Molecule
Problem
As technology innovates faster every year, a widening digital divide has cut off a whole generation of older adults from confidently using the devices around them. Older adults who did not grow up with technology fall into a feedback loop of confusion, frustration, and low confidence that keeps them reliant on family for help and excluded from thoughtful product design.
Solution
Molecule is a tablet dock and app-cube ecosystem for older adults that brings the digital world into their physical space and pairs it with a streamlined, accessible app. Designed over a 20-week senior capstone, Molecule combines modular hardware with an app built around pedagogy, repetition, and self-paced exploration, refined across five rounds of testing with adults 55 and older.
Molecule
Spring 2022 (20 Weeks)
UX Senior Capstone
Molecule was my senior capstone for the UX Design program at SCAD, made with the five-person team Golden Oldies under the brief "UX Design for Good to Create Positive Social Change."
Molecule
Spring 2022 (20 Weeks)
UX Senior Capstone
Molecule was my senior capstone for the UX Design program at SCAD, made with the five-person team Golden Oldies under the brief "UX Design for Good to Create Positive Social Change." Over 20 weeks we ran research, synthesis, ideation, concept validation with a physical prototype, and five rounds of evaluative testing. I led interaction design and the app's motion and SwiftUI handoff.
Problem
As technology innovates faster every year, a widening digital divide has cut off a whole generation of older adults from confidently using the devices around them. Older adults who did not grow up with technology fall into a feedback loop of confusion, frustration, and low confidence that keeps them reliant on family for help and excluded from thoughtful product design.
Solution
Molecule is a tablet dock and app-cube ecosystem for older adults that brings the digital world into their physical space and pairs it with a streamlined, accessible app. Designed over a 20-week senior capstone, Molecule combines modular hardware with an app built around pedagogy, repetition, and self-paced exploration, refined across five rounds of testing with adults 55 and older.
Interaction Designer
I designed how the user interacts with the products through input and output.
UI Designer
I designed the visual and interactive experience of using the product to spark delight.
UX Engineer
I wired, tested, and developed physical and digital prototypes to test hypotheses and enable rapid iteration.
Silver
Apps for Social Change
Indigo
Bronze
Branding for Electronics
Indigo
Silver
Branding for Entertainment
Indigo
How are older adults using technology now? Where is there room for improvement?
Quick Stats
1 in 3
older adults say they lack confidence using technology that has become prevalent in their lives
50%+
admit they want a better grasp of the devices they already own
65+
the fastest-growing age demographic in the U.S. as more choose to age independently
Two kinds of technology users
The divide runs between two groups defined less by age than by when technology entered their lives.
Digital Adepts. Grew up with technology in daily life and use it frequently and comfortably.
Digital Newcomers. Did not grow up with technology and learned it in their adult years.
The cost of top-down design
Academic work warned against designing for older adults without them.
A market full of services, short on products
The team studied over 50 products and services for older adults and mapped them on a 2x2 of services versus products and digital literacy versus independent living. Most were aimed at assisted or independent living; digital literacy was almost entirely service-driven, with few well-designed products, and many that existed lacked visual appeal. That gap, digital literacy delivered through a product, became the opportunity space.
Primary research at a glance
Survey
225
responses (110 self-distributed, 125 via Prolific)
Interviews
13
older adults (7 women, 6 men)
Experts
5
SMEs from OATS and Age in Place Tech
Focus groups
3
sessions with 14 older adults
How older adults reach for technology
Survey responses pointed the team toward a tablet-first solution.
98.4%
use a smartphone most frequently
79%
use a laptop
52.6%
use a tablet
A focus on pedagogy
SMEs from OATS and Age in Place Tech grounded the work in how older adults actually learn.
Repetition
Repetition is everything when teaching new skills.
Pacing
The right pace looks different for every person.
Safe space
People need to feel encouraged and unjudged as they learn.
The SOC model
Borrowed from pianist Arthur Rubinstein, who kept performing brilliantly into old age.
Selection
Choose fewer things to focus on.
Optimization
Spend the freed-up time practicing what you chose.
Compensation
Rubinstein played slow parts even slower to make the fast parts feel faster.
What we heard from older adults
Watching, not just asking
Three focus groups revealed a gap between how confident people sounded and what they actually did: common gestures were not intuitive, troubleshooting was frustrating, and everyone preferred phones and tablets to computers.
Clustering more than a thousand datapoints into themes, personas, and a sharpened target.
From a thousand datapoints to six themes
The team moved every datapoint into a rainbow spreadsheet, then affinitized on FigJam.
1,000+
datapoints collected across research
70 → 25
clusters narrowed through affinitization
6
key themes that guided the rest of the project
Six key themes
Inquisitive Inda
She/Her · 61 · Middle school teacher · Married, three children, three grandchildren. Willing and curious but not the most knowledgeable; comfortable using devices for work, yet overwhelmed by how much there is to learn and unsure where to start. Needs: stay connected with family, do things independently, feel supported in a safe space, and know where to find the right information. Pains: lacks the right resources, is unaware of what she could learn, and dreads relearning after every update.
