How do you design a camera for the elderly?

Question

How do you design a camera for the elderly?

Asked at Google over a year ago

5.6k views

Product Design category

Asked at

5.6k views

How to answer Product Design questions

Interview Guide

Top Product Design interview questions

How would you design a web search engine for children below 14 years old?36 answers | 42.9k views
Design a library for the future.25 answers | 23.5k views
How would you design a consumer application for a scooter sharing business?21 answers | 18.6k views
See Product Design PM Interview Questions

Invite members
Invite by email

Add another

PM Team · Answer 1 · 2018-08-12T23:12:43+0000

Clarifying ques:
1. Is this camera in a device like a cellphone or standalone? STANDALONE
2. Simple point and shoot or DSLR? YOU DECIDE
3. Can I assume that I am the PM for the Camera? YES
4. Is it ok to assume that by elderly we mean 60+ age? YES

Goal: I will assume that primary source of revenue in our business model would be camera sales. Having said that, I believe at this initial stage, we should focus on getting +ve reaction from users. OK

Structure: Persona -> Pain points -> Solution -> Evaluate

Persona: 4 major personas
a) People who have never used a camera before
b) People who used occasionally and are excited by camera
c) People who used to be power users but not professionals
d) Professionals

I will focus on b) because they are aware of the basic product. For a) it will be a steep learning curve and a long time to monetization. For c) and d) , professional camera are better suited because they are well versed with each option. If you would like, I can go with any other persona too. NO b) IS FINE.

Behavior of Persona b): 60+ age, mostly at home with free time, good time to pick up old hobbies but reduced energy and enthusiasm because of less movement/meeting with people/travel compared to younger age when they used camera more frequently. Few pain points:
a) Too many buttons, complex operations and small text
b) Delicate and heavy
c) Can’t see properly the photo
d) Photos they click are not even as good as the photo their grandchildren click
e) Tedious process of moving photo from camera to pc
f) Sorting and maintaining photos is a pain

I think the main reason elderly has stopped using camera is because everyone seems to be clicking much better pictures than them. While pain points a), b), c) are important, I do not think they are deal breaker whereas pain points d), e), f) de-motivate them from clicking pictures. So, I will find solutions and implement all of them in MVP rather than just one of these painpoints. If you want i can focus on one of these too. NO LET’S DO ALL 3

Solution to d):
1. Short printed tutorials on how to click great pictures given free with camera purchase and regularly emailed as well
2. Online coaching class
3. Post processing software filters and how to use them (this is what grandkids use, now they get same power)
4. Forums for asking questions where experts and fellow elderly photographers can share answers
5. We use Machine Learning to process their photo and show them all option. They can pick one or many. Based on their behavior, we can process their photo and no need to show all options. Voila! in a short time, all pictures are amazing now (need permission to activate)

Solution to e):
1. No need to remove SD card. As soon as USB is connected, all photos are transferred form camera to a specific folder in PC
2. Bluetooth transfer to eliminate any wire connection which is usually lost by people
3. Automatic transfer of photo via 4G connection on their phone to a company provided free cloud storage or google photos

Solution to f):
1. Automatic elimination of blurry, duplicate, out of focus photos using Machine Learning
2. Understand which photos which type of photos they view most often and keep similar photos and delete rest if they haven’t reviewed those categories of photo for a long time. This can be dangerous (need permission)
3. One free album per year of auto selected photos by us. More albums available by charge.

I will evaluate them using customer impact, ease of implementation, competitive diff (skipping this, fairly easy). After evaluation, I will implement following on current favorite camera of elderly. However, if we have time, I can also discuss how to simplify camera by elaborating pain points a),b),c)
1. 3 in d) and after traction use 5 in d)
2. 3 in e)
3. 2 in f)

Bharat Rathi · Answer 2 · 2022-02-18T04:01:35+0000

Clarifying Questions

Candidate: Who are we – A startup, google affiliate or an established camera/electronics company

Interviewer: We are a US based electronics company with various electronic gadgets in the market

Candidate: What is the business objective of this product

Interviewer: According to our research, elderly’s customer segment is underserved at the moment. We want to identify and serve their needs better

Candidate: To define Elderly consumers, I am assuming anyone with age 55 and above will be categorized as elderly

Interviewer: Fair assumption

Candidate: Do we want to add a camera as a new product line or augment existing products to serve the identified target segment

Interviewer: for the purposes of exercise, assume it to be added as a new product line. A physical camera

Candidate: Are there any constraints, we are working against?

