APPLE CARE PACKAGES
A four-day design competition in NYC working on the parent-child relationship
Timeline
Painpoint
Validation
Principles
Solution
Decisions
Explorations
NYC Retreat
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APPLE CARE PACKAGES
APPLE CARE PACKAGES
An iMessage integration to connect with your parents and let them know you’re doing well
An iMessage integration to connect with your parents and let them know you’re doing well
TIMELINE
TIMELINE
4 days
October 2024
4 days
October 2024
TEAM
TEAM
Rohina Gandhi
Kaitlin Chow
Ani Nguyen Le
Elise Kim
Rohina Gandhi
Kaitlin Chow
Ani Nguyen Le
Elise Kim
ROLE
ROLE
Product Designer
Prototyper
Product Designer
Prototyper
SKILLS
SKILLS
Prototyping
Product Thinking
Storytelling
Interaction Design
Prototyping
Product Thinking
Storytelling
Interaction Design
TOOLS
TOOLS
Figma
ProtoPie
Figma
ProtoPie
PAINPOINT
PAINPOINT
Parents mainly want to know we’re okay, but life gets too busy to reply (to every question)
Parents mainly want to know we’re okay, but life gets too busy to reply (to every question)
Our parents are worried more than usual about our well-being, especially when we’re living away from them
Our parents are worried more than usual about our well-being, especially when we’re living away from them
VALIDATION + INSIGHTS
VALIDATION + INSIGHTS
Parents and young adults have a separate set of underlying needs that need to be addressed
Parents and young adults have a separate set of underlying needs that need to be addressed
Conducted interviews with 10+ parents and young individuals to understand what the target demographic needed to feel more connected with each other and these are the broader, common underlying themes we found across our sample group
Conducted interviews with 10+ parents and young individuals to understand what the target demographic needed to feel more connected with each other and these are the broader, common underlying themes we found across our sample group
Parents want…
Parents want…
To know you're taking care of yourself
To know you're taking care of yourself
Authentic information
Authentic information
Something less curated than a text
Something less curated than a text
A platform they're familiar with
A platform they're familiar with
Young Adults want…
Young Adults want…
Something quick
Something quick
Something easy but
valuable to parents
Something easy but
valuable to parents
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Based on the gathered insights, what did this solution really need? We formulated our three design principles around these insights
Based on the gathered insights, what did this solution really need? We formulated our three design principles around these insights
We derived and abided by these three principles that would meet the needs of both the involved target groups
We derived and abided by these three principles that would meet the needs of both the involved target groups
Autonomy & Control
over your info.
Autonomy & Control
over your info.
We added in multiple sharing options like ‘City’ vs. ‘Live Location’ to give you flexibility & control over how much you want to share
We added in multiple sharing options like ‘City’ vs. ‘Live Location’ to give you flexibility & control over how much you want to share
Balancing Convenience
& Customization
Balancing Convenience
& Customization
We wanted to make the tiles customizable but also keep it limited so that people don’t gave to spend too much time on them
We wanted to make the tiles customizable but also keep it limited so that people don’t gave to spend too much time on them
Family-Centered
Information
Family-Centered
Information
We were selective with how many and what tiles we were including and ensuring it was what parents wanted to see
We were selective with how many and what tiles we were including and ensuring it was what parents wanted to see
SOLUTION
SOLUTION
With one tap on iMessage, send a small grid of tiles filled with the most recent updates about your life
With one tap on iMessage, send a small grid of tiles filled with the most recent updates about your life
Here’s something that goes beyond just an, “I’m okay” but takes the same amount of time as that + is more precious to parents
Here’s something that goes beyond just an, “I’m okay” but takes the same amount of time as that + is more precious to parents
DESIGN DECISIONS
DESIGN DECISIONS
01. Dynamically changing tiles based on your recent activities and inputs
01. Dynamically changing tiles based on your recent activities and inputs
The default set of 6 widgets changes based on your recent activities & inputs. It populates the relevant information from other Apple apps such as your gallery (to show you're eating well), apple watch (to show you're working out, sleeping well and staying healthy), calendar (in case of any flights), etc.
We also intentionally limited the amount of tile options you can swap between to adhere to our design principle of balancing customization & convenience.
The default set of 6 widgets changes based on your recent activities & inputs. It populates the relevant information from other Apple apps such as your gallery (to show you're eating well), apple watch (to show you're working out, sleeping well and staying healthy), calendar (in case of any flights), etc.
We also intentionally limited the amount of tile options you can swap between to adhere to our design principle of balancing customization & convenience.
02. Making the output glanceable
02. Making the output glanceable
Keeping in mind that young adults wanted a quick way to send these updates to parents and parents may not always be the most tech-savvy, we designed the curation of the tiles to be very easy to navigate, and the final care package super visually glanceable for parents.
