Amazon

Feature discovery for Alexa Together to promote collaborative caregiving in multi generational households

Petek Basibuyuk x Saskia Aryono x Shreyans Baid

Feature discovery for Alexa Together to promote collaborative caregiving in multi generational households

Petek Basibuyuk x Saskia Aryono x Shreyans Baid

Overview

This project emphasizes research and user studies to address the challenges of aging adults and caregivers. The case study showcases the iterative design and testing process that led to a voice-activated platform promoting safety, independence, and connection, empowering older adults while providing caregivers with reliable support.

This project emphasizes research and user studies to address the challenges of aging adults and caregivers. The case study showcases the iterative design and testing process that led to a voice-activated platform promoting safety, independence, and connection, empowering older adults while providing caregivers with reliable support.

Impact

  • Obtaining stakeholder buy-in and conducting effective feature discovery.

  • The project successfully repurposed 80% of existing digital assets, optimizing resources and reducing development time

  • The project identified and catered to a previously underserved segment within the U.S.

Role

Product Designer and Strategist​​, Creative repurposing

Duration

4 Months (External engagement studio)​

Client
Impact

  • Obtaining stakeholder buy-in and conducting effective feature discovery.

  • The project successfully repurposed 80% of existing digital assets, optimizing resources and reducing development time

  • The project identified and catered to a previously underserved segment within the U.S.

Role

Product Designer and Strategist​​, Creative repurposing

Duration

4 Months (External engagement studio)​

Client
Move to the next project
About the Project

Aging in place—the ability for individuals to live in their own homes and communities as they age—requires balancing independence with the challenges of caregiving. This project explores how Amazon can empower customers to age in place more effectively by leveraging its vast ecosystem of technology and services.

Aging in place—the ability for individuals to live in their own homes and communities as they age—requires balancing independence with the challenges of caregiving. This project explores how Amazon can empower customers to age in place more effectively by leveraging its vast ecosystem of technology and services.

Amazon brief

We are on the precipice of universal digital nativity: How might Amazon best support customers to age alongside technology at home?

Why it matters?

  • With the global population of individuals aged 80+ expected to triple by 2050 (UN, 2018) and 77% of U.S. adults aged 50+ wanting to age in place (Binette, 2021), this project addresses the urgent need for caregiving solutions. By enabling multigenerational families to collaborate effectively, it empowers caregivers and care recipients with tools to navigate aging in a connected, supportive way.

Understanding the brief
Understanding the brief
Understanding the brief
Our point of intervention
Our point of intervention
Our point of intervention
Our point of intervention
Understanding the brief
Problem Definition

The current design landscape in the United States predominantly supports isolated living arrangements and fails to address the needs of underrepresented multigenerational family configurations, leaving a significant gap in fostering collaborative care and shared experiences within these households. this presents an opportunity for Amazons Alexa together to cater to a larger audience.

The current design landscape in the United States predominantly supports isolated living arrangements and fails to address the needs of underrepresented multigenerational family configurations, leaving a significant gap in fostering collaborative care and shared experiences within these households. this presents an opportunity for Amazons Alexa together to cater to a larger audience.

How Might We?

  • How might we enhance Alexa Together to better serve caregivers and care recipients, particularly in multi-generational families, by promoting collaborative caregiving practices?


How might we enhance Alexa Together to better serve caregivers and care recipients, particularly in multi-generational families, by promoting collaborative caregiving practices?

Research

The design challenge was framed around the question: How can Amazon best support customers to better age in place with technology? By integrating strategic design thinking with user-centered research, the project aimed to address the evolving needs of older adults and their caregivers.

Analyzed existing support platforms and parenting websites, identifying gaps in accessibility and collaborative features.

Analyzed existing support platforms and parenting websites, identifying gaps in accessibility and collaborative features.

Research Question:

How is the relationship between humans, home, and technology evolving and what impact will it have on our future?

