Overview
Overview
In India, old age homes are commonly seen as abandonment, leaving families uninformed and caregivers overwhelmed. Existing systems lack transparency, failing to bridge this gap.
Ramya is a service design project redefining old age home experiences.
It enhances transparency, improves communication, and keeps families connected with their loved ones in old age homes.
Testing showed most families felt more connected through better communication, engagement, and trust. Users valued convenience and accessibility, shaping future refinements.
Duration
4 months
My Role
Researcher - Onsite User Research at Pune, Project Defining, Ideation, Service Blueprint Design, Design System, Branding, User Interface Design and Prototyping for Mobile & Website, Usability Testing, Redesign
My Team
5 Interaction Designers
Duration
16 weeks
My Role
User Research, Project Defining, Ideation, Service Blueprint Design, Design System, Branding, User Interface Design and Prototyping for Mobile & Website, Usability Testing
My Team
5 Interaction Designers
Highlights
To sum it up
Ramya is a digital service that helps connect families with their loved ones in old age homes.
Ramya is a digital service that helps connect families with their loved ones in old age homes.
Here is a concise video about Ramya (incase you're in a hurry)
Problem Space
Breaking the Stigma!
In India, old age homes are stigmatized as abandonment, leading to a lack of transparency and connection, leaving families uninformed and caregivers overwhelmed.
In India, old age homes are stigmatized as abandonment, leading to a lack of transparency and connection, leaving families uninformed and caregivers overwhelmed.
My team and I sought to uncover the root causes behind this perception, better understand why it persists in society, and explore how we might shift it towards fostering trust, empathy, and a sense of belonging within the old age home ecosystem.
My team and I sought to uncover the root causes behind this perception, better understand why it persists in society, and explore how we might shift it towards fostering trust, empathy, and a sense of belonging within the old age home ecosystem.
Research Goals and Insights
Uncovering the Gaps
Through in-depth research—including field observations and interviews across old age homes in Pune, Ahmedabad, and Satara—we analyzed India’s aging population, caregiving trends, and decision-making roles, uncovering key disconnects shaping the elderly care experience.
Through in-depth research—including field observations and interviews across old age homes in Pune, Ahmedabad, and Satara—we analyzed India’s aging population, caregiving trends, and decision-making roles, uncovering key disconnects shaping the elderly care experience.
Converging
What Gaps Are We Really Solving?
Bridge the
communication gap
between families, caregivers, and residents to build trust and transparency?
Support caregivers
& managers
with efficient tools that simplify management and reduce information overload?
Help families feel
more involved
in their loved one’s care and stay updated without overwhelming the system or staff?
Emotional Disconnect
Families feel distant and uninformed about their loved ones’ daily lives, leading to guilt and mistrust.
Operational Burden
Caregivers struggle with manual updates, leaving little time for genuine connection.
Resident Loneliness
Residents feel emotionally isolated, especially during idle hours.
Stakeholders
And Who Are We Solving Them For?
Objective
How Might We?
Emotional Disconnect
Families feel distant and uninformed about their loved ones’ daily lives, leading to guilt and mistrust.
Operational Burden
Caregivers struggle with manual updates, leaving little time for genuine connection.
Resident Loneliness
Residents feel emotionally isolated, especially during idle hours.
Ideation
Generated ideas focused on enhancing communication, transparency, and emotional connection, aligning with our users' needs.
We decided to incorporate key aspects in our service for two major user groups—family members and the manager.
From ideation, we shortlisted key ideas, expanded on them with detailed concepts, and then conducted Buy-a-Feature testing method with our users to identify the most valued features for our application.
Objective
How Might We?
Bridge the
communication gap
between families, caregivers, and residents to build trust and transparency?
Support caregivers
& managers
with efficient tools that simplify management and reduce information overload?
Help families feel
more involved
in their loved one’s care and stay updated without overwhelming the system or staff?
Bridge the communication gap
between families, caregivers, and residents to build trust and transparency?
Support caregivers and managers
with efficient tools that simplify management and reduce information overload?
Help families feel more involved
in their loved one’s care and stay updated without overwhelming the system or staff?
Ideation
Generated ideas focusing on enhancing communication, transparency, and emotional connection, aligning with our users' needs.
