The Challenge

Provide a solution to help older people living alone in underserved areas who struggle to take regular public transport because of their physical conditions or because transports are away from their homes and have a low-frequency service.

The Client

This is a personal project for which I applied an inside-out approach focusing my efforts on the meaning and the value that one of my needs could generate for society.

My Role

UX Researcher & Designer

Timeline

4 weeks

Team

N/A

Goals

Secondary research on older people quality of life and transportation.
Product Research.
Interview to stakeholders.
Proposal to solve the problem.

Deliverables

Secondary research insights.
Competitive analysis.
Proposal of solution.
User flows (MVP)
Wireframes.
Single feature prototype to explain the solution (MVP).
Next steps and recommendations.

Discovery Phase

Secondary research to understand the context

I started searching and reading about older adults’ quality of life in Italy and looking for information to validate the problem. My sources were national newspapers, working papers, studies run by the National Statistics Center, and specialized websites.

Newspaper’s Study Il Sole 24 Ore

Working Paper

*“To go to the grocery shop I need someone who comes with me.”

— Anonymous older person from Reggio Calabria.

*Study: Ageing in place e contesto abitativo. I condizionamenti dell’ambiente costruito sulla qualità della vita e sui rischi di isolamento degli anziani fragili che invecchiano soli a casa propria: Paper Series, n. 06/2021 (LPS.20).

Competitive Analysis

Table showing three competitors that offer transportation and assistance services (1.Local Taxi, 2.Ugo.com, and 3.Comune di Sovere BG). Data were collected in September 2022.

Competitor & Service	Strenghts	Weaknesses	Business Model
Local TAXI Private transport on demand.	• Users can call it anytime to check availability. • No need to use internet.	• Low availability (few taxis operating in the area). • No assistance services. • Fares not available.	B2C
https://hellougo.com/ Private transport and assistance for older persons and disabled.	• Provides trainings to assistants. • Variety of transports (on foot, own or beneficiary car, accessible). and assistance services. • Option to pay cash. • Provides cost simulator. • Have a 24h customer service. • Partnerships with hospital and medical centers. • Operates in 14 cities (North & Central Italy).	• Allows to book only one service at a time. • Not available in all areas and cities.	B2C & B2B
Comune di Sovere BG https://www.comune.sovere.bg.it/ Transport for older adults (individuals or groups) minors with no family, and disabled in need with no family and no access to public transports.	• Low prices • Operated by volunteers and associations. • Has several service beneficiaries. • Owns vehicles + association’s vehicles.	• Not available on weekends. • Not available after 5pm. • Need to fill in a form and send it by email. • 15 days notice to use the service except for emergency. • No assistance included (only transport).	Public Service (Social Care)

Limitations

some Interviews were Postponed

Due to my absence from the field, I couldn’t interview target users (e.g., older person’s relatives) and beneficiaries (older people). Instead, I tried interviewing local association volunteers and contacting municipalities in Cosenza for feedback (surveys and interviews).

Ideate

Ideas Generation (Brainwriting Session)

During the session I thought: “why not create a service similar to Uber but for outskirts or areas with no such good transport network? Informal assistance could be included aside local displacements, and the service would be addressed to older persons in need of assistance or to people with no access to public or private transport.

More details about the idea

Service

A platform that puts in contact older persons or their families (e.g., sons, siblings) with people that own a car and that could help with local displacements and commissions.

Users 1

Olders persons’ family members (e.g., sons, siblings) or friends that cannot help them directly but need assistance for them.

Beneficiaries

Older persons who don’t have easy access to public or private transport and that need to move locally (e.g., going to a medical check up 10km away from home).

Users 2

Car owners who live in the same areas or close to them that can provide both displacement and assistance.

Prototype

User Flows For the Main Users’ Interactions

In one flow I represented a user using the platform for the first time, to see how it works and eventually book a first ride/ assistance. Then I worked on a second flow to represent the partners (car owners) who can see what the site is about, sign up and provide personalized assistance.

User Flow (1st version) displaying the main user’s interactions to get to know and to book the service of ride and assistance.

Digital Wireframes

Colour Palette

I chose one color thinking of the users that will need an assistant for their beloved and I found out that Celadon #ACE1AF could help convey serenity.

Mid-Fidelity Interactive Prototype

Although I would have liked to include more screens to answer several important questions, I decided that for this first phase it was enough to have one single feature MVP to show to users.

Play the prototype video below or open it in in Figma.

Short prototype video.

The following next steps & recommendations try to provide an answer to the limitations listed above allowing the project to continue or be suspended.

__Next Steps & Recommendations_ _

1. Interview users who know older people leaving in a suburban, and or, an underserved area.

2. Establish how to calculate fares.

1. Interview beneficiaries in order to confirm the current idea and features.

2. Consider extending the service to more areas other than the underserved ones.

3. Think of edge cases and include them in the next iteration.

3.1 Iterate on copy, contents and features as necessary.

4. Find potential partners — who live in the outskirts, villages and the cities— who would try the service.

5. Create a new prototype integrating updates and test it on users.

3. Think of a potential partnership with a hospital, and or, a medical center.

__________________
3.1 Consider to have some interviews with people working in the above workplaces.

4. Search one or two European or international competitors and analyze them.

If you are planning any improvement for your product or want to launch a new one, feel free to get in touch on Linkedin! You can also send me a message through the button below.

Get in touch!