Interviewer: No

Candidate: Assuming target geography to be US?

Interviewer: Yes

Thank you, I do not have any questions at this point of time, I may ask few more questions along the way

Approach --

· Identify various elderly customer segments

· Choose the customer segment whose business needs are underserve with current market/product offerings

· Understand various pain points/use-case for the identified cohort

· Define solutions for the identified use-cases/ problems

· Prioritize the solutions to define MVP

Identify various elderly customer segments

1. Elderly who are physically, cognitively active and tech savvy i.e., use Mobile phones

2. Elderly with difficulty in vision, listening and not able to use Mobile phones

3. Elderly with vision/listening disability and not using mobile phones

Mobile phones are base in the customer segmentation since smartphones are already on rise and all the smartphones do come with built-in camera.

Out of the above segments, I will choose the Segment#2 since that is the segment which may be underserved due to lack of using the mobile phones.

Problem-statements/Use-cases

Elderly with difficulty in vision, listening and not able to use Mobile phones
Pain points/ Use cases	I am not sure how-to setup and use the camera
	Need some help with my everyday chores and around my life

Solutions

I am not sure how-to setup and use the camera	Switch on and go, no setup required
	Audio assistant for advanced setup
	Use audio mode to be able instruct camera in order to take pictures e.g. – Take a picture/video of the in front of the yard when its snowing
	Coud based memory to ensure no memory chip required
	Light based charging. Camera must charge whenever exposed to light
Need some help with my everyday chores and around my life	Create a social connect feature to use camera and connect with family and loved ones
	Camera to have detachable lens that can be placed on the door to be used as security camera with a view on TV screen P.S. : Since we are an established electronics company, this solution may not be a huge lift
	Detachable lens can be placed on walker or wear it on t-shirt/shirt that will take pictures as you walk ( a walking dashcam) P.S.: We need to think through security concern for this

Prioritization

Solution	Business Impact	Effort to Build	MVP
Switch on and go, no setup required	High	Low	Yes
Audio assistant for advanced setup	High	Low	Yes
Use audio mode to be able instruct camera in order to take pictures e.g. – Take a picture/video of the in front of the yard when its snowing	High	Medium	Yes
Coud based memory to ensure no memory chip required	High	Low	Yes
Light based charging. Camera must charge whenever exposed to light	Medium	Medium	No
Create a social connect feature to use camera and connect with family and loved ones	High	Low	Yes
Camera to have detachable lens that can be placed on the door to be used as security camera with a view on TV screen	High	High	No
Detachable lens can be placed on walker or wear it on t-shirt/shirt that will take pictures as you walk ( a walking dashcam) P.s. : We need to think through security concern for this	High	High	Low

amitbp · Answer 3 · 2020-09-08T22:52:10+0000

Clarification - Niche Segment , not addressed currently. Our company planning to enter this segment. Objective - Get more users to use and like this product

Camera - Hardware that Elderly can use to take pictures b (Video, Photo, Web Cam etc)

User Segments

Elderly who can operate the camera themselves
Elderly who have other health conditions and need assistance in operating a camera

User Cases

Elderly who need cameras only for important events (Birthdays, Anniversaries etc)
Elderly who need camera for day to day events(capture small moments use like phone)
Elderly who need cameras to keep in touch with their near and dear ones ? aka Webcam ?

Priortizing 1 since other are already addressed by Phone and other applications on smartphone.

Pain Points

Digital cameras Bulky and hard to carry
The screen is small, buttons are small.
Might forget to capture important moments in an event.
Difficult for them to adjust the settings, lens, lighting etc
Difficult for them to go back and check all the pictures
Difficulty in photo editing
Difficulty in photo sharing
Difficulty in transferring photos to other devices if they need to to view them on a big screen.
Difficulty in printing them.

