Steady Steps
An app for the elderly, designed to enhance stability and prevent falls.
At a Glance
Steady Steps is a mobile app solution designed to address the challenges of balance deterioration and fall risk among elderly individuals. The app aims to improve mobility, enhance coordination, and ultimately reduce the risk of falls in older populations. With user-friendly technology to make balance training accessible and effective for people of all ages, with a specific emphasis on the needs of older adults.
Problem Statement
As we age, the simple act of maintaining balance and mobility becomes increasingly challenging, impacting our ability to live independently and enjoy life to the fullest. For many older adults, the fear of falling looms large, often leading to decreased confidence and social isolation.
Traditional balance exercises can feel daunting and inaccessible, leaving many seniors feeling discouraged and disconnected from their wellness goals. There's a pressing need for a solution that not only addresses these physical challenges but also provides support and encouragement to seniors on their journey to better balance and mobility.
Solution
Steady Steps is an app that helps elderly people solve the concern of fear of fall and mobility, by analyzing their balance and providing them with customized exercise plan that focuses on physically weak areas of their body.
The app not only offers physical exercises but also engages users in cognitive tasks during their workout sessions. By incorporating these tasks, the app aims to enhance users' cognitive abilities by simulating real-life scenarios where individuals must maintain balance while simultaneously performing cognitive tasks.
User Research
To determine what elderly people need and want when it comes to staying steady on their feet and using apps on their phones, I created a list of questions to better understand their relationship with exercises and smartphone. I narrowed it down to four broad questions that I thought would give me the most insight into the problem space, and conducted 15-minute interviews with 10 elderly people. Additionally, I carried out a survey with 20 elderly participants.
Survey Findings
The survey revealed that 89% of elderly participants prefer walking, highlighting that elderly people favor physical activities that do not require special equipment and can be easily incorporated into daily routines.
Survey findings suggest the importance of developing personalized exercise plans tailored to user’s specific health concerns to ensure safety and effectiveness.
PERSONA + EMPATHY MAP
I found it helpful to build a persona because it gave me a clearer visualization of who I was designing for. In order to see how Icould help Anita, I charted out all of her actions to identify opportunities for help.
MEET ANITA
Anita Singh, 65, is a retired high school teacher and housewife living in Gurgaon, India, with her husband. With their children living in different cities, Anita spends her time watching TV, doing light chores, and exploring cooking videos.
PERSONAL DETAILS
Housewife
2 children
Lifestyle
INTERESTS & NEEDS
Watching cooking videos on her phone.
Spending quality time with her family.
Home-based exercise routines for improved
mobility and confidence.Short and simple workouts tailored to her age
and lifestyle.
PAIN POINTS
Watching cooking videos on her phone.
Spending quality time with her family.
Home-based exercise routines for improved
mobility and confidence.Short and simple workouts tailored to her age
and lifestyle.
Nothing on the market gives personalized exercise routine focusing on elderly weak areas after the balance assessment.
In the competitor analysis, I found that none of the existing elderly exercise apps specifically assess balance and give elderly the exercise that will strengthen their weak areas, a critical aspect of senior health and mobility. While many apps offer general exercise routines and health tracking, they overlook balance assessment, which is essential for fall prevention and overall stability. This gap presents a significant opportunity for our app to address this vital need and differentiate itself in the market.
Design
I designed the new user experience from scratch by imagining the user flow & user journey map, followed with a wireframe and complete prototype.
The user experience consists of answering some questions to personalize the app experience, assessing your balance & providing them the exercise to strengthen the weak points in the body.
USER FLOW
USER JOURNEY MAP
STYLE GUIDE
USER TESTING(WIREFRAME)
In the initial stage, I prioritized refining the onboarding personalization of the app and sought external opinions to validate my approach. Iasked 3 people to navigate the prototype without guidance and wanted to see
- If the navigation was intuitive
- If there were features/information missing they would have found useful
- How they felt during the process
FINAL SCREENS
I took a final step back from my own design and asked 3 new testers to run through the hi-fidelity prototype.
- I asked testers to explain their understanding of Steady Steps to see if the onboarding delivered sufficient information.
- I wanted to know if there was anything they found unclear or confusing.
Conclusion
Designing the Steady Steps app has been a rewarding experience, allowing me to delve into every design detail. After launching the first version and receiving valuable feedback, I'm now focused on refining and enhancing the app.
Reconsidering my earlier decisions which includes:
- Creating new synthesis and insights from my research
- Iterating on visual explorations and features I didn’t have time for before
- Pivoting towards a new and more focused direction for the app.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Steady Steps has evolved alongside my growth as a designer, but there is still much more to explore. I’d love to explore:
- How can I ensure this approach works for elderly users with varying levels of tech-savviness?
- What’s the user retention like and how can I encourage users to consistently use the app and complete their exercises?
