Connecting seniors and caregivers for seamless health management
Domain
HealthTech · IoT · Senior Care
What Happened
Designed and prototyped a connected care ecosystem spanning smart mirror, smartwatch, mobile app, and web plug-in to help seniors manage daily health routines and share real-time data with caregivers.
Role
UX Designer
What I Did
User research & synthesis, service blueprinting, persona & journey mapping, multimodal interaction design (voice, face recognition, touch), information architecture, UX & UI design across devices, prototyping in Figma & Principle, usability testing with seniors and caregivers, research documentation, created a cross-platform design system for consistency.
Beginning Thoughts
What is the difference between traditional senior care and connected senior care?
Traditional senior care often relies on manual check-ins, phone calls, and in-person visits, which can be inconsistent and stressful for both seniors and caregivers. Connected senior care leverages smart devices to create a seamless, real-time flow of health information and support, enabling independence for seniors and peace of mind for caregivers.
Problem
Seniors living apart from their children struggle to follow health routines, while caregivers face stress managing visits, medications, and updates without real-time insight. Existing tools are too complex or fragmented.
1 in 4 Seniors Live Alone
In the U.S., 28% (16.2 million) of seniors live independently, apart from their children.
Administration for Community Living's 2023 Profile of Older Americans
Focus
How Might We create a simple, connected solution that helps seniors manage their health routines independently while giving caregivers peace of mind?
Solution
A Connected Care Experience for Seniors
I designed NURI, a connected care system using a Smart Mirror, Smart Watch, Mobile App, and Clinic Plugin to guide routines, book taxis, record and summarize consultations, and share updates instantly with caregivers.
Smart Mirror
Voice-guided routines, visual prompts, and daily health check-ins help seniors stay on track with minimal effort, making morning and evening tasks intuitive and stress-free.
Smart Watch
Provides on-the-go medication reminders, appointment alerts, and quick taxi booking for hospital visits, ensuring mobility and independence outside the home.
Mobile App
Keeps caregivers informed with real-time updates on routines, medication intake, and health checks, while automatically delivering consultation summaries and integrating them into routine management through smart notifications.
Web Plugin
Enables doctors to easily record consultations, automatically generate summaries, and securely share them with caregivers, improving clarity and reducing follow-up calls.
research
I conducted contextual inquiries by analyzing videos of caregivers managing the health of senior family members. Through this analysis, I identified key challenges, such as coordinating medical appointments and managing daily health routines. My observations provided valuable insights into the interactions between caregivers and seniors, highlighting opportunities for technology to better support their needs.
Key Insights
High stress, high stakes
Caregivers need relief from time and emotional burdens.
Simplicity saves
Seniors thrive with intuitive, easy-to-use tech.
Connection matters
Real-time updates for peace of mind.
Research Synthesis
I synthesized findings from contextual inquiries using an affinity diagram, grouping related insights to uncover recurring patterns and unmet needs. These clusters directly informed and refined potential feature ideas, ensuring they addressed both seniors’ and caregivers’ real-world challenges.
Core Ideas
🗓️ Effective Routine Management
🩺 Comprehensive Health Oversight
🗣️ Seamless Voice Interaction
📱 Ease of Use Across Devices
🚕 Optimized Mobility Support
personas
James, a senior living alone, has a hospital appointment today.
Without reminders, he sometimes forgets the time or what to bring.
Independent Senior
Struggles with daily health routines
James Miller
Age: 79
Occupation: Retired Engineer
Location: Seattle, WA
“I like being independent, but a little help with my health routines would be nice.”
Life Goal
Manage his health routines
without feeling overwhelmed.
Experience Goal
Stay connected with his daughter in a way that doesn’t disrupt her daily life.
End Goal
Use a simple system
that provides reminders and guidance.
Ideate
Lisa, living in another city, worries if James will remember the appointment, arrive safely, and understand the doctor’s advice.
Distant Caregiver
Needs support for remote health management
Lisa Thompson
Age: 46
Occupation: Financial Analyst
Location: Chicago, IL
“I just want to make sure my dad’s taken care of, even when I can’t be there.”
Life Goal
Ensure her father’s health routines and appointments are consistently managed.
Experience Goal
Find an easy-to-use solution that her father can manage independently.
End Goal
Receive real-time updates on her father’s health for peace of mind.
Service Goal
ensuring seniors feel confident and caregivers stay reassured without constant check-ins.
As is
To be
As is
To be
As is
To be
Troublesome
Health Record Keeping
Real-time Health Tracking
Instant Access
to Medical Records
Caregiver-Assisted
Transportation Booking
Lack of Accurate
Medical Record Sharing
Difficulty with
Transportation Booking
Concept Model
I created this concept model to design the entire system for streamlined senior health management. By mapping key interactions and integrating voice and AI-driven technologies, I demonstrated how seniors and caregivers can seamlessly manage daily routines, monitor health data, and coordinate medical and transportation needs
Task Flow
I created task flows to visualize senior and caregiver interactions across mirror, watch, and mobile. This helped refine user journeys and ensure simple, consistent, and accessible experiences.
A Day with NURI, Hospital Visit
In the morning, the senior checks their health tasks and logs their mood through the smart mirror.
The app reminds them of a hospital appointment and books a taxi using GPS tracking.
When the senior arrives, the system detects their location and sends a real-time notification.
During the visit, the conversation is recorded and summarized by AI, then shared with the caregiver.
Expert Review
I conducted a heuristic evaluation to assess the usability and accessibility of the service, with a special focus on senior users. The goal was to identify design issues early and propose improvements that reduce cognitive load and enhance clarity.
Participants: 11 designers
Method: Shared heuristic evaluation questions → collected scores & feedback
Low-Scoring Category :
Clear Error Messaging & Problem-Solving Support
Interation
Each round of heuristic evaluation and usability testing revealed friction points. I addressed these issues through iterative refinements to the prototypes and design system, which gradually improved clarity, accessibility, and cross-device consistency.
Key Feedback
⛔️
“There is no cancel button on the Smart Mirror while input.”
✅
Added cancel option while input
⛔️
“On the Watch, there’s no way to change the time
once it’s set.”
✅
Enabled time adjustment after a call request
Final Outcome
🪞 Morning Check-up
Seniors start their day with the Smart Mirror, which guides them through an easy check-in routine.
Face recognition captures their daily condition record.
Voice prompts allow seniors to log mood and symptoms without needing complex navigation.
The data is automatically synced, keeping caregivers updated in real time.
Problem
🚖 Taxi Booking
Seniors prepare for hospital visits with seamless mobility support.
Caregivers book a taxi through the Mobile App.
The Smart Mirror displays booking details, ensuring seniors are aware of their upcoming ride.
The Smart Watch sends real-time arrival alerts, keeping seniors on schedule with minimal effort.
Caregivers track the ride remotely, ensuring safety and peace of mind.
Problem
🏥 Hospital Visit
Seniors attend hospital appointments with built-in recording support.
When the consultation begins, the Smart Watch notifies the senior that recording has started.
The doctor uses the Web Plugin to securely record and transmit the consultation.
Caregivers instantly receive both the full recording and an AI-generated summary through the Mobile App.
The summary can be directly applied to routine and medication management, ensuring continuity of care.
Problem
Reflection
I learned that addressing usability issues specific to seniors is crucial when designing a service for this user group. Ensuring the design is accessible, intuitive, and easy to interact with was essential. Additionally, this project taught me the importance of device connectivity, especially when integrating multiple platforms like smart mirrors, mobile phones, watches, and web interfaces. Working with the smart mirror, a relatively new device, was a fun challenge and provided a unique opportunity to explore voice-driven interactions.