AskWally
UI &UX
UI &UX
Ask Wally is a desktop and mobile advice platform focused on strengthening intergenerational bonds
As a product designer, I worked on the end to end process right from conception to delivery - focusing mainly on interaction design, product prototypes, architecture, usability testing and research.
TEAM
3 Product Designers
1 Engineer
ROLE
Product Designer
TOOLS
Figma
Illustrator
Photoshop
Premier Pro
PLATFORM
Website
Mobile Application
TIMELINE
3 months
Understanding our Users
Social connections and maintaining a sense of dignity are crucial aspects of aging well, yet these needs are often unmet. Older adults face various challenges in fostering meaningful social interactions and feeling valued members of their communities.
Many older adults struggle with feelings of isolation, loneliness, and being forgotten or invisible within society.
Co-Designing with Older Humans
For the purpose of this project, we worked with the Wallingford Senior Center and to honor this collaboration we decided to call our project Ask Wally.
Ask Wally is a result of continuous collaboration with the older humans of Wallingford Senior Center, Seattle who guided and validated our design process.
The Challenge
“How might we build an intergenerational community founded on recognition and trust for older humans to share knowledge, fostering connections and enabling prolonged social engagement?”
Design Response
Ask Wally is an intergenerational platform designed to bridge the gap between older adults and younger generations by facilitating the exchange of advice and shared wisdom through various channels, including senior community centers, social workers, and an easy-to-navigate website for those comfortable with technology.
Key flow #1 Submit a Question
Humans who are seeking advice are easily able to submit a question on the web and mobile platform.
✅ Anonymous and prior user permission before publishing the question and answer on the Ask Wally feed
Key flow #2 Question Management - Admin
Admins of Ask Wally are social workers who can view question submissions and coordinate with older adults to provide responses, whether written, spoken, or typed.
✅ Accessible and human-driven question-answer process to promote healthy community driven engagement. Responses can be personal.
Key flow #3 Read an Article by Topic
Everyone young and old can access the feed to read and engage with questions and answers, fostering a meaningful exchange of ideas and stories.
✅ Fostering a sense of being heard for older generations, while promoting a wholesome connection and appreciation from the younger generation.
Watch how it works here
This fun video walks through how Ask Wally works!
Research
Problem Space
A combination of Secondary Research, Stakeholder Anaysis, SME Consultation and Contextual Resesearch helped us understand our users and their problems in depth.
SECONDARY RESEARCH
01.
"People are undermined and denied their aspirations for full social participation and inclusion as they become older."
Source: Menezes, Deborah ”’You Really Do Become Invisible’: Examining Older Adults’ Right to the City in the United Kingdom.”
02
"Older adults often focus on a desired possible self where they can continue to be useful and help others."
Source: Richeson JA, Shelton JN. A Social Psychological Perspective on the Stigmatization of Older Adults.
03
"The health risks associated with prolonged social isolation are equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day."
Source: Kroll, Michele M. “Prolonged Social Isolation and Loneliness Are Equivalent to Smoking 15 Cigarettes A Day.” University of New Hampshire, 2 May 2022.
How do we decide who to talk to?
STAKEHOLDER MAP
We identified stakeholders and conducted Qualitative Research interviewing 6 participants from the senior center and 1 subject matter expert.
Synthesizing Research?
QUOTES FROM RECURRING THEMES THAT STUCK WITH US
"My wife and I have felt that when we go some place, we’re invisible...I feel like sometimes I don’t exist."
“They are seen as children, they are seen as not being able to make decisions.”
“Social interaction is just as important as the food, if not more important.”
Insights
KEY INSIGHTS
01.
Older humans feel Invisible and Forgotten.
02
Social connection is crucial for the well-being and quality of life of older adults.
03
Maintaining dignity is a primary concern for older adults as they age.
Design Principles
Before setting out on solution ideation, I listed down the desired outcomes which would serve as a guiding principles throughout the design process.
Meaningful Social Connection
Create connections both within the community and between generations.
Break Down Ageism
Break down preconceived notions based on age and foster mutual respect.
Value Older Humans
Empower older humans to be seen and heard in their community.
Always Ensuring Agency
Ensuring older people feel safe in existing community spaces.
Ideas Generation
The ideation phase began with an extensive brainstorming session, during which each team member generated 30 ideas, culminating in a total of 120 brilliant ideas!
The ideas that won
Downselection & Storyboarding
01.
USING DESIGN PRINCIPLES TO SHORTLIST
Ask Wally - Sharing knowledge through advice.
A digital advice column where Seattle residents can submit questions for advice and members of the Wallingford Community Senior Center can answer them with a written, spoken or typed response.
✅ Meaningful Social Connection
✅ Break Down Ageism
✅ Value Older Humans
✅ Ensuring Agency
02.
Interactive Art Installation
The interactive physical art installation is away for the community to come together to learn about and understand each other.
✅ Meaningful Social Connection
☑️ Break Down Ageism
✅ Value Older Humans
✅ Ensuring Agency
Concept Evaluation
Prototype testing
WHAT DID THE OLDER HUMANS FEEL ABOUT THE IDEA?
I tested the Ask Wally low-fidelity website and the question answer process with older humans of the senior center and younger generations to derive findings.
FINDINGS
01
♥️ Seeing other community answers is a motivation for participation and further exploration.
02
♥️ Members loved that they could rely on the social workers for answering questions and form healthy discussions around the topic within themselves.
03
😕 Some older members and younger generations wished they could connect more personally with each other.
04
😕 Younger generations were concerned aout how they would initially engage with the platform.
Information Architecture
Addressing Findings
I addressed the findings in the final information architecture-
WHAT CHANGED
🩹😕 = ♥️ Addressing 03
Introduced art installation/advertisement with a a QR code and as a way to promote engagement.
🩹😕 = ♥️ Addressing 04
Added an option to connect personally after receiving advice.
Final Designs
Reflection
What would I do differently?
Another round of usability testing
An additional round of usability testing after finalising the designs would have been beneficial.
Shipping website
The Wallingford Senior Center served as a constant touchpoint for validating our design process. If I had enough resources I would have liked testing the live product within the senior center.
Exploring more non-digital solutions
Given more time, I would have explored non-digital design solutions tailored specifically for the older adult populations to connect with the concept of Ask Wally.