Prototyping in User Research
Researched and designed new product prototype for
elderly drivers.
About this Internship
Employer: Aperio Insights
Tasks: UX Designer & Market Researcher
When: Summer 2021 (Team of two, 5 weeks)
* Some information changed to comply with NDA
We conducted market research through 30 in-depth interviews with individuals aged 55+. Participants were curious about a solution that would nudge them toward better habits, including driving. Early action is best, but most consumers don’t recognize the need to take action until their health or driving abilities are at risk.
The prototype we created counteracted pain points associated with aging:
LIVE INDEPENDENTLY WITH QUALITY
Taking away independence can be “life shattering” and can result in rapidly decreasing mental and physical health.
“So quality of life is your ability to accomplish those things that you wish to accomplish without pain and discomfort.”
– Participant Age 74
LIVE ON THEIR OWN TERMS
Being in a familiar setting and being able to stay at home offers a level of comfort vs. moving to assisted living or with a family member.
“Do what I want, when I want, without having to ask for assistance from someone else. Being capable just like you have been the majority of your life.”
– Participant Age 68
LIVE STRONGER
There’s a move towards having a mindset focusing on resilience and strength vs. focusing on inability or disability.
“One word that you said that matters a lot is quality of life. There's no guarantee of how long someone will live, but you can guarantee quality.”
– Participant Age 51
The client had provided us with a clear guide of what the product was to accomplish, but it was up to us to define the parameters of the product and determine if the new product was viable. We started by researching everything from license renewals to agings effects on one's ability to drive.
The collected resources were carefully categorized and used to create interview questions.
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What features in your car assist with your driving?
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What is your comfort level with technology?
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What specifically about technology do you find hard to trust?
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What car features do you wish you had?
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how would they improve your driving experience?
Understanding the Concept
User Interviews
Learning how the target audience will engage with the product and what their expectations are.
Both medical professionals and target-audience participants reviewed and gave feedback on the concept design.
The interviews always started with a brief explanation of the concept, then gauged the participants thoughts on how driving and aging mixed, and ended with a reaction to the visual representation of what the concept would actually look like.
Concept Development
Creating the visual aid to convey meaning to the users.
Low Fidelity Wireframe
1st Iteration
Final Iteration
The final iteration, created using the Balsamiq tool, remained low fidelity to invite participants to suggest changes and improvements.
According to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, older drivers are more likely than younger ones to be involved in car accidents. Therefore, it was very important that the app be user friendly and something that could be used to encourage healthy living everyday.
The app would feature health and driving assessments along with tips and tricks to gain higher scores in each area. Higher scores would be rewarded through discounts at select businesses.
According to a study conducted by the National Library of National Medicine that debunked older adult’s perceptions of technology and their barriers of interacting with technology. The study revealed that most participants were eager to adopt new tech; however, they were apprehensive to learn due to lack of instructions and support in learning.
To ensure our participants were willing to learn about our product, during each interview we carefully laid out how the app was to function and for what purposes.
Key Insights from Users
FOCUS ON PREVENTION
Several mentioned an interest in using the platform soon while it’s still possible for them to address physical and cognitive decline. By targeting an audience of late 40s and older, this will help de-stigmatize the platform as being ONLY for older drivers.
“You can't learn without feedback”
- Participant Age 74
ACHIEVEMENTS AND REWARDS
The appeal of accomplishment is compelling to some, but a focus on rewarding progress is preferred. It’s important to show that actions taken are making a difference towards achieving goals. Any coaching features need to be interactive in real time to motivate and engage users to continue usage.
"If you're talking about is just information that I can choose to adhere to, or learn from or not, and then there's some reward, there's some good driver discount, or there's some coupon for my medication discount. If I allow my driving to be monitored to make sure that my medication isn't making me unsafe. That's a different subject.”
- Whole health Consultant
POSITION AS DRIVING "SAFETY" APP
This type of positioning can help assess and address the physical and cognitive issues of aging to allow seniors to safely drive longer. Seniors do not want their adult children “bossing them around” and fear having their car keys taken away.
“Am I going to have to give up my keys, because I'm not scoring as well on the reaction time part of this assessment?”
- Participant Age 66
Key Insights from Health Care Professionals
Medical experts were more keen on this idea than the target audience and saw the need for it. Many mentioned they like the idea of working with their patients and seeing their data.
NO LIMIT TO DRIVING
People will drive regardless of whether they should or shouldn’t. Advice from the application might get ignored.
AUTHORITY FIGURE COMPONENT
Older individuals are more likely to listen to doctors than their grandchildren or children.
VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE
Very few conditions actually limit driving, which means that patients and interview subjects have a hard time envisioning their driving being limited. Therefore, limiting driving is voluntary on the patient to comply.
A POWERFUL TOOL
Medical professionals viewed this service as a powerful diagnostic tool that could be used to indicate markers of change over time. They liked the idea of a report that could be provided by the patient to their doctor.
Next Steps
The advice from health care professionals and concerns/interests of the target population were combined to learn how to continue the concept:
SMART
INTEGRATION
Integrated physical tracking of respiratory, heart rate, vision, hearing, etc. Currently existing programs track individually but do not provide a continuous, holistic view. An app that offers a holistic view could encourage users to switch products.
TARGET AUDIENCE EXPANSION
The target audience could be expanded from seniors to include disabled veterans and anyone with progressive decline (either due to age or a chronic condition). Using these groups in marketing could help prevent negative stigma associated with aging.
BETTER DEFINE THE PRODUCT & VALUE
How will it work? What are people committing themselves to? Clear up confusions from interviews regarding the differences and similarities between this system and what is currently offered by wearables/health apps.
The survey results and next steps were well received. The company is still working to make this concept a reality.