Acquinterested Alan
He/Him · 65 · Accountant · Married, two children, three grandchildren. Adept and interested, using his phone and laptop comfortably, but not a complete expert; he still struggles with troubleshooting and adjusting to updates. Needs: understand terminology, learn efficient shortcuts, and troubleshoot on his own without leaning on anyone. Pains: not always aware of what's new to learn, and frustrated when updates or hiccups derail him.
A day with Molecule in mind
The user journey map follows Inda planning a family trip to Seattle, researching on her iPad and sharing the itinerary with her husband, surfacing pain points and the opportunities to design against them.
170-plus ideas narrowed to five concepts and one product, validated with a physical prototype and refined into Molecule.
From many ideas to one concept
Worst-idea warm-ups, five rounds of Crazy-8s, and feasibility and concept matrices drove the funnel.
170+
ideas generated across ideation
5
concepts pitched at the midterm review
1
concept carried into development: DeskTop
Five concepts pitched
Each solved a different piece of the puzzle. Common threads: bring the digital into the physical, and make technology playful.
Journey. A narrative puzzle game following an older adult who must search and troubleshoot to progress.
Repository. A search-based knowledge base that grows with the user like a digital twin, with light gamification.
TechBox. A service that mails tech gadgets matched to a person's hobbies, with printed and in-app guidance.
DeskTop (chosen). An interactive canvas table with tactile app cubes and a stylus that bring the digital world into physical space.
Mini Games. A game that builds familiarity with gestures, features, and jargon through bite-size challenges.
Building a physical prototype
The team built a physical DeskTop model and tested it with six participants (four students, two professors) to learn whether older adults could see themselves using it, which tasks mattered most, and how onboarding should work.
What validation taught us
Product rationale
Fits current habits
Integrates with the experiences people already have.
New model, same power
Changes the interaction model while keeping full functionality.
Grows with you
Fun to use, and it scales up as ability and confidence build.
Branding and identity
The visual identity, typography, and copy were tuned to feel warm and approachable while staying legible and trustworthy for the target demographic.
Five rounds of evaluative testing across two quarters, from Wizard-of-Oz flows to a final in-person study.
Five rounds, two quarters
Testing spanned Wizard-of-Oz sessions, a branding survey, card sorting, and a final in-person study.
5
rounds of evaluative testing
100
participants in the branding survey (55+)
10
older adults in the final in-person test
Round 4: what still confused people
An accessible design system and the Molecule app, built out to SwiftUI.
The Molecule app
For You
A decluttered, contextual home that makes it easy to add saved items and start new collections.
For You home screen
Saved Items
Renamed from "Save for Later" after testing, with a clear, findable place to keep articles, documents, and images to return to.
Saved Items screen
Collections & Scrapbook
Plain-language ways to group and revisit what matters, after "Zones" became "Collections" and "Highlights" became "Scrapbook."
Collections and Scrapbook screens
A friendlier browser
Consistent iconography and labels focused on web browsing, the most-tested flow in the app.
In-app browser
A modular hardware ecosystem that makes the digital tangible and keeps setup effortless.
The physical ecosystem
Modular hardware that makes the digital tangible.
The Molecule case.
App blocks and dock. Tactile cubes that launch apps.
The pen. A stylus that acts as an extension of the hand.
Modular accessories.
Beyond the product
Deliverables that told Molecule's story.
Recognition
Silver
Apps for Social Change
Indigo · 2023
Bronze
Branding for Electronics
Indigo · 2023
Silver
Branding for Entertainment
Indigo · 2023
Silver
Branding for Household Appliances
Indigo · 2023
Silver
Branding for Media
Indigo · 2023
Silver
Branding for NGO & Non-Profit
Indigo · 2023
Silver
Branding for Services — Other
Indigo · 2023
Silver
Branding for Social Change
Indigo · 2023
Silver
Branding for Technology
Indigo · 2023
Silver
Computer Animation for Graphic Design
Indigo · 2023
Silver
Digital Tools and Utilities
Indigo · 2023
Silver
Education for Social Change
Indigo · 2023
Gold
Innovative Use of Mobile Technology
Indigo · 2023
Bronze
Interactive Design
Indigo · 2023
Silver
Mobile Interaction & Experience
Indigo · 2023
Silver
Mobile Responsive Design
Indigo · 2023
Gold
Product or Gadget Design
Indigo · 2023
Silver
Product or Gadget Design for Social Change
Indigo · 2023
Silver
UX, Interface & Navigation
Indigo · 2023
Silver
Websites Design for Social Change
Indigo · 2023