Stakeholders:

  • Amazon DDG Team

  • Care recipient (CR)

  • Family members (CG)

  • Secondary: Advocacy groups,

    Researchers

  • Amazon DDG Team

  • Care recipient (CR)

  • Family members (CG)

  • Secondary: Advocacy groups, Researchers

Research Method:

Appretiative Inquiry, Thematic & Process coding
Mixed Research- narrative and qualitative

Desk Research: Design Affordances/ emerging trend
Desk Research:
Design Affordances/ emerging trend

Increase in Single-Family Housing

Rise of multigenerational families

Aging Population Is Underserved

Technology and Accessibility Gaps

Cultural Preference for Independence

Product and Service Design Bias

Caregiver as co-user

Increase in Single-Family Housing

Rise of multigenerational families

Aging Population Is Underserved

Technology and Accessibility Gaps

Cultural Preference for Independence

Product and Service Design Bias

Caregiver as co-user

Increase in Single-Family Housing

Rise of multigenerational families

Aging Population Is Underserved

Technology and Accessibility Gaps

Cultural Preference for Independence

Product and Service Design Bias

Caregiver as co-user

User Journey

We Identified specific issues encountered by customers, both existing and potential, within the business environment

We Identified specific issues encountered by customers, both existing and potential, within the business environment

We Identified specific issues encountered by customers, both existing and potential, within the business environment

Primary caregiver (Judy)

  • Feels overwhelmed by juggling her role as a caregiver, parent, and professional.

  • Struggles with scheduling doctor appointments and medication reminders.

  • Experiences emotional strain and guilt if she feels she isn’t doing enough

Secondary caregiver (Alexis)

  • Feels unsure about how to handle emergencies or medical needs.

  • Struggles with finding time between university assignments and caregiving duties.

  • Notices a lack of coordination tools for managing care tasks.

  • Feels unsure about how to handle emergencies or medical needs.

  • Struggles with finding time between university assignments and caregiving duties.

  • Notices a lack of coordination tools for managing care tasks.

Care recipient (Martha)

  • Feels embarrassed about relying on her family for tasks she once managed independently.

  • Finds modern technology (e.g., apps) difficult to understand and use.

  • Experiences loneliness despite regular visits from family members.

Competition Analysis
Learnings

  • Lacks advanced health data tracking or integration with wearables beyond fall detection.

  • Task delegation and tracking are basic compared to competitors like Lotsa Helping Hands.

  • No built-in community support for emotional or logistical aid compared to apps like CaringBridge and ianacare.

  • Requires Alexa devices for functionality, limiting accessibility for users without such devices.

  • Primarily focused on families already using the Alexa ecosystem, reducing appeal to a broader audience.

Possibilities

The current design landscape in the United States predominantly supports isolated living arrangements and fails to address the needs of underrepresented multigenerational family configurations, leaving a significant gap in fostering collaborative care and shared experiences within these households. this presents an opportunity for Amazons Alexa together to cater to a larger audience.

The current design landscape in the United States predominantly supports isolated living arrangements and fails to address the needs of underrepresented multigenerational family configurations, leaving a significant gap in fostering collaborative care and shared experiences within these households. this presents an opportunity for Amazons Alexa together to cater to a larger audience.

What would have to be true?
Desirability

  • Caregivers must feel these tools genuinely alleviate stress and improve caregiving quality.

  • Care recipients must trust Alexa Together’s data privacy and security measures.

  • Families must find the collaborative features intuitive and helpful without overwhelming their routines.

Feasibility

  • Amazon’s infrastructure must support seamless data integration with third-party devices and services.

  • Communication tools like group chats and calendars must function reliably across platforms.

  • Personalization algorithms must deliver relevant and actionable caregiving insights.

Viability

  • Enhanced features must drive increased adoption and retention among caregiving households.

  • The pricing model must reflect added value while remaining accessible.

  • Partnerships with healthcare providers and device manufacturers must generate mutual value and scalability.

Barriers

  • Privacy concerns may limit users' willingness to share health data.

  • Resistance to adopting new tools in tech-averse caregiving households.

  • Balancing feature complexity with ease of use across a diverse user base.

  • Integration challenges with third-party devices and care services.

  • Privacy concerns may limit users' willingness to share health data.

  • Resistance to adopting new tools in tech-averse caregiving households.

  • Balancing feature complexity with ease of use across a diverse user base.

  • Integration challenges with third-party devices and care services.

Trasformation

  • Address identified barriers by simplifying user interfaces and providing education on privacy.

  • Adjust features based on user feedback, ensuring they meet diverse caregiving needs.

  • Expand the ecosystem by integrating more third-party care services and devices.

Strategic Choices
Amazon's Perspective

Transform Alexa Together from a solution for isolated caregiving to a platform that actively supports collaborative caregiving for multi-generational families in the U.S


Transform Alexa Together from a solution for isolated caregiving to a platform that actively supports collaborative caregiving for multi-generational families in the U.S


People’s Perspective

Shift the design of Alexa Together to better reflect the lived realities of multi-generational families, promoting shared caregiving responsibilities and enabling self-care for caregivers.