We decided to incorporate key aspects in our service for two major user groups—family members and the manager.
From ideation, we shortlisted key ideas, expanded on them with detailed concepts, and then conducted Buy-a-Feature testing method with our users to identify the most valued features for our application.
Solution
A digital solution for real-time updates and smart care—because love shouldn’t have a distance limit.
A digital solution for real-time updates and smart care—because love shouldn’t have a distance limit.
Introducing the Ramya App
Introducing the Ramya App
For family members to stay connected with the old age home.
For family members to stay connected with the old age home.
Stay to stay Connected!
Stay to stay Connected!
Instantly alert the manager if updates about your loved one are missing and receive photos to view or save in your memory box, ensuring quick resolution, seamless communication, and cherished moments preserved.
Instantly alert the manager if updates about your loved one are missing and receive photos to view or save in your memory box, ensuring quick resolution, seamless communication, and cherished moments preserved.
Mood Tracker Feature
Mood Tracker Feature
Track the daily moods of residents to ensure their emotional well-being. This feature provides valuable feedback to improve care quality and helps families stay connected to their loved one’s happiness.
Track the daily moods of residents to ensure their emotional well-being. This feature provides valuable feedback to improve care quality and helps families stay connected to their loved one’s happiness.
Daily Vital, Meds, Appointments, All in One Place!
Daily Vital, Meds, Appointments, All in One Place!
Track daily vitals, medications, and appointments seamlessly in one place!
Track daily vitals, medications, and appointments seamlessly in one place!
View Iterations
View Iterations
View Iterations
Photo Gallery and Highlights
Photo Gallery and Highlights
View a curated gallery and event highlights to stay connected with your loved one’s memorable moments.
View a curated gallery and event highlights to stay connected with your loved one’s memorable moments.
Request for Caretaker for a Family Event
Request for Caretaker for a Family Event
Easily request a dedicated caretaker to accompany your loved one to family events, ensuring their comfort and care.
Easily request a dedicated caretaker to accompany your loved one to family events, ensuring their comfort and care.
We tested our final prototype with our users:
We tested our final prototype with our users:
40% FASTER
Task Completion for
basic comunication
40% FASTER
Task Completion for
basic comunication
40% FASTER
Task Completion for
basic comunication
The Manager's Dashboard
The Manager's Dashboard
Managing all the data in one place; the dashboard provides a quick overview of all the necessary tasks and things.
It helps managers track responsibilities like staff scheduling, resident activities, residents health metrics even the daily tasks and events.
Managing all the data in one place; the dashboard provides a quick overview of all the necessary tasks and things.
It helps managers track responsibilities like staff scheduling, resident activities, residents health metrics even the daily tasks and events.
Pal: A Memory Box
Pal: A Memory Box
Pal preserves cherished moments by allowing families to share photos, notes, and keepsakes with their loved ones in old age homes, provided at the end of the stay or on demand during the service to foster lasting emotional connections.
Pal preserves cherished moments by allowing families to share photos, notes, and keepsakes with their loved ones in old age homes, provided at the end of the stay or on demand during the service to foster lasting emotional connections.
Impact & Future Scope
Refining through Real Feedback
India’s elder-care ecosystem, with 150 million seniors, faces a huge gap. Only 22,000 organised units vs. 1.7 million+ needed.
Ramya showed me how a simple, thoughtful system can bring families closer, support caregivers, and restore dignity, making the experience deeply personal and rewarding. Looking ahead, Ramya has the potential to scale across cities, integrate assistive technologies and AI-driven insights, and create emotionally engaging elder-care solutions, setting new standards for connection and wellbeing in India.
India’s elder-care ecosystem, with 150 million seniors, faces a huge gap. Only 22,000 organised units vs. 1.7 million+ needed.
Ramya showed me how a simple, thoughtful system can bring families closer, support caregivers, and restore dignity, making the experience deeply personal and rewarding. Looking ahead, Ramya has the potential to scale across cities, integrate assistive technologies and AI-driven insights, and create emotionally engaging elder-care solutions, setting new standards for connection and wellbeing in India.
Apno Se Jude,
Befikar Rahe.