I will address the pain points 1, 2, 4, 7,8 (Most important painpoints for my user segments)

Solutions

Light and small, easy to carry
5 Buttons with different settings(Customized light, Lens etc) indoor, outdoor, day , night etc.
Mobile App, auto sync between camera and Phone App (Real time sync to check pictures on their phone).
Recommendation max 3-4 types of auto edits to enrich the picture.
Reminders (about taking pictures, charging batteries etc). Voice or text messages
On the App, option to add recommended sentimental messages to a picture (for sharing, printing etc)
The App finds any printer on the network, connect and easy to print.
The App also asks to post on Facebook, whatsapp with few clicks or touches.

1,2,5 are my basic attributes, 3,4 and 7 are satisfiers. 6 and 8 are delighters. For my initial version, I would prioritize 1, 2, 5, 3, 4

Success Metrics

Alligning with business objective

No of cameras bought
No. of Apps Downloaded
No. of Apps Registered
No. of Photos uploaded
No. of Reminder Sent
Avg. no of settings used on the camera for an event
No. of pictures printed

North Star(Primary Metrics) - 1 to 4

Abhishek Shukla · Answer 4 · 2020-05-26T13:55:34+0000

Few Clarifying Questions:

Are we looking at a physical camera or a camera App? Ans: Choose Any [Choosing Camera App]
What is the age group of elderly we are targeting? Ans : 50-60
For which geography, we are building the camera for? Ans : Any

I am assuming that we are building a native camera app for the elderly in age group 50-60 which can be used by elderly of any country.

Reason : Considering the increasing demand of cellphones as per the current trend, it would be more profitable and suitable to build a camera app as compare to a physical camera where there is a brutal competetion by biggest players in the industry.

User Group :

A: People who are expert at operating camera applications + Active on Social Networks.
B:People who are expert at operating camera applications + Do not use any Social Networks
C: People who know how to capture the photos but unaware of other camera applications but use Social Networks.
D: People who know how to capture the photos but unaware of other camera applications and do not use Social Networks.
E: People who do not use the camera application and use social networks.
F: People who do not use the camera application and do not use social networks.

From above, I will choose group A,B and C for the MVP application, considering the fact that they will be the one who easily adapt the solution if designed correctly with addressing right user pain points.

Reason for selecting the three user groups is that most of the pain points will overlap and will hold good for all the three user groups.

Use Cases / Pain Points:

Elders may not be as tech savvy as their younger generation. They might not be able to understand the flow of the application.
Physically Clicking a button could be a problem because of shaky hands.
They should be able to share the photographs with their family or friends.
Managing photos could be a problem for them.
They might not get a good quality image in all types of light environments.
They might not understand the language in the app.

Prioritization:

User Pain Points	Customer Value (X) 1 (min) 5(max)	Business Value (Y) 1 (min) 5(max)	Complexity (Z) 5 - easy 1 - difficult	Final Score = XYZ
Elders may not be as tech savvy as their younger generation. They might not be able to understand the flow of the application (Holds true for all users of A, B and C)	5	4	2	40
Physically Clicking a button could be a problem because of shaky hands. (Holds true for all users of A, B and C)	4	4	2	32
They should be able to share the photographs with their family or friends	4	4	3	48
Managing photos could be a problem for them	3	3	3	27
They might not get a good quality image in all types of light environments	2	4	2	16
They might not understand the language in the app.	5	5	2	50

Considering the above table, the 3 basic user pain points that I will address which will constitute by MVP are:

Elders may not be as tech savvy as their younger generation. They might not be able to understand the flow of the application (Holds true for all users of A, B and C)
They should be able to share the photographs with their family or friends
They might not understand the language in the app.

Possible Solutions:

Considering the above three pain point I would address them as follows:

The camera app should be voice assisted end to end which will include the feature such as capturing the photo, showing the last photo or album, sharing the photo on the social network platform installed on their phone.
There can be a backend algorithm which will record the user behaviour on the most used features on the camera app, which can present a direct option to a user after capturing a photo. For example, Do you want to share this photo to your WhatsApp group named ‘XYZ’ or to your Facebook group names ‘ABC’ ?
The language of the app can be selected during the installation. The MVP can be built with the top 5 most spoken languages at first, to capture most of the people.