This platform is designed to provide seniors with an easy-to-use, highly integrated smart home solution to enhance elder’s quality of life, safety and independence. The platform will integrate various smart devices, such as emergency call buttons, automatic lighting, temperature control, health monitoring equipment, etc., allowing elderly users to easily manage them through a simplified user interface.
Name: Fanhao Zeng
Student number: 46398086
Functional description: Develop a simplified user interface designed for older users, featuring large fonts, high contrast, a simple menu structure and clear icons to ensure ease of reading and navigation. The interface should reduce cluttering elements so that core functionality is clear at a glance.
Meet needs: Considering that elderly users may have vision loss and are slower to adapt to new technologies, the simplified UI design allows them to easily master and use the platform, improving the usability of the platform.
Function description: Integrated advanced voice recognition technology, allowing users to control smart home devices through simple voice commands, such as turning on and off lights, adjusting room temperature, activating emergency calls , etc.
Meet needs: This feature is especially suitable for elderly users who have motor impairments or are not accustomed to using touch screens. Voice control provides them with a barrier-free way to interact, enhancing the usability and convenience of the system.
Functional description: The platform will integrate emergency response capabilities, allowing users to quickly call for help in emergency situations (such as falls or sudden illness) by pressing a button or using voice commands. At the same time, the platform can be integrated with health monitoring equipment (such as heart rate monitors, blood pressure monitors) to track the user’s health status in real time and automatically notify family members or medical service providers in case of abnormalities.
Meet a need: Considering that seniors may face more health risks, this feature provides them with additional security and the ability to provide timely assistance in emergencies
Function description: The platform provides easily accessible entertainment content, such as music, audiobooks, and videos, while supporting social functions, including photo sharing of family members, video calls, etc., to help the elderly stay in touch with family and friends.
Meeting needs: Social engagement and recreational activities are critical to the mental health of older adults. These features help them maintain an active social life and reduce loneliness by providing simple ways to interact.
Function description: The platform can learn and adapt according to the user’s usage habits and preferences, automatically adjust function settings and provide personalized suggestions to improve the user experience.
Meet needs: Over time, by learning users’ behavioral patterns, the platform can better meet their individual needs, making the system more intuitive and easier to use.
In order to effectively support the daily life of elderly users and improve their living safety and comfort, our smart home integration platform MVP will centrally implement the following key functions:
Simplified user interface MVP will offer a simplified user interface designed specifically for seniors, with large, easy-to-read fonts, high- contrast icons and minimized menu options. This will ensure users can easily navigate and control smart home devices without getting into technical details.
Voice control capability Considering that some elderly people may have vision problems or are unfamiliar with touch screen operations, the MVP will include the ability to control smart home devices through simple voice commands. This will enable users to interact with the system through natural language to perform basic operations such as turning lights on and off, adjusting temperature, and more.
Emergency response and health monitoring One of the core features of MVP is the emergency response system, which enables users to immediately notify family members or emergency services in the event of an emergency, such as a fall or sudden health issue. In addition, basic health monitoring functions such as heart rate and activity level tracking will be integrated to support the health management of elderly users.
For older users, an intuitive and easy-to-use system is crucial. Since older adults may be less familiar with new technologies, a simplified and intuitive interface is needed, as well as simple ways to interact, such as voice control. High availability ensures that users can access and use the platform without any barriers, thereby increasing their acceptance and overall satisfaction with the technology.
Reliability is critical for critical functions such as emergency response and health monitoring, which may involve life safety issues. The system must be able to operate stably during emergencies, communicate timely alerts and notifications, and ensure that seniors can receive timely response when they need help.
As technology evolves and user needs change, the platform should be able to easily integrate new smart devices and services. This ensures that the platform can grow and adapt over time, providing ongoing value to users.
Protecting users’ personal and health data is critical to earning their trust. Especially for systems containing health monitoring and personal information, data security and privacy protection must be ensured to prevent data leakage and unauthorized access.
Method: Conduct user experience testing, specifically targeting the target elderly user group. A series of representative tasks can be set up for users to complete in the monitoring environment, such as using voice commands to control smart devices, access health monitoring data, etc.
Metrics: Task completion time, success rate, and user satisfaction and usability feedback obtained through questionnaires.
Tools: Video recording of the user testing process, questionnaire tools (such as SurveyMonkey or Google Forms).
Method: Test the response and performance of the system by simulating various emergency and non-emergency scenarios, such as simulating network delays, equipment failures, etc.
Indicators: system response time, fault recovery time, system uptime (Uptime).
Tools: Use performance testing software (such as JMeter or LoadRunner) and custom scripts to simulate and test different scenarios.
Method: Evaluate the system’s ability to integrate new functions by adding new equipment or services. At the same time, the adaptability of the system is evaluated by tracking changes in user behavior and preferences over a long period of time.
Indicators: the time and resources required to integrate new features, the impact of changes in user behavior on system adaptability.
Tools: Developer logs, user feedback systems, and analytics tools (such as Google Analytics).
Method: Conduct security testing, including penetration testing, vulnerability scanning, and data encryption verification to ensure the security and privacy of user data.
Metrics: Number of vulnerabilities identified and fixed, strength of encryption protocols, defense against unauthorized access attempts.
Tools: Use security testing tools (such as OWASP ZAP, Nessus) and SSL/TLS encryption testing tools.
Content: Integrate the results of all evaluation activities, including details of each test, problems found, and recommended improvements.
Goal: Provide a comprehensive view of platform performance, identifying areas that meet target needs and areas that need improvement.
Recipients: Project team, stakeholders and possible user representatives.