Empowering Seniors
with Cyber Security
A Holistic Defence Against Digital Scams
My Role:
UX/UI Design, Branding
Duration:
3 Weeks
Project Specifics
Why cyber security for seniors?
90 000
Seniors over age 65 were victims of fraud in 2021. Source: Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) (2023)
With the COVID-19 pandemic, the scamming industry has boomed. Scammers have become more creative, and the number of people scammed continues to grow each year. Older adults are heavily targeted by scammers because of their wealth. By the time adults reach their 60s, most of their debts have been paid off. Additionally, seniors typically have higher credit scores due to their lengthy credit history.
66%
Higher net wealth for households where person was aged either 55-64 years or 65-74 years. Source: Eurostat (2017)
An older adult's vulnerability to financial abuse and scams can stem from social, emotional/psychiatric, and cognitive issues. Moreover, generational and cultural factors, such as a belief that decision-making authority rests with others, can lead older individuals to trust scammers, especially when fraud involves decisions about healthcare and finances. These factors make the elderly perfect targets for digital scammers.
What is the Solution to this Problem?
The application offers accessible password manager and scam-blocking features that can be used by the elderly themselves. Alternatively, children of elderly relatives can monitor their elderly relatives' devices from a distance to ensure their digital security.
Account Monitoring
Application offers monitoring function to assist the ones who are not technologically advanced.
Scam Blocker
Accessible Scam Blocker to fit needs of older adults.
Password Manager
Application offers monitoring function to assist the ones who are not technologically advanced.
Discovery & Research
After conducting desk research on digital security for the elderly, I realized that there are not many applications available in the market yet. While there is abundant educational information about scamming techniques online, it's uncertain how many elderly people actively seek out this information. In an era where everything is increasingly moving online, it's more important than ever to consider better ways to protect our family members from digital fraud.
Research Plan
Participants of the research are 18 - 44 year old children of the elderly.
4 user interviews
At least 30 online surveys, as this topic is very personal and people may not feel comfortable sharing their experiences with fraud.
Research Tools
I have used the Lean UX Canvas to narrow down my research scope.
I have analysed data gather in the Affinity Map.
User Research
To develop a useful digital security product it was important for me to understand people's knowledge about scamming techniques and whether they have been affected by digital scams. Additionally, I aimed to explore how young adults perceive their own and their elderly relatives' digital safety and what measures they are taking to protect themselves and their elderly family members.
The increase in digital fraud has led young adults to worry about the safety of their elderly relatives against digital scammers.
Scammers regularly reach out to everyone, typically every 2-3 weeks, primarily via mobile phone and email. Many adults have been personally affected by a scam, or someone close to them has been affected. Further analysis revealed participants' understanding of scamming techniques and specific frauds that have affected them or their close relatives.
Defining needs & frustrations
I created three personas based on user research and testimonials. These personas helped me clarify the goals and frustrations of different users, ensuring that I prioritized their needs throughout the project.
Additionally, I developed a User Journey map for a young adult with elderly relatives, which provided insights into the challenges faced by children of the elderly regarding their digital safety.
User Persona
User persona Emma wants to help her grandmother in staying safe from digital scammers. Emma would benefit from a monitoring function on her relative's device to detect potentially scam-related activities on her grandmother's mobile device and prevent negative consequences.
Emma (32)
“I am worried about my parents/grandparents getting scammed online”
Frustrations
Worried about her relatives getting scammed.
Already has experience with parents almost falling/falling for a scam.
Marta (78)
“I don’t understand how it works.”
Frustrations
Gets frustrated because she doesn’t understand most of the features on her smartphone.
Often clicks on compromised links.
Tina (60)
“My biggest problem with a smartphone is that I struggle to see text and buttons.”
Frustrations
Struggles with small font and button sizes on her smart phone.
Lacks knowledge of what she could do to reduce risks of being scammed.
User persona Marta is Emma's grandmother, who finds technology challenging and lacks knowledge about scamming techniques. She tends to trust strangers who call her and is at a higher risk of falling for scams. Marta's main desire is to maintain contact with her family and friends.
