Learn.On 2023 - ParkinSong

ParkinSong is a telehealth application that aims to utilise creative arts (singing and dancing) as therapy for older adults with Parkinson's disease. Other features include:

an information library with options for frequently asked questions and a search feature.
a diary feature to monitor progress and share with clinicians.
the ability for therapists to input other "standard" exercises into the app, so that all therapy can be contained to one location.

Design Thinking

In the creation of our telehealth application prototype, we utilising the Design Thinking model proposed by Uebernickel et al. (2020). This process is divided into a 'Problem Space' and a 'Solution Space' with the aim being to guide you from identifying a challenge affecting older adults, through to product creation. Whilst there are identifiable steps, it is important to note, this isn't always a linear process and you might need to revisit some steps throughout the process.

(Uebernickel et al., 2020)

Problem Space

Challenge

In this step, we were required to decide on a challenge affecting older adults that we wanted to impact. This involved researching the physiological and pathological changes and challenges that effect this population and are amenable to both speech language and physical therapy.
In the instance of ParkinSong, the challenge we chose was Parkinson's Disease.

Understand

The process of understanding was a step that was often revisited throughout our work in the 'Problem Space'.
Some examples from the creation of ParkinSong include research into issues affecting older adults and discussion of interview findings (discussed under 'Observe').

Observe

In this step, we were required to interview someone who fit into the population we were trying to target, older adults with Parkinson's disease. We then shared our findings with the larger group.
In the creation of ParkinSong, I was lucky enough to interview my grandfather who was diagnosed with Parkinson's approximately 10 years ago.
The aim of this step was to challenge our assumptions, gain insight and develop empathy for the target group.

Point of View

This step involved creating a persona, which is a typical archetype of a person that represents the user group.
Our persona, Paul, was a 75-year-old retired accountant. Some of the problems he faced were: hearing loss, memory loss, a lack of education and understanding about Parkinson's, decreased focus, decreased memory, slow movements (including speech) and difficulty with written and verbal communication. He enjoyed social activities and valued connection and education. He was, however, a bit anxious about needing to use technology for his therapy.
By having this persona in mind when creating our application, it helped us to focus on a typical user and the features they would require, maintain empathy, and provide us with an easier way of understanding and remembering our aims.

Solution Space

Ideate

This was one of the largest and most time-consuming steps in the process. In short, however, it required us to think and brainstorm broadly before narrowing and refining our ideas.

Creation of a how-might-we-question: identify the user, the needs and the problem.
e.g., How might we support older people with Parkinson's to access evidence-based resources/education even though they feel they don't understand much or know where to look for information, in order to better understand their condition and cope with living with Parkinson's Disease?
Generate ideas: wild ideas, aiming for quantity, utilising our persona to stay on topic, deferring judgement.
Cluster ideas: group similar ideas together and then vote for those concepts the group were most passionate and inspired by.
Evaluate ideas and develop a concept: check ideas online to confirm the product is, in fact, new and innovative; narrow ideas based on resources available and feasibility of achieving within the timeframe.

Prototype

Prototypes were made individually, then shared with the group.
Features were voted on.
A final, collective prototype was designed utilising the ideas/features of the individuals.

Test

This involved a "click through" of our prototype to see how it would function as an application and any improvement that needed to be made.
For ParkinSong, this testing process was the primary focus of our trip to Mainz. We tested our prototype on both a person living with Parkinson's disease and a speech language therapist who works and researches primarily in Parkinson's.
The primary aim of this step is to garner whether both patients and professionals would actually utilise the app in reality. We were provided with valuable feedback to apply to our prototype at this time.

Innovation

After applying the feedback gained in testing, we have a first draft of our finished product. This innovation will be presented in Melbourne when the exchange in returned in November 2023.

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