To begin with the Define phase of the double diamond framework, and with the help of data gathered in the Discover phase, we narrowed our area of focus and considered different problems faced by the elderly in this concept. The main problems that we elected are as follows:
To gain a deeper insight into our target group's objectives and understand their general thoughts, we conducted a user interview (Yablonski, 2020). We conducted an interview with Nombuso Sithole, a 58-year-old divorced woman from north Belfast, United Kingdom, who has one grown child. It was our goal to obtain a better understanding of the needs, expectations, hopes, and desires of users. The following is a summary of the leading questions and answers mentioned in this interview:
Q: Could you tell us a bit about your experience with technology and using your smartphone?
A: I've had my smartphone for a few years now, but I mainly use it to make calls and send texts to my family members in Africa. I find the other features a bit confusing; sometimes, I could go for days without using my phone.
Q: What challenges or difficulties do you usually encounter when using your smartphone?
A: There are a few issues. Sometimes, I get lost trying to find certain features, and the text is quite small, making it difficult to read messages and menus even with my glasses.
Q: So my team and I are working on an onscreen app called EasyNav that can help people of your demography navigate their mobile devices with ease. what aspects of your smartphone usage do you think it could help with?
A: I think it could make things simpler if it helps with the font size, like making it bigger and helping me find things on my phone more easily; that would be great because I'd love to have control of my phone.
Q: OK, that’s great. When it comes to important tasks, do you ever face challenges in managing those on your smartphone?
A: Yes, I do face some issues with setting reminders for appointments and taking my medications on my phone, making it challenging to keep up.
Q: OK, you mentioned earlier that you mainly call and text your family members; how important is staying connected with your family through your smartphone?
A: It is very important to be in touch with my family, especially my son, sisters and their kids; it is the only way for me to have them close because they stay in another country, and I want to be able to see and talk to them more often, it would be nice if your app can make it easier for me.
Q: Do you have any final requests you need the app to help you with?
A: If your app can help me use my phone more independently, and I don’t need to call on anyone to come help me with it. I want to be able to enjoy the benefits of technology without always needing assistance from someone.
To frame our design decisions based on actual needs rather than the generic needs of the undefined user, we used the user persona and empathy maps tool at this stage of the process (Yablonski, 2020). Further, user personas enabled us to understand the users' goals, motivations, and pain points to provide solutions tailored to their specific needs and empathy maps also represent users' thoughts, feelings, actions, and motivations (Brown, 2008). These tools shift the focus from the product or service to the users themselves and keep our design human-centred (Brown, 2008).
Figure 9: First user persona and empathy map, Margaret.
For our first user persona, we considered Margaret, a 60-year-old woman who lives in a quiet suburban neighbourhood with two grown children and three grandchildren. Regarding digital literacy, she has limited experience with technology and can make and send text messages on her smartphone, but she has difficulty with other functions. In her letter, Margaret describes her desire to revert to simpler times when she used to write letters by hand and discusses her fear of pressing the wrong buttons. Most of the time, she seeks assistance from her grandchildren or friends when facing technical difficulties and avoids using certain features of her smartphone due to their difficulty. Her view is that technology has advanced too rapidly for her to keep up, and she would prefer a more straightforward and more user-friendly smartphone interface. Additionally, she seeks a supportive community in which she can share experiences and tips to use her smartphone comfortably and stay in touch with her loved ones. Due to these actions and thoughts, she feels isolated when she is unable to connect with others easily. She is also frustrated by the complexity of updates and new features. Nevertheless, she feels a sense of accomplishment when she successfully utilises certain features. Based on her empathy map, the following are the main challenges she usually encounters when using a smartphone:
Figure 10: Second user persona and empathy map, David.
David is the second user persona considered for this project. He is a 72-year-old retiree who has recently embraced technology. Although he is eager to keep in touch with his family via video calls, he has difficulty accessing the video call function on his smartphone. In most cases, he will make voice calls rather than video calls because he has difficulty opening the appropriate app, finding the proper contact, or initiating a video call. Due to the geographic distance between David and his family, he has experienced frustration. In his opinion, technology has advanced much faster than he can keep up with. Consequently, he is concerned about becoming technologically isolated and missing out on important family events. Additionally, he feels anxious about making mistakes on these calls that may inconvenience his family. When he succeeds, however, his daughter's comforting voice and face make everything all right.
Figure 11: Third user persona and empathy map, Prisha.