Design Council
Visual identity
Design strategy
Service Design
With the increasing ageing population, loneliness and isolation is becoming a pressing issue. Age UK’s research reveals that one in eight people (12%) aged 65 plus are feeling cut off from society, which can lead to serious effects on health.
One in six of the UK population is currently aged 65 and over. That’s almost every three doors down, there’s an elderly person…. But yet we don’t know them.
According to Age UK, more than 2 million people in England over the age of 75 live alone, and more than a million older people say they go for over a month without speaking to a friend, neighbour or family member.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/loneliness-in-older-people/- How might we create more social opportunities for older people?
- How could the community around us take more responsibility for the health and wellbeing of older people?
- How could more people broadened and strengthen their social network as they grow older?
- How could there be more opportunities for people of all ages to meaningfully connect?
Ofcom report - There has been a sharp rise in over-75s using tablets, from 15% to 27%. And the use of smartphones among this age group has nearly doubled, from 8% to 15%.
Using the Design Councils Double Diamond Design Thinking process we went on to tackled this social innovation project.
We used ethnographic research techniques for primary research methods, to help understand with empathy what it feels like to be an older person. Being conscious of research ethics and good practice we interviewed our key stakeholders. By talking to our older users, we plucked out key insights that informed our design intervention.
5 principles of service design thinking. Marc Stickdorn
Drawing from the research, we went on to develop, design and iterate using service design tools to help craft out a new service outcome.
A new service which allows neighbours to connect with each other for tea and a social chat, but also as a support platform and knowledge skills exchange.
- This platform would help build and strengthen the social fabric of neighbourhoods.
- Connect like minded individuals locally.
- Help reduce loneliness by encouraging local connections with neighbours.
- Work around the users time and lifestyle.
- Easy to use digital app with real time support staff.
- Foster relationships and a better social support system.
Keeping the users at the heart of the digital product design journey, helped test and validate our propositions continuously throughout the process.
