Shopping Fitness

Embodied Shopping Experience for Elderly

Discover

Predispositioning Target Users

Our project goal is to refin experience for grocery store patrons that maximizes positive and empowering embodied patterns of interaction for a certain target user group.

Pain Points Analysis of Potential Target Users

First we made assumptions and analyze pain points each potential user group might encounter, and decided which target user group we should focus on.

Final Decision: Elderly People

Elderly user group is specific enough for us to explore their shopping habits and difficulties. In addition, there would be a lot of interesting insights about their intentions and behaviors during shopping to be captured.

Primary Research

Observe Grocery Shopping Experiences of Elderly People

OBSERVATION

Purposes:

Find out first-hand experiences of our target users to cater the final product towards their needs.

• Pain points in the shopping process
• What they tend to do during the process in entrance / seeking products / looking around / checkout
• What physical difficulties they have encountered

Findings & Analysis:

AFFINITY DIAGRAM

We organized our observation of user behaviors and intentions. And then discussed classifications, clarifying the relationship between relevant categories and other influencing factors. Afterwards, we confirmed the direction to explore and optimize.
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Physical Difficulties

• Hard to reach products on higher shelves
• Need someone to help them lift heavy products
• Have difficulty see product information clearly

Cognitive Intentions

• Use paper shopping lists to help them remember what to buy
• Care about discounted products

Social Behaviors

• Spend a lot of time shopping in the store
• Like to chat with other customers

Secondary Research

Supplement and Confirm the Direction of Pain Points

The elderly at the ages of 65 and 80 spend average of over 55 minutes shopping daily

Mall Walking

“ Elderly who shopped every day have 27% less risk of death than the least frequent shoppers. The relationship between shopping and health is bidirectional. “

Influences for the Elderly

• Shopping is a social activity that provides older adults with social engagement and opportunities to make friends.
• Shopping tasks, like lifting products and making decisions, may help them maintain cognitive function in later life.
• Shopping is known to contribute to physical fitness as a customary physical activity with around 40% of walking.

Ideate

Brainstorm Design Concepts and User Flow

Potential Design Opportunities of Three Aspects

We found that the shopping cart is important for older adults during shopping, so a touch screen on the shopping cart would be suitable to be our design media and easier for them to interact with.

Sketches of Feasible Features

We drew up potential features based on our brainstorming of design concepts, and ensured the process and navigation of these features can be more fluent, enhancing social, physical, and cognitive aspects by being connected with each other.

Information Architecture

We differentiated the user flow into three shopping modes based on the time span users can spend in the store.

Exploratory mode

Include personal finding, physical activities, social activities, and cognitive activities

Regular mode

Include personal finding and cognitive activities, for providing product information and comparison

Emergency mode

Only provide recommended shopping routes for customized shopping list users have selected.

Prototype

Prototypes of Interactive Screen on Shopping Carts

Shopping List

Create Shopping List on the screen

Scan the paper shopping list to automatically generate the digital shopping list.

Search the name or category of products, or take the photo of products to add items to the shopping cart.

Way Finding

Based on the shopping list users have created, the map will generate recommended shopping route for users to buy items more efficiently and conveniently.On the route, it will show some information of discount or coupon events as well.

Cognitive - Train Your Brain

Compare Items

• Select the product, presenting items from different sources or kinds.
• Choose more than 2 items for comparing.
• There would be a form comparing 2 items on their ingredients, nutritious levels, and explaining the importance or benefits of the measurement.

Simplified Item Information

• Select the product, presenting items from different sources or kinds on the sidebar.
• Choose an item to see its organized information.
• Besides the nutrition facts, it uses simple measuring scales to display underlying nutritious and ingredient knowledge of the item.

"Compare Items" and "Simplified Item Information" help me more quickly understand which product I should buy, without needing to search or ask others that takes lots of times!

Social - Find a Partner

• Rose sends an invitation and attaches her shopping list to find a partner
• Jack, who has some similar things to buy, confirms to be Rose’s partner
• The screen shows Rose’s location, and scheduled time to meet
• Jack finds Rose at the location on scheduled time, and two people can explore the store together

Phsical - Get Physical

Lift Items Together

• Rose sends an invitation to find a person who can lift heavy products with her
• Jack confirms to team up with Rose, and finds Rose at the location on scheduled time
• Jack helps Rose lift the heavy products she wants to buy onto the shopping cart

Reach Up Items

• Rose sends an invitation find a person who can reach the products on higher shelves for her
• Jack accepts the challenge, and finds Rose at the location on scheduled time
• Jack helps Rose take the products she wants to buy on higher shelves

"The elderly may not to have so much strength or enough height to handle the products they have to buy. But collaboration can help mitigate these problems!!"