Client
Samsung
Year
2009
Brief
Enable elderly people to use and enjoy mobile technology
Solution
A map that empowered users to explore the features of their phones.
Keywords
Human-centered Design, Product Design, Design Explorations, Immersive Research
Map
We looked into people’s mental models to find familiar and significant objects that had the power to translate a digital experience (exploring what your phone can do) into a tangible one.

This project was part of Out of the Box for Samsung, a design exploration into what stopped elderly people from interacting with mobile technology. It took us across the continent into the homes of people from Italy, Denmark and the UK and resulted in several prototypes and investigations.
Map Samsung
Map Samsung
Map Samsung
Map Samsung
Map Samsung
Map Samsung
Map Samsung
"It was an astonishing and touching experience for Samsung. Thanks to this experience, user centred design was adopted and supported by top level management. Many people agreed that Design Thinking give outstanding results."
Dokshin Lim
Principal Designer of Service Design at Samsung Electronics, Korea
We learnt from our exploratory research that what hindered people’s regular interaction with mobile phones was neither their age, nor their presumed lack of technological skills, but the clumsiness of the phone manual. The poor design and unfamiliar terminology discouraged them from engaging with their phones.

You don’t go to a new city without a map. In the same way, you don’t expect people just to intuitively know how to use mobile devices. The goal of this boldly coloured map was to explain in familiar language the jargon of mobile technology, e.g. “ the bluetooth is used to send files for free to nearby phones and computers”.