis + Ideation
Synthesize insights on the dynamics around hardware & software usage. Explore ideas within each opportunity area
Prototype + Refinement
Choose ideas from rounds of ideation and refine them into prototypes and renderings
RESEARCH PROCESS
We have conducted multiple stages of user research in order to better understand the products and users.
-
Primary research (2020-9-16)
-
Secondary research presentation(2020-10-03)
-
Stakeholder meeting(2020-10-14)
-
Careband Expert Interview with M (2020-10-26)
Primary research
Understand how dementia affects people and their families.
Competitive product analysis
Analyze the functional design and market demand of similar competing products
Stakeholder interview
Deepen the understanding of product design through interviews with stakeholders and product managers of careband.
Expert interview
Understand the opinions of experts in the field of dementia.
KEY INSIGHT FROM RESEARCH
After multiple stages of research, we decided to focus our design on the relationship between people with dementia and their care partner.
Autonomy
People with dementia want, and still can, make decisions and do things on their own.
Release mental burden
Change care partner’s mindset from taking care of another person's life to giving that person support.
Feel needed
It's important to maintain the sense of being needed through social connections.
Remove label
Don't call people with dementia "patient", don't label them.
Support
Let people with dementia feel supported by our product design.
Release mental burden
Feel needed
Remove label
Autonomy
Support
STAGE OF IDEATION
We went through two rounds of ideation. First, we drew sketches to draft the concepts within our opportunity area. After peer reviews and instructor's feedback, we refined the concepts.
First round of ideation
First round of ideation was around topics like social connections, wearable, charging, IOT and personalized care.
Second round of ideation
After peer review and instructor feedback, we narrowed down the previous ideas into a clearer direction
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
We keep the design dialogue, so as to ensure that we use the following four directions of design principles.
Conversational
Our use of language, images, and interactive elements allows us to communicate with users in easily understood ways.
-
Plainspokenness
-
Guide with image
-
Clear visual hierarchy
-
Release cognitive load
-
Tunneling (one thing at a time)
-
Smooth learning Curve
Transparent
We are clear and up front about what’s happening and why.
-
Keep users on track
-
Nudge towards better behaviors
-
Be transparent about behind the scenes processes
Respectful
We respect users no matter their preferences.
-
Openness
-
Personalization
-
Respect their habits
-
Lifestyle
-
Optimized for seniors
-
Adaptive
-
Smart recommendation
Connected
We strive for making users feel more connected to others through our technology.
-
Enhance social/emotional connection
-
Mutually beneficial for all stakeholders
-
Stylish
01
Unboxing
02
Onboarding
03
Safe Scenarios
04
Industrial design
Step 2 Flattening
The packaging will unfold to a flat “map”, showing the relationship between different devices.
01 UNBOXING
Step 1 Open with guidance
The box is printed with visual cues to help the user to open the box with the right sequence. The packaging is set up in a way that is easy to comprehend by the user. The first thing the user see would be the user manual
Friendly learning curve
Users can clearly understand the relationship between different devices, and follow the tutorial to learn how to connect devices.
02 ONBOARDING
Step 1.1 Pairing device
To switch careband into the pairing mode, the users will press the side button until they see the “ready to pair” sign.
The sign will be flashing blue indicator light when the phone and the watch are paired.
While the system is checking the pairing status, the light on the interface will show its progress. When the dotted lights resemble a full circle, pairing is successful.
Step 1.2 Pairing beacon
The users will find the beacon in the box and get ready to pair it with their phones. There is a QR Code on each beacon that the users can scan for pairing.
The beacon will be secured on the wall next to a front door (inside/outside). When our users enter or exit the door, our system will keep track of the record.
Step 2 Connect with care partner
The users can choose the stages of dementia in order for the system to generate tags of what we can do to help. Also, the users can send invites to their care partners to complete this process with them.
Step 3 Connect with IOT device
We would like to help users develop a habit of charging the careband watch. While the users are charging, they can set up their careband to connect to the indoor IOT device for a customized experience.
04 INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
Careband 2.0 just for you
We created this simple but elegant design with a friendly square body and a sleek round plate. It’s not just a healthcare device but a way to celebrate their life in style.
Careband provides people with a great degree of personalization, by offering a wide array of different band, plate and body options.
Customization plate
The interchangeable face plate attaches to the body magnetically, providing users with many stylish replacement options.
Wear it the way you like
Wrapping on the wrist, clipping on the pocket or wearing around the neck, decide the way you like wearing it!
Exchangeable accessories
Slide the block to detach the “hook and loop” wrist band.
Label Usability
We placed the emergency button on the side to avoid labeling users as patients. The brightly colored extruded button is easy to access if needed.
