overview
Alzunes is an AI-based music application This project uses AI to recommend music for Alzheimer's patients based on their preferences and caregiver feedback, improving their well-being and enhancing the caregiving experience. Caregivers can create personalized playlists, and the system learns and adapts to each patient's unique preferences. By leveraging AI technology, the project aims to create meaningful interactions and positive experiences for patients and caregivers, ultimately improving patient outcomes and quality of life. enables Caretakers to take care of their loved ones and bond with them using music.
ROLE & RESPONSIBILITY
User Research, Project Planning, Interaction and Visual Design, Prototyping & Testing, UI Development, Pitch Strategist,
Background
For me, the main objective of this project was to create more awareness about Alzheimer's. Coming from a family where a few of my kin have had Alzheimer's, I have seen firsthand how difficult it is for family members to care for them since not much caregiving material is available unless you are a medical professional.
I have also seen those relatives whither away and be consumed by the disease, losing any sense of self and, worse, forgetting their loved ones. It broke my heart when I visited my cousins, whose grandpa, my grandpa's brother, could not recognize us.
So, What is ALzheimer’s?
Alzheimer’s is a form of dementia characterized by progressive mental deterioration that can occur in middle or old age, due to generalized degeneration of the brain. It is the most common cause of premature senility
Problem Statement
How might we create a second-person user experience for the app's passive audience (not a direct user )? How might we help the caregivers to obtain a positive reaction from the patient, bond with them, and calm them, in the comfort of their home?
current applications for Alzheimer's & dementia
Greymatters:
Mindmates:
Dementia Emergency:
Luminosity:
Constant Therapy:
ALZ Calls:
MEternally:
User Interview
Using this application, Caregivers can create scrapbooks for the patients that contain pictures, music, and games that can help preserve memory and support the caregivers in communicating with patients that are not communicative. This scrapbook can be personalized using text and voice notes from their family and loved ones. This helps with building connections and communicating using nostalgia. The Nostalgia component can be vital in temporarily relieving patients during agitation. It could be a good feature for this product, and photos and voice notes from loved ones seem like an excellent features to add.
It features mental and physical exercises for patients with Dementia, like puzzles, simple stretches, and brain games that help develop cognitive speed and help with memory and problem-solving. The app also notifies you with nutritional tips inspired by the MIND diet. It is available for free on iOS and Android devices. It was created by three caregivers that worked primarily with dementia patients. The science behind this is not concrete since nowhere does the app description mention how these games and exercises are chosen.
It is helpful for caregivers, families, loved ones, and emergency personnel to learn how to communicate with patients with Dementia. It provides a unique feature where they send Activity planners to your house, observe a day in the patient's life, and create a personalized activity plan for them. They also provide resources for Dementia awareness and behavior training and have community services that help to create awareness . The "Do I live here?", "Shouting Obscenities" and all the other issues mentioned in the above screenshots can agitate patients, and adding this feature can equip the caregivers to handle such situations.
It is a personalized Brian training app that focuses on cognitive functional studies. It contains research-based activities that help users with their cognitive capabilities. Personalized games allow users to test their memory, logic, and thinking speed. It can help Alzheimer's patients with memory enhancement.[MD6] This is technically not specific to patients with Alzheimer's. Hence, the science is not very accurate in improving their conditions, so there are not many learnings from this app that can be incorporated into this project.
A smartphone and tablet app designed to help people with Alzheimer's and those recovering from brain stroke. It provides the patients with language, speech, and cognitive therapy. Something I would like to take from this app is that it has created interactive, challenging, and manageable games. It uses NeuroPerformance Engine(NPE) that analyzes your progress, compares it with others with similar conditions and goals, and helps you stay on the path to achieving the goals. Since this app uses NPE, it will give you scientifically accurate results.
People with Alzheimer's frequently need to talk to their loved ones, especially when overwhelmed. But the loved ones are not reachable at odd hours or in certain situations. Alz calls uses chatbots with voice recordings of the patient's loved ones and some recorded answers so that the chatbot can interact with the patients and provide temporary relief. They can also use a synthesized voice closest to your voice to communicate with the patients. I found this feature really interesting.
Space Retrieval by Tactus Therapy:
It features mental and physical exercises for patients with Dementia, like puzzles, simple stretches, and brain games that help develop cognitive speed and help with memory and problem-solving. The app also notifies you with nutritional tips inspired by the MIND diet. It is available for free on iOS and Android devices. It was created by three caregivers that worked primarily with dementia patients. The science behind this is not concrete since nowhere does the app description mention how these games and exercises are chosen.
