Scope
Research
UX Design
UI Design
Visual Design
Prototyping
Tools
Adobe XD
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
Google Workspace
Project overview
The product:
Pal is a conceptual app that I have developed specifically for individuals who face the challenges of early-stage dementia, as well as their dedicated caregivers. With the onset of memory loss, it becomes crucial to have a means of monitoring and offering immediate assistance to individuals in need.
The primary objective of this project centers around addressing the difficulties associated with the early stages of Alzheimer's symptoms, acknowledging the unique needs and concerns that arise during this critical phase.
Project duration:
May 2022, 2-week project
The problem:
Following an early-stage diagnosis of Alzheimer's, patients and their families encounter a multitude of sudden changes and challenges that disrupt their everyday lives. During this critical phase, it is imperative to identify key challenges to support individuals affected by dementia, enabling them to maintain a fulfilling and secure lifestyle.
By understanding and addressing these challenges, we aim to provide practical solutions that empower both individuals with Alzheimer's and their support networks to navigate this stage with greater confidence and a sense of security.
The goal:
Develop a daily assisting app for mobile devices and smartwatches. The app will monitor daily changes, track tasks, and provide support to users. It offers real-time assistance, reminders, and progress tracking, ensuring users stay organized and accomplish their responsibilities. Personalized and adaptable, the app serves as a reliable companion for users' daily routines.
My role:
UX designer designing an app for Pal from conception to delivery.
Responsibilities:
Conducting research
Creating wireframes (paper and digital)
Developing low and high-fidelity prototypes
Conducting usability studies
Ensuring accessibility compliance
Iterating on designs
User research: summary
I conducted research with my family and friends ranging in age from 24-70 years old. For this 2-week project, I couldn’t get in touch with an actual dementia patient. Therefore, most of my research is based on the studies I collected from websites such as Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s Disease International, National Library of Medicine, etc; and listed out the existing apps that provide support to Alzheimer's patients and find out the gap and possibility that is still in the market.
User research: pain points
Persona: Albert
persona: carol
competitive research
After researching a number of existing apps that are used or designed for the dementia/ Alzheimer's community, I created a diagram of the existing applications targeting mild-moderate dementia patient users
Design direction
I found that most of the popular Alzheimer’s dedicated apps focus on cognitive training or providing exercises or suggestions through my competitive research. Tracking apps are also popular among the community, but most of the apps that are being used are not customized for Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers, and often require a dedicated device.
From this result, I started to plan out an app that provides tracking + shared agenda for caregivers to monitor the safety and location of the early dementia patient with existing smartwatch devices, aiming to offer support to Alzheimer’s patients to maintain an independent lifestyle as much as possible, while helping these families to provide care with a less stressful relationship.
Paper wireframes
I created 2 sets of wireframes, one for mobile devices and one for smartwatches.
Digital wireframes
The most important part of the application is the feature of creating your care circle, involving family members and caregivers to keep track of the caretaker together. The caregivers have access to locate the caretaker and view or create agendas remotely for the caretaker. Caretakers are able to see and keep track of their locations and schedules.
Low-fidelity prototype
High-fidelity prototype
The final high-fidelity prototype showcases the interactive user flow from a caregiver's end.
Takeaways
Impact:
This was the third project I initiated for my Google UX Design Certificate program, and with the project topic aimed at social goods, I wanted to design an app that can help with actual social issues that can really benefit from the use of technology in mobile devices.
What I learned:
Alzheimer's and dementia are serious and complex topics, although I looked into articles and research about applications among Alzheimer's patients, for a 2-week project I couldn't get in reach of actual target users for accurate research and user journey. But even so, this was a very informative and inspiring journey for me.
Thank you for taking the time to review my work!