The Bold Strategy Shift That Transformed User Satisfaction
No Isolation, a Norwegian startup, focuses on reducing loneliness and social isolation through communication tools. One of their key products, the KOMP, is a simple, one-button screen designed to help older individuals who struggle with modern digital devices. While the KOMP excels in connecting users over long distances, the client wanted to explore how it could be used when the user’s network is physically present.
Tags
Product design, UI design, UX research, user involvement, Universal Design (UU), Mobile Application, Family Engagement, Social Tech, Design Sprint
Client
No Isolation
Project goal
We wished to create or improve functionality that strengthens the relationships between those who use the Komp when they are together.
Time Period
Q2 2022 — Q3 2022
My Role
Interaction design, conceptualisation, UI design, UX research, collaborative prototyping
As the lead designer, I was tasked with overseeing the development of new functionalities that would enhance the KOMP’s ability to strengthen relationships when users and their networks are together. This involved not only improving existing features but also innovating new concepts that would resonate with both the elderly users and their younger family members.
To achieve this, I led a 3-day intensive design sprint, where we brainstormed and conceptualized innovative ideas. I oversaw the creation of two personas that represented the key user segments and developed two final design concepts. These concepts were iteratively refined through low-fidelity sketches and high-fidelity wireframes in Figma. Given the vulnerability of the target group, I conducted qualitative user testing with proxy users, primarily the caregivers, to validate the concepts. I also facilitated peer reviews with other design consultants to incorporate feedback and ensure the final prototypes were both user-centered and practical. The results and future directions were documented in executive summaries for the client.
Our designsprint resulted in multiple suggestions of possible activities to build on the existing service. Multiple functionalities were discussed, icluding how they would affect the elderly that use the Komp device connected to the mobie application.
Our brainstorming was complemented by qualitative interviews with proxy users. These ideas and feedbacks were integrated back to our initial concepts later in our digital prototype in Figma.
Our final prototype of the project reflected the interactions between the family members of the elderly who use the mobile application and the seniors who strictly use the Komp device. Displaying how we could achieve interactions of value and to show how we could think differently in harnessing the true potential of the different interfaces. By changing the core strategy og the mobile application design from social media focused design to more intimate inspiration like photo albums and board games, we were able to conceive new ways to interact between the family members physically.
The project successfully delivered two refined concepts: a restructured app to enhance essential functionalities and a new activity feature aimed at fostering intergenerational communication. These concepts provided valuable insights into how the KOMP could be adapted to meet the needs of both older users and their younger family members. The final prototypes and research findings were handed over to the client, providing a clear direction for future app development. On a subjective level, my insights and designs provided the client with guidance in new ways to approach the directory of the application, effectively moving from a cognitively dissonant social media inspired application to a solution resembling shared photo albums.
Some important learnings from the app restructuring concept (01) were the importance of image captions and messages for the technologically disadvantaged were significantly higher than the social media aspects that were currently implemented in the mobile application. In other words, the user group preferred a structure that would enable efficient communication with the Komp device owner, and did not feel the need to communicate with other members who had access to the same Komp user.
For the activity concept (02), we learned that the purpose of the activities should oriented towards the younger family members to encourage them to more active communication with the seniors or the technologically disadvantaged Komp users for it to bring values to both parties. Initially, the concept was leaning towards digitalising existing activities that the elderly commonly engage in. However, as the contact persons of the Komp users expressed that it may be challenging to engage grandchildren to keep the communication going with the seniors, it turned out to be more favorable to shift the mindset to appeal the activities to the younger audience instead in order to increase contact with the Komp users.