Shift the design of Alexa Together to better reflect the lived realities of multi-generational families, promoting shared caregiving responsibilities and enabling self-care for caregivers.

Design Considerations
Key Insights for design

  • Caregivers need tools to centralize caregiving tasks (e.g., scheduling, health tracking, and communication).

  • There’s a strong emotional need for collaboration and shared responsibility among family members.

  • Address caregiver self-care by offering features focused on their mental and physical well-being.

  • Simplify integration with existing devices and services to avoid overwhelming the user.

  • Caregivers need tools to centralize caregiving tasks (e.g., scheduling, health tracking, and communication).

  • There’s a strong emotional need for collaboration and shared responsibility among family members.

  • Address caregiver self-care by offering features focused on their mental and physical well-being.

  • Simplify integration with existing devices and services to avoid overwhelming the user.

Interventions Based on Insights

  • Guidance Feature for Self-Care:
    Help caregivers monitor their own well-being and provide tips for stress relief.

  • Care Coordination Tools:
    Shared calendars, task management, and group chat to involve all family members.

  • Content for Collaborative Caregiving:
    Personalized caregiving tips, dietary guides, and access to expert resources.

  • Integration of Health Data:
    Connect to wearables or health-monitoring devices to track care recipient’s and caregiver’s health.

  • Guidance Feature for Self-Care:
    Help caregivers monitor their own well-being and provide tips for stress relief.

  • Care Coordination Tools:
    Shared calendars, task management, and group chat to involve all family members.

  • Content for Collaborative Caregiving:
    Personalized caregiving tips, dietary guides, and access to expert resources.

  • Integration of Health Data:
    Connect to wearables or health-monitoring devices to track care recipient’s and caregiver’s health.

Feature Prioritization Workshop

After we had our features ready we as a team conduct feature prioritization workshops in order to decide our choice architechture for the redesign of the alexa together app.

After we had our features ready we as a team conduct feature prioritization workshops in order to decide our choice architechture for the redesign of the alexa together app.

Objective:

Prioritize the development of platform features based on their importance and frequency of use.

Method:

Workshop with other strategic designers. During the workshop, each (Primary caregiver, secondary caregiver, care recipient) classify the platform features along two dimensions:


  • Frequency of Use: How often the feature is used by the target user persona.

  • Importance: How critical the feature is to the overall user experience of the platform.


Workshop with other strategic designers. During the workshop, each (Primary caregiver, secondary caregiver, care recipient) classify the platform features along two dimensions:


  • Frequency of Use: How often the feature is used by the target user persona.

  • Importance: How critical the feature is to the overall user experience of the platform.

Feature 1

Care Coordination

Care Coordination

Easily obtain the practical support you require without feeling like a burden. Share requests for assistance, delegate specific tasks and manage your care schedule all in one place.

Easily obtain the practical support you require without feeling like a burden. Share requests for assistance, delegate specific tasks and manage your care schedule all in one place.

Easily obtain the practical support you require without feeling like a burden. Share requests for assistance, delegate specific tasks and manage your care schedule all in one place.

See Prototype

Onboarding

Dashboard

Assign Task

Add Task Details

Accept Task

Edit Task

Care Assist

Widget

Feature 2

Care Guidance

Care Guidance

Care Guidance

Amazon Alexa Together facilitates better utilisation of Amazon's resources to take care of one's self while taking care of their loved ones.

Amazon Alexa Together facilitates better utilisation of Amazon's resources to take care of one's self while taking care of their loved ones.

Amazon Alexa Together facilitates better utilisation of Amazon's resources to take care of one's self while taking care of their loved ones.

See Prototype

Smart Watch

Integration

Voice Journaling

Guided Journaling

Saved Journal

Resources

Daily Resource

User Testing
Objective:

Prioritize the development of platform features based on their importance and frequency of use.

Method:

Workshop with other strategic designers. During the workshop, each participant assumed a specific user persona (e.g., Mother with disabilities, expecting mother, father with disabilities) and classify the platform features along two dimensions:


  • Frequency of Use: How often the feature is used by the target user persona.

  • Importance: How critical the feature is to the overall user experience of the platform.


Workshop with other strategic designers. During the workshop, each participant assumed a specific user persona (e.g., Mother with disabilities, expecting mother, father with disabilities) and classify the platform features along two dimensions:


  • Frequency of Use: How often the feature is used by the target user persona.

  • Importance: How critical the feature is to the overall user experience of the platform.

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Top

Overview

About

Challenge

Research

User journey

Competition

Possibilities

Barriers

Transformation

Strategic Choice

Insights

Features

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