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Client interface for elderly
Inspiration
The other night I just remembered it's been a month since I last called my grandma. I'm 100% sure it's not because she doesn't want to call but I was so caught up with work and forgot.
She cannot make a video call on Wechat; she also doesn't know how to dial international numbers. She nearly has no way to reach out to me when she is missing me. That's why she needs to wait for my calls, and sometimes it can be as long as months. And given the current lockdown situation, I'm sure there are many people who face the same situation. The mere thoughts of it is heartbreaking.
The idea of this app is simple: we make social media/messaging platforms just like Wechat/Facebook/Whatsapp etc. more user-friendly for the elderly, or any people who are not tech-savvy. They do not need fancy functions like sharing live locations or money transfers, but I believe they do deserve more attentions and care than what they get.
What it does
This app bridges the communication gap by providing an extremely accessible and user-friendly interface to allow non-tech-savvy people to send voice messages and connect with the family and friend. Features like huge buttons, voice guide, and minimum operation steps make the app easier to use than a conventional messaging app.
How I built it
Fake it to make it. Building the actual app was easy at first thought, but tons and tons of bugs made it even hard to build with python.
The basic idea is that I imitate the interface and logic using a Flask web app (which is actually very close to how an actual app on smartphone would work). Then goodie oldie friend Bootstrap helped me to layout the user-interface. Though it is still a pain in the a to make htmls.
Total time of researching and coding amounts to approximately 20 hours.
Challenges I ran into
Frontend -- It is just hard to get things right; Backend -- I was thinking too much into details when I started this, like a working user-verification process. It ended up taking a lot more time than expected.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
There is at least working interface I can show off. The backend logic is pretty much sound for the parts I finished. I think the idea is great.
What I learned
I do not run as fast as I imagine in a hackathon. Doing hackathon alone is fun in a special sense. I find myself in the flow state when I tried to get the html pages right--that is I did nothing but tying and thinking in two whole hours.
What's next for Call Grandma
- Iterate UI-design with accessibility as top priority --+
- Consider other aspects like security and privacy ----- User-based testings
- More functionality: Personalized tutorials for elderly, mini-games that encourage communication with the elderly, elderly social circles managing, etc.
- More testings then get one for my grandma.
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