To think up 3 valid ideas we combined ideas from rapid ideation and our own ideas we previously thought of. We didn't hold back here and fleshed out ideas even if they might not be plausible.
Our 3 ideas:
Virtual reality
This virtual reality idea was probably the most out there one which we were unsure if it was possible or not. Basically, it connects elderly and youth who live far away from each other. It focuses on getting elderly to pass on skills and teach the youth.
Get to know me card game
This solution is based on getting to know each other better through prompts to talk about past experiences, stories or just simple things about them. You get a chance to guess the answer of the other player. Maybe to make the answers more personal the other player has to write down their true answer and the other player reads it out once they have taken a guess. At the end of the game, you should hopefully know a lot more about the other and this may prompt more questions and conversation.
Baking Competition App
This solution was the one we got the most excited about and so we started drawing up the app and potential pages. The app works to connect youth and elderly through cooking and turns it into a competition and a game. The app works so that those who live far away from their grandparents can still engage with it as there is an option for this within the app. We found distance to be a big factor in why people weren't engaging with their elders and this solution address this problem.
We showed our solutions to a few in the class and some valuable feedback we got were:
- We could make the app look different if you were a senior or youth to make the app easier to use.
- We could combine the card game/sharing stories with the baking app. There is some synergy there. The baking is good to break the ice to then start talking.
- The virtual reality is a cool idea but unsure how it would work.
While working in class I began to write up all of the questions, barriers or opportunities I could think up if we chose to use this solution.
Barriers/obstacles
- How many elderly have smartphones?? A big barrier for using an app.
- It would be a website as well for those who have computers but no smartphones.
- Maybe the youth gives their phone to the elderly while they are together so that the elderly get to learn how to use more recent technology and the youth can help them.
- Where does the money come from for the cooking? Do they shop together and go halves? Do they take turns each time? Although the elderly are often baking and cooking (as a stereotype!) anyway so maybe it is affordable for them.
- Why would youth want to do this?? What makes it maintainable over time? What motivates youth? Free food, its like a game so you want to keep playing. Rewards? Would youth want to tell friends about it or would they be embarrassed?
Opportunities/ideas
- Assuming the elder has a smartphone then when you sign up you have to say if you're an elder or youth and the app will appear different. Ie bigger font size and easier to navigate, has a zoom feature or speaks to you for those with impaired sight. There could be a quick help button which lets you message your youth partner.
- Could we combine cooking and storytelling? Questions are part of the process. While you cook questions pop up. you tap them to go to the next.
- Maybe the elderly would like to share with their senior friends? Is there a printing feature where you can print the photos you have uploaded so the elderly can keep them?
- Can we somehow involve a physical design element/takeaway so it is not all virtual. Add a bit of old school!
EXCHANGE
Met up with my exchange group from the of design principals. My team had 2 of us VCD students, 1 fashion, 1 spacial and 1 industrial.
We began by just introducing ourselves and then got stuck into each of our projects. it was interesting to see how other disciplines were interpreting the well-being brief. Some had very broad breifs and had a lot of freedom to interpret the well-being brief as they chose (fashion) while spacial and industrial were much more constricted to a certain area. Industrial were assigned an area to focus on while spacial are all address the same issue.
At first i found it hard to know how to give my input on a discipline I knew nothing about. But once we got going I just gave my first impression and then it was easier to share my ideas or critiques with them.
When I shared my baking competition app idea with them I received some good feedback:
- maybe the app could be sponsored by something like My food bag.
- Keep working on why youth would want to do it.
- Liking the idea of sharing knowledge and elderly feeling valued because of that.
- This problem is really a Western problem because other cultures are very well integrated with their elders. Derek mentioned his heritage and background and how he is in great contact with his grandma through Whatsapp and they are always messaging and sharing photos etc.
- Is there merch that goes with it?
- Have a leaderboard or prizes.
- Include tips and tricks and recipes.
- Challenges could be easy, medium or hard.
- Is there tutorial videos?
I was really impressed with how much my group engaged with my idea and were offering a lot of ideas and critiques. It seemed like I got a lot more feedback on my idea than some of the others in the group received. Hopefully, that's a good thing and showed that they were engaged and excited about the idea!