For example, the tiles are big enough to look at and understand in chat without having to click on them and open to a bigger view; the colours are more vivid, to convey a specific piece of information (like the big red circle to indicate a super busy period); and the text was intentionally made more legible than the symbols.
Keeping in mind that young adults wanted a quick way to send these updates to parents and parents may not always be the most tech-savvy, we designed the curation of the tiles to be very easy to navigate, and the final care package super visually glanceable for parents.
For example, the tiles are big enough to look at and understand in chat without having to click on them and open to a bigger view; the colours are more vivid, to convey a specific piece of information (like the big red circle to indicate a super busy period); and the text was intentionally made more legible than the symbols.
03. Easy-to-toggle states for updating different tiles
03. Easy-to-toggle states for updating different tiles
Apart from pulling data from different Apple apps, we also included a few custom tiles that you can tap to toggle.
You could do this for location (to provide your parents with your live location or just you city), let them know about how busy you've been recently (light, manageable, vs. heavy workload), and to show them how you've been feeling lately through the 'mood' tile.
Apart from pulling data from different Apple apps, we also included a few custom tiles that you can tap to toggle.
You could do this for location (to provide your parents with your live location or just you city), let them know about how busy you've been recently (light, manageable, vs. heavy workload), and to show them how you've been feeling lately through the 'mood' tile.
EXPLORATIONS
EXPLORATIONS
Hot seat / ‘family tea’ because parents love the drama
Hot seat / ‘family tea’ because parents love the drama
The insight here was - parents are usually nosy about topics like relationships, breakups, etc. They also enjoy occasional gossip about the extended family!
We stayed away from this as our key solution because we wanted the focus to be on healthy and unproblematic relationship-building (without having to bond of toxic topics)
The insight here was - parents are usually nosy about topics like relationships, breakups, etc. They also enjoy occasional gossip about the extended family!
We stayed away from this as our key solution because we wanted the focus to be on healthy and unproblematic relationship-building (without having to bond of toxic topics)
Lamp check-in for quick, sweet messages to show you’re thinking of them
Lamp check-in for quick, sweet messages to show you’re thinking of them
This was inspired from a physical product (a set on lamps) that exists on Amazon. How it works - if I change the light on my end to pink, which is the preset "i miss you" colour, my mom's lamp will also change to pink and she'll know I miss her (without me having to say anything)!
We decided against it since it felt lazy and wouldn't enhance deeper connections.
This was inspired from a physical product (a set on lamps) that exists on Amazon. How it works - if I change the light on my end to pink, which is the preset "i miss you" colour, my mom's lamp will also change to pink and she'll know I miss her (without me having to say anything)!
We decided against it since it felt lazy and wouldn't enhance deeper connections.
Voice notes with photo replies to conversation prompts
Voice notes with photo replies to conversation prompts
We liked this because it allowed for a richer experience for the parents. Kids had to reply to prompts in the group chat, like "what did you eat today" with a photo & voice note.
We steered away from this because we were hesitant about the time commitment it would take on the kids' end to reply to these prompts, especially if parents were asking for them everyday.
We liked this because it allowed for a richer experience for the parents. Kids had to reply to prompts in the group chat, like "what did you eat today" with a photo & voice note.
We steered away from this because we were hesitant about the time commitment it would take on the kids' end to reply to these prompts, especially if parents were asking for them everyday.
Light-weight conversation prompters
Light-weight conversation prompters
As a continuation of the previous exploration, we explored what was the most feasible way these prompts could work - below was on such exploration where you get to choose your prompt or shuffle them.
As a continuation of the previous exploration, we explored what was the most feasible way these prompts could work - below was on such exploration where you get to choose your prompt or shuffle them.
Prompt explorations with different response modalities
Prompt explorations with different response modalities
Some additional explorations of how prompts could work and what type of access or degree of flexibility should be allowed. We explored sending on-the-spot photos vs. being able to pick from gallery, sending videos or impromptu voice notes, etc.
Some additional explorations of how prompts could work and what type of access or degree of flexibility should be allowed. We explored sending on-the-spot photos vs. being able to pick from gallery, sending videos or impromptu voice notes, etc.
TAKEAWAYS FROM THE NYC RETREAT
TAKEAWAYS FROM THE NYC RETREAT
Here's some BTS of the 4-Day design competition & NYC retreat - had a blast!
Here's some BTS of the 4-Day design competition & NYC retreat - had a blast!
The overall feedback from the audience was super positive and they loved the quality/craft of our work and the prototypes. Some areas of improvement for the team included building a story around our solution and tweaking our solution to something that would feel more intentional and thoughtful to the parents.
Reach out if you wanna find out more about it (the retreat, the 2AM pivot, all the dirty details)!
The overall feedback from the audience was super positive and they loved the quality/craft of our work and the prototypes. Some areas of improvement for the team included building a story around our solution and tweaking our solution to something that would feel more intentional and thoughtful to the parents.
Reach out if you wanna find out more about it (the retreat, the 2AM pivot, all the dirty details)!
