conTacto

The process

In 2020, Mexico was officially recognized as an aging country, as the percentage of older adults exceeded 10% of its total population. As a result, society has faced various challenges that need to be addressed. Only 21.6% of Mexicans over 55 accessed the internet in 2016. In other words, only 2 out of 10 older adults use the internet in Mexico. Additionally, 62% of older adults with a cell phone received it as a gift from a family member, and 24% acquired it on their own.

Unfortunately, this is a socially vulnerable sector, as it is estimated that 30% suffer from abandonment, and out of every 10 suicides committed, almost two are by elderly people, mainly due to depression and lack of support. In other words, urban older adults have deficient or non-existent support networks.

Our research started by delving into UNDP's Goal 10, to later rescue its objectives and land on how we could apply these goals to reduce inequality in Mexico. The aim is to reduce inequality within and among countries, promoting social inclusion, guaranteeing equal opportunities, enhancing equality regardless of individual characteristics, and improving social stability. Collaterally, we believe our solution would yield beneficial results in SDG 9 (innovation) and SDG 2 (health and well-being), considering emotional and social well-being.

Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, older adults have been separated from society and their families as they are the most vulnerable to the mentioned disease, thus changing their way of living and connecting with others. Therefore, we decided to focus our end-user on older adults aged 59 and over who have little to no direct contact with technology, in addition to being the sector of the population that this pandemic has isolated and left vulnerable.

The selected challenge was to integrate older adults into society through technology. Based on this, we asked ourselves: How could we integrate elderly people into society through a comfortable transition to technology, reducing the risk of isolation and emotional loneliness?

By analyzing our user profile, we found various insights that helped us deepen the problem. Among the most important jobs to be done are being able to connect with technology easily and reintegrate into society actively. Considering this, the gains the user will obtain are avoiding the feeling of abandonment due to the pandemic and adapting to technological changes autonomously and quickly. The pains we seek to reduce include the fear of damaging devices while learning and the lack of support networks to teach them or address their technological needs, often leading to ridicule.

After conducting the initial interviews, we found important insights from the following quotes: "It's better to learn a little than not to learn at all." "Life is a lesson; you never stop learning." "I would like to learn; I can no longer teach because I'm not up to date," among others. In the end, we realized they have the motivation to keep learning, but it is difficult for them as they do not have easy access or support to do so. Likewise, we can see that they still want to learn skills as their age is not an impediment.

Through research, we also highlighted that the main problem for older adults is that technological advances are so rapid that they sometimes cannot keep up. Often, adults depend on their support networks for the use and learning of devices, whether in time or available devices.

Therefore, considering the above, it is important to note that they need to find a way not to lose motivation through a device that allows them easy and individual learning. Similarly, we must develop a tool that allows them to learn individually without the need for others and that is easy to understand.