Artderly
Improving dementia patients movements and communications through game design
Overview
During my junior year, I took the Design for the Aging class and had an opportunity to collaborate with the Dementia Day Center at Chulalongkorn Hospital. The goal of the project is to create a product as a game that helps slow down the symptoms of dementia patients in a preventive way.
I conducted full research with doctors, physiotherapist, nurses, and developed the product from ideation to implementation, and tested with real patients.
Collaboration
Dementia Day Center, Chulalongkorn Hospital
Collaborator
Dementia doctor, nurses, physiotherapist, caretakers
Role
User interview, UX research, product design, prototyping, implementation
Duration
January - April 2020 (4 months)
The challenge
Defining users
Types of dementia symptoms according to information from Dementia Day Center
As discussed with the doctors, the target group of this project is patients in mild-moderate stage who have caregivers taking care of them most of the time. They can still do most of the activities they like and have hobbies that they enjoyed in the past. This target group still has the potential to learn new things and maintain existing conditions.
User Journey
By interviewing and observing patients, I was able to define 2 types of user journeys. Understanding user journeys provided me with valuable insights into the user experience. I was able to gain a deeper understanding of user needs, emotions, and pain points.
Key findings
(+)
Patients enjoy doing activities that involve movements
Patients prefer to do activities with other people
Patients tend to sleep better at night after using energy during the day
(-)
Patients normally use less energy at home and watch TV most of the day
Patients tend to have trouble sleeping at night
Caregivers are also affected by patients' bad sleeping habits
Dig deeper to the insights
"Then what kind of activities that patients prefer and still meet the needs of treating disease?"
Using Card Sorting method, I found that patients prefer to exercise, do arts or crafts, and play brain-training games. As such, nurses, physiotherapist agreed that brain-training games are easy to do and the patients like them.
Researching supported theory
Problem statement
How might we help dementia patients improve their movements and communications through fun and stimulating activity?
Ideate, prototype, and test!
By sketching ideas quickly, I could turn my ideas into tangible representations and get feedback early on in the design process.
After revising and developing the ideas, I created the prototype to test with patients at the hospital.
*There were no photos taken during prototype testing because the Dementia Day Center does not allow photos of patients
Testing matters
Testing the prototype with actual patients helped me identify and address flaws. I found that I didn't think enough about the abilities and limitations of people with dementia. I then went back and adjusted the prototype and details to ensure that the final product meets user needs and expectations.
As there are different levels of dementia stages, the design should cover a wide range of patient conditions.
Font size should be larger and color visibility should be clearer, as dementia patients find it difficult to distinguish small font sizes and similar colors
A number of patients use wheelchairs most of the time, so the design should accommodate these needs
The board should be large enough to allow the patients to reach and stretch their muscles
Encourage dementia patients to do their favorite hobbies by creating art and playing brain games. We integrate stretching exercises both fine and gross motor skills, helping patients use their bodies more while at home.
Physical
Fine motor skill
Gross motor skill
Hand-eye coordination
Visouspatial ability
Emotional
Remind their hobbies
Build good relationship with caregiver
Small wins from playing
Impact
As a result of collaboration between students, hospitals, and healthcare professionals, the "Artderly" project represents a powerful combination of creativity and medical expertise. The design helps promote a holistic well-being. A positive effect made by my design on patients’ lives motivated me to create more meaningful projects.
What I learned
The power of empathy
Interviewing dementia patients can be challenging, the interview process has to ensure sensitivity and respect patient's well-being.
Interdisciplinary collaboration
By collaborating with doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, and caretakers, the project benefits from a diverse set of perspectives.
User-centric innovation
Placing patients at the center of design and understanding a patient’s needs deeply leads to a successful design solution.