"Buddi" people tracker.
Mindings' CheckIn feature.
Mindings' Where is Everyone feature.
Mindings
Read a full case study on Mindings creation here.
Situation
The telecare industry has long followed a paradigm of "monitor, control, and manage decline," often at the expense of users' dignity and autonomy. Products like "Buddi" exemplified this approach, allowing family members to track family members' locations without, at best, unenthusiastic participation. Also, our research suggested that our users experienced anxiety about their own daily schedules and, not being active on social media, felt disconnected from their loved ones' lives.
As the Founder and Product Lead for Mindings, a light-touch telecare platform for technology-shy individuals, I identified an opportunity to revolutionise this approach and create a more thoughtful and engaging solution that addressed both practical needs and emotional well-being.
The Task
The goal was to develop new features for Mindings that would:
1. Preserve individuals' dignity and autonomy.
2. Facilitate meaningful social connections between users and their care circle.
3. Provide reassurance about individuals' well-being without invasive monitoring.
4. Empower users with up-to-date information, enhancing their sense of being "in the loop".
5. Promote independence while providing necessary support.
6. Align with our "Kind Telecare Manifesto", emphasising that knowledge of a loved one's well-being should be earned.
Action
I led the design and implementation of several innovative features for Mindings:
1. "Interactive Calendar"
• Encouraged the "circle of care" to share their own activities and whereabouts
• Integrated with online calendar services for easy updates
• Provided a clear, frequently updated view optimised for users with cognitive challenges
• Included various types of content: events, birthdays, appointments, and reminders
• Integrated with online calendar services for easy updates
• Provided a clear, frequently updated view optimised for users with cognitive challenges
• Included various types of content: events, birthdays, appointments, and reminders
2. "Mindings CheckIn"
• Allows care circle members to share their location with the user.
•.Displays as a captioned map tile on the user's Mindings screen
• Users acknowledge receipt with a "GotIt!" button, confirming their interaction
• Allows care circle members to share their location with the user.
•.Displays as a captioned map tile on the user's Mindings screen
• Users acknowledge receipt with a "GotIt!" button, confirming their interaction
3. "Where is Everyone?"
• Collates and displays the last known locations of care circle members
• Based on CheckIns shared by the care circle.
• Collates and displays the last known locations of care circle members
• Based on CheckIns shared by the care circle.
These features flipped the traditional telecare model on its head, changing "tell me where you are" to "I'll tell you where I am" and transforming the calendar from a simple reminder tool into a means of fostering connection and inclusion.
Mindings Calendar
Mindings' "CheckIn" feature.
Mindings "Where is Everyone?" feature.
Results
While not clinically trialled, the features received significant positive anecdotal feedback:
Enhanced Connection and Inclusion:
• Users reported feeling more connected to their loved ones' lives.
• One user shared how the calendar helped their grandmother regain her role as a "knowledgeable figure" among friends, proudly sharing family news.
• CheckIns were popular and engaging, fitting well with the Mindings concept.
• One user shared how the calendar helped their grandmother regain her role as a "knowledgeable figure" among friends, proudly sharing family news.
• CheckIns were popular and engaging, fitting well with the Mindings concept.
Reduced Anxiety and Improved Well-being:
• Families noted that users seemed less anxious when they could easily access information about their loved ones' activities.
• Users felt reassured about their loved ones' well-being and activities.
• The features demonstrated that family members were thinking of the users despite busy lives.
• Users felt reassured about their loved ones' well-being and activities.
• The features demonstrated that family members were thinking of the users despite busy lives.
Improved Communication:
• In one touching instance, a user's father started calling his paramedic daughter more often after her shift pattern was added to the calendar.
• "Where is Everyone?" provided valuable family whereabout context for users with dementia.
• "Where is Everyone?" provided valuable family whereabout context for users with dementia.
Supported Independence:• Users appreciated reminders for tasks like bin collection days, supporting their ability to manage household responsibilities themself.
Complex Bin schedule
Bin reminder in Mindings Calendar
Bin reminder on Mindings on the day.
Caregiver Benefits:
• The "circle of care" found it easier to keep users informed about their plans, helping to manage expectations for visits
These features validated our "Kind Telecare" concept, showing that it's possible to provide care and connection while respecting users' dignity and autonomy. They revealed untapped potential in using telecare tools to share caregivers' lives with the care recipient, helping users feel more included and valued.
FUTURE WORK
Mindings is no longer a commercial product, however building on these encouraging results, we identified several areas for future development, that could still inspire telecare products today:
Encouraging Sharing:
• Implement gentle prompts for caregivers to share their activities.
• Create easy-to-use templates for common events.
• Create easy-to-use templates for common events.
Enhanced Personalisation and Integration:
• Incorporate local community events, public transport schedules, and weather forecasts.
• Link to existing location-sharing services (e.g., Marine Traffic) for enhanced functionality.
• Link to existing location-sharing services (e.g., Marine Traffic) for enhanced functionality.
Privacy and Security Enhancements:
• Develop more granular privacy controls to address security concerns.
• Create a more dynamic "Where is Everyone?" display to mitigate concerns about outdated information.
• Create a more dynamic "Where is Everyone?" display to mitigate concerns about outdated information.
Expanded Partnerships:
• Explore partnerships with location-sharing device services (e.g., Vismo, Truvami, and even Buddi) for opt-in live location feature for circle of care members.
Formal Evaluation:
• Conduct studies to quantitatively measure the impact on user well-being, anxiety levels, and social connectedness
Although Mindings is no longer a commercially-available service, the principles and features developed during its lifetime remain highly relevant and aspirational for the telecare industry. The focus on fostering connection, independence, and dignity proved to enhance the quality of life for users and their support networks. The innovative approach taken by Mindings in developing ethical, user-centred telecare solutions was novel in the industry, and received several international awards. Mindings demonstrating how technology can be leveraged to improve the lives of diverse users while respecting their autonomy. As the telecare industry continues to evolve, the lessons learned from Mindings serve as a valuable guide, encouraging future developments to prioritise kindness, engagement, and user empowerment in their design and implementation.
End