MEternally helps Alzheimer's patients, primarily senior citizens, who do not care for and are not good with technology. It is a low-tech website that contains photos, activity cards, DVDs, and memorabilia that reminds them of their youth or reminisces about their past for patients with memory loss. It has collections like "Nature, " 'Travel,' 'Patriotism,' etc., so they can connect to their past and share the joy with loved ones, caregivers, or other patients. Since the platform will already have
ALZ & Dementia Daily Companion:
It is only an app for iPhones and iPads. It is an app for caregivers to access practical tips for everyday situations and challenges by experts. I was not too fond of the interface because it is elementary. But I needed to download the app, so I did not do a deep dive with it. Such resources will be an integral part of this platform as they will better equip the caregivers with every possible solution in the book for handling every situation.
Since I was to work with Alzheimer's patients and caregivers, and the primary purpose of this app was research, I was working with a family friend who was a caregiver to his father and had been volunteering for quite a few years at the local ALzheimer's center.
Throughout this project, he was my go-to person to conduct research or get information about Alzheimer's. So instead of having a lot of interview candidates, I decided to interview him and gain insights into what the features of such an app should be.
All of the above features had the potential of being separate applications themselves, and integrating them all into one app would have made for a larger design and development scope that would not have fitted into the timeline I was working with.
Hence, I decided to work on the Music therapy feature alone. To test the music application, I would only have to work with the caregivers, not the patients, making it safer. The app would primarily be made for caregivers rather than patients. Advantages of a music app:
It would be safe and easy to use.
It will help caregivers alleviate the patient's mood and calms the patient down.
Papers and documentaries have shown that music is a very effective tool. The Sundance documentary Alive Inside demonstrates how music with some memories associated with the patients was instrumental in generating positive reactions in patients with advanced stages of Alzheimer's. Some patients even started having recollections from their past that they associated with a specific song they were listening to.
Music is a great way to bond with anyone, irrespective of their medical problems.
While the patients listen to and enjoy the music, it will provide a certain respite for the caregiver, as listening to music can be an unsupervised activity.
With an additional feature for notetaking, it can be a tool that assists music therapists in observing their patients with the help of caregivers.
Introducing ALzunes
Alzunes is an AI-driven music recommendation app that takes the patient's birth year and recommends songs throughout their life span. You can "like," and the recommendation changes based on this. Should the patient have any reaction, the caregiver can "like" the song and make notes of the response in the notes section for the music therapist to refer to later. There is also a relatives anecdote section where friends and family of the patient can pen down their memories of or with the patient and can even add a song that memory is associated with or a song that reminds them of the patient.
First design draft
After I finalized the scope of the application, I designed a low fidelity prototype just to try and understand the user flow.
I then showed this design to my friend and had him navigate through it to gauge the ease of use. After he gave me a go-ahead, I designed a high fidelity prototype for user testing.
Insights and improvements after testing
Insight #1: "Why do we need to fill out their hobbies and occupations?" The recommendation should be based on their birth year, likes, and emojis.
Improvement #1: I removed the occupation and hobbies section. I kept the birth date to be the sole factor for recommendation. I also simplified the form and added the genre selection on another screen just like Netflix.
Insight #3: "Relative anecdotes are an exciting concept. I love that the family and friends can share memories and bond with my dad. My aunt and my dad's friend have the best stories of him!"
Improvement #3: I removed the occupation and hobbies section. I kept the birth date to be the sole factor for recommendation. I also simplified the form and added the genre selection on another screen just like Netflix.
Final Designs
Pitfalls
Opportunities
Insight #2: "The emoji slider is too small. Is there a better way to convey likes and dislikes? We already have a notes section to elaborate on the reaction."
“I feel that the emojis look childish.”
Improvement #2: Removed the slider and added a like button. Once you like a song, it is added to your saved playlist. Liking a song will aid in improving the recommendations.
Insight #2: “If the dark mode was a design choice, make it more up to the dark mode design standards. The interface is too colorful.”
Improvement #2: Edited the design using dark mode standards. Since there were too many colors, reduced them doen to just Primary, secondary and accent colors.
Since this is a medical project, an IRB process was imperative. It was past the project deadline when it was approved, so I had to do with only one user who had signed a waiver and was ok with participating and was not himself an Alzheimer’s patient.
Since there is not much awareness about Alzheimer’s, It was imperative to take time to understand the Disease itself and to be mindful that I needed to do right by people with Alzheimer’s.
Designing and coding were required for this project within a 3-month deadline, so it fell short of research.
I worked with a real user. It was first solo project, so I owned all the design processes and research methodologies.
Working with a caregiver and an Alzheimer’s patient helped me understand the Disease and the lack of awareness surrounding it.
I learned to justify my decisions. Most importantly I learnt to take decisions that will benefit the user instead of taking decisions that I think are right.
With an IRB already processed, renewing it will be a straightforward process should I choose to take this project up a notch and work with doctors, therapists and caregivers on scientifically accurate exercises and puzzles that can be worked on by the patients from the comforts of their rooms.