Design a Camera for the Elderly

Clarifying Questions 

Why are you building a camera for elderly when they can always use their phone camera? 

There are several issues with phone cameras, you get a lot of blurred images and low quality pictures and videos due to shaking of hands and other problems which can be solved by a special camera which takes care of all these problems. 

Are we looking at elderly people with disabilities or without disabilities? Let’s assume no disabilities for now, focus on usual problems that elderly have. 

Which market are we looking at?  Developed Countries such as US, UK and Europe

Do we have any budget constraints ? Let’s say the camera should not more than twice as expensive as the usual camera.

Timeline to launch the camera? 1 -2 years 

Are we looking at a camera which should record only pictures or capture video also?  Let’s assume both

Product Goal

To build a user friendly camera for the elderly people

Business Goal

To sell as many units as possible and maximize revenue

User Types

Elderly people - I pick this over other user types 

Guardians

Caretakers/Nurses 

I think we should select elderly people as the target segment as the guardians and nurses can always use the normal camera and there is no need to design a special camera for them. We are trying to design a camera which can be easily used by elderly people.

Painpoints

1. Normally old people cannot walk easily holding a camera 

2. Old people usually end up dropping a lot of items so the camera may break and lenses may get damaged

3. The hands of old people shake a lot so while taking pictures, images often get blurred.

4. Old people are not so tech savvy so it’s often not very easy for old people to transfer those images to other devices such as phone or laptop.

5. Old people find it difficult to share the pictures or videos with their relatives and friends

6. Old people often find it difficult to operate a camera since they are usually not so tech savvy.

7. Old people may want to talk to their family members using the camera by sharing video 

Pain-points from 2 to 6 are all high priority. 1 is already solved to some extent for normal cameras. 7 is not so severe compared to other pain-points.

Solutions

1. Camera should have a touch screen with an easy interface to change modes and switch between picture and video and also to see preview before capturing picture or video. 

High impact Low Effort 

2. A button to start recording or take a picture. The same button for stopping the recording in case of video. Additional button to start /stop preview mode and up down arrows to navigate between items.

Medium impact Low Effort 

3. The camera should be equipped with image stabilization tech which identifies natural and unnatural movements via machine learning and artificial intelligence. Image quality is considerably improved because of this. 

High impact High effort 

4. For transfers

• Camera should automatically track the devices in range via bluetooth, once a device comes in range, we should show a prompt on the screen to connect the device. 

• Once accepted, all pictures and videos would be transferred to the mobile or laptop gallery. 

• Once transfer is done, it should show the location where images are transferred to the user.

High impact Medium Effort 

5. Camera should be wifi-enabled and auto-sync photos with Google Photos / Dropbox. User can log in to Dropbox or Google and automatically images will auto synced. 

Medium impact Medium Effort

6. Auto sync contacts(similar experience to transferring photos)  between phone and camera via wifi/bluetooth and provide an option on camera to share the pictures with friends or family on whatsapp.

Medium impact Medium Effort 

7. Camera should be made of special material which does not break by falling and absorbs the shock of the fall.

Medium Impact Medium Effort/Cost

8. Also lenses and screens should get automatically covered when the camera is in free fall. 

High Impact Medium Effort/Cost

I would choose all solutions except 5, 6 and 7 for the camera. 

Trade-Offs 

For solution 3 and 8 - expensive technology and will be a challenge to keep the camera less expensive. 

For solution 4 - There are some assumptions that users would know how to use a mobile phone and enable bluetooth and there could be security/privacy issues where users may end up accidentally connecting somebody else’s phone with the camera. 

Success Metrics 

Number of Cameras sold per month

% breakup of cameras sold by distribution channel.

Feedback for the Camera via Surveys
Number of items shared via whatsapp