User persona Tina is a tech-savvy elderly adult who already uses several applications on her mobile device. However, she faces challenges with reading text and seeing buttons on many of these applications, as they are typically designed with younger users in mind. Tina would benefit from an application specifically tailored to elderly users, featuring large fonts, buttons, and icons.
Pain Points to Gain Points
After creating the user journey, I have identified the main painpoints.
Young adults play a crucial role in helping their elderly relatives distinguish between legitimate communications and scams.
Offering a monitoring option could be the most valuable solution for young adults seeking to protect their parents, especially those with limited technological skills.
Lack of elderly accessible digital security applications.
When developing a digital security application, it is essential to prioritize accessibility. This involves incorporating accessible colors, large text, and easily recognizable buttons.
Most scammers target older adults through smartphones.
Develop an application specifically designed to enhance smartphone security for elderly users.
Ideation process
After brainstorming various features for the application, I decided to focus on implementing the password manager and scam blocker functionalities. Following this decision, I created User Flows for different types of users, which helped me clarify the concept before creating wireframes.
Low Fidelity to Mid-Fidelity Wireframes
I created wireframes to establish the structure, layout, and content of the application before progressing to develop high-fidelity frames.
BRAND DECISIONS
The UI solution follows minimalism and user-centric design principles. The emphasis was on creating a visually clean and uncluttered layout, reducing distractions, and optimizing the design for seamless interaction.
Colour Palette
This vibrant hue symbolizes adventure, ambition, creativity, and sociability. Orange is often associated with positivity. It calls to mind feelings of enthusiasm, excitement and feeling of security.
#CD4919
#E8CAC0
#F1E5E0
#FDFDFD
#24110A
#494949
#DBDBDB
#F4F4F4
Typography
The SF Pro font is clean and crisp. SF Pro includes features that enhance accessibility, such as clear distinctions between letterforms and ample spacing. These design choices make the font easier to read for users with visual impairments or dyslexia, improving inclusivity and usability for a broader range of individuals.
Iconography
Easy to spot icons have been selected to increase accessibility.
Mobile hi-fidelity wireframes
Due to specificity of my platform, it will be most convenient to use it in the mobile version.
Onboarding
Learn about the main functions provided in the application. Accessible Password Manager and Scam Blocker for the elderly.
Select Account Type
Once the app welcomes a new user, user gets to choose the type of the account. Are you going to use it yourself? Or are you helping an elderly relative to secure their digital safety?
Caregiver's Account
If you are a caregiver, you should create an account for the person who will receive your support. Once the account has been set up, copy the link.
You will receive a link that can be used to connect the Receiver's device to the Caregiver's device. Copy the link provided in the Caregiver's application and paste it into the Receiver's device application.
Receiver's Account
Install the app on the receivers device. Select the Receiver type of account and paste the Caregiver's link. That is it!
Home
Home page provides access to the Profile, Passwords and Scam Blocker pages. Large fonts and icons help navigate an elderly user.
Scam Blocker
Inside of the Scam Blocker page you can track all scam likely activity and customise the settings.
You can choose to unblock the caller inside of the activity page.
Passwords
Passwords manager is password protected. It is possible to turn on the Touch ID option to make the process as easy and quick as possible. All your logins will be stored there.
Passwords manager will notify you of weak passwords, data leaks and other security concerns.
LESSONS LEARNT
The creation of SafePlace was influenced by the growing number of fraud experiences I began hearing about. Even though everyboby can get scammed, the elderly get affected the hardest and often lose even their life savings. I wanted to tackle this problem and give myself a challenge to design an application which could protect the elderly in nowadays world.
Working under the guidance of my instructor Maria has been the greatest source of learning. Maria had provided me with valuable feedback which allowed me to grow. I learned to be more organized with my documentation, prepare clear questions for research, and create accessible design solutions.
The next steps for this project are to get it into the hands of more users, especially senior users, for further validation.