24-Hour Design Sprint:

SMART HOME DESIGN FOR AGING IN PLACE

This event took place APRIL 14th - 15th, 2023

THE FINAL PITCHES

APRIL 14th - 15th, 2023

4pm Friday to 4pm Saturday*
@ the FSU Innovation Hub

*with 8-hour break for sleep at home

EVENT INFORMATION

Over $4,000 in prize money!

Three meals included!

Free event t-shirts for all participants!

Great opportunity to make new connections, gain marketable skills, and make a difference in the world!!

DESIGN SPRINT

  • A Design Sprint is an intensive problem solving session in which students work in teams to develop solutions to a real-world problem. Participants learn the Design Thinking process for understanding problems and developing innovative solutions. The session closes with teams pitching their ideas to win prizes and fame!

DESIGN CHALLENGE

  • Given that many people spend the final years of their lives in senior care facilities or hospitals,

    how might we design a home environment that evolves with the needs of aging individuals to provide the care and comfort they need to spend their latter years happy and healthy at home.

Only 50 participant spaces available so register now!

Individuals and teams are encouraged to register!

Registration Full!!

PRIZES!

First Place: $400 per team member

Second Place: $250 per team member

Third Place: $200 per team member

  • Provided in the form of Tango Gift Cards

  • Teams are assumed to have five members

  • Team members must have participated in the entire design sprint to win a prize

The Challenge

Smart Home Design for

Aging in Place

“Old age is not for the faint of heart”

This is an old adage that develops real meaning for aging individuals as they face the challenges presented by failing bodies, slowing mental agility, and dulling senses. These challenges are further complicated by the emotional strain of losing partners, loved ones, and friends who have shared our long lives.

We are all aging. We all face challenges associated with aging. They occur at different times of life for different individuals. Common challenges associated with aging include:

  • physical frailties such as arthritis, tremors

  • weakness and difficulty with fine motor control

  • sensory failings in vision or hearing

  • mobility challenges from difficulty walking to inability to drive a vehicle

  • cognition impairments and memory loss

  • social isolation and loneliness

  • feeling vulnerable - safety and security

  • the need for frequent medical check-ups and procedures

These challenges impact all areas of life: meal preparation, housekeeping, getting out and about, visiting with friends, navigating an increasingly technical, complex world and everything in between. These challenges ultimately require many to move in with family, or into an assisted living community or retirement home. Smart Home technologies can assist aging individuals in staying in their home longer - aging in place, but is the elder generation willing and capable of using them?

Informational Resources

Smart Home Design for Aging in Place - Presentation by Dr. Hightow-Weidman

Smart Home for Seniors: What, Why? - Article

How Smart Home Tech Can Help Seniors Age in Place - Article

Smart Homes for Aging Adults - Article

Tech Talk: Smart Home Devices For Aging in Place - Video

Your Mission

Harness Your Creativity!

Work in an interdisciplinary team using Design Thinking (we’ll teach you how) to develop a solution that assists aging individuals in living a happy, healthy life at home. Your solution should address one or more of the challenges listed above.

Solutions may take any of the following forms:

  • a physical invention or design
    -example: a robotic pet companion, a kitchen design, an invention that brings in the mail

  • software
    - example: an app that reminds you when it’s time to take your medicine

  • a service
    - example: a meal delivery service

  • a system
    - example: pairing up school kids with lonely elders for daily remote chats

  • a combination of two or more of the above
    - example: a smart kitchen system that insures safety with appliances

ANY new and innovative solution to the challenge is valid. Just check to make sure it maps to JUDGING CRITERIA listed below.

Make sure your solution does not already exist on the market. To be innovative it must be something new!

Test your solution with specialists and stakeholders at the event. Feel free to test it on others remotely. Gather valuable feedback to improve your solution!

Develop a Simple Prototype

Visually illustrate your solution by creating a prototype as a visual aid to your presentation. Prototypes vary depending on the type of solution your developed. They include:

  • A storyboard

  • A diagram, floorplan, or other drawing

  • A constructed object made of crafting materials (supplies)

  • App drawings or screenshots (see www.proto.io) that illustrate a users experience

  • A product flyer or website (see www.wix.com)

  • Acting out the solution

  • A combination of two or more of the above

Pitch Your Solution

Develop a 3-minute presentation and slide deck (no more than 6 slides) to pitch your idea to the judges. Include your prototype to show how your solution is utilized. The 3-minute pitch will be followed by 2 minutes of Q&A.

Check out this video on the elevator pitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-iETptU7JY

Consider the judging criteria and how your pitch will earn you points in the eight areas.

  • Tell a compelling story.

  • Provide statistics to show you did your research!

  • Show that there are no other effective solutions on the market.

  • Demonstrate your solution with a prototype.

  • Include stakeholder feedback - grandma or grandpa!

  • Practice, practice, practice!!!

Judging Criteria

Creativity and Innovation - Is this a new solution or are other solution providers already offering something similar? A high score is earned by a brand new solution not currently available.

Creativity and innovation - How creative and innovative is this idea? Is it something everyone would have thought of? A high score is earned by a highly imaginative and creative solution.

Impact - How useful will the solution be in increasing the time an aging adult can live at home independently? A high score is earned by a solution that fully addresses a problem related to aging in place.

Impact - How important is the issues that this solution addresses for stakeholders? A high score is earned by a very important issue being addressed - a critical necessity rather than a convenience.

Feasibility - Will it be easy to implement? Or will it reauire a lot of effort and investment? A high score is earned by a solution that is highly feasible.

Feasibility- How resilient and flexible is the solution? Will it withstand changes in technology or end user needs? A high score is earned by a solution that is very resilient and flexible.

Pitch - How effective was the prototype and presentation in selling the solution? A high score is earned by a very persuasive pitch.

Pitch - Did the presentation demonstrate the use of Design Thinking - utilizing the power of an interdisciplinary team, empathizing with the end user's needs through research, properly reframing the problem, applying ideation techniques, prototyping and testing? A high score is earned by full use of Design Thinking principles.

Note: this is an IDEAthon not a business pitch competition. There is no expectation of teams developing a business plan. Teams need only present their innovative idea for a solution.

The Process 

Design Thinking

In Design Thinking we work in interdisciplinary teams to benefit from multiple perspectives and creative processes.

  1. We begin with our “HMW”
    How Might We design a home environment that evolves with the needs of aging individuals to provide the care and comfort they need to spend their latter years happy and healthy at home.

  2. Do some initial Planning and build teams (we’ve handled most of this for you!)

  3. Empathize with the problem seeking to understand it to the best of your ability. This is accomplished by

    1. exploring the challenge through the links provided above in The Challenge section

    2. listening to the presentation at the beginning of the Design Sprint

    3. asking questions of our panel of experts

    4. research and explore on your own

  4. Reframe the problem reducing the scope and finding an actionable area to work on creating a new HMW. For example your team may decide to focus on the social isolation challenge of aging in place.

  5. Utilize Ideation tools to develop new and impactful solutions to your reframed HMW.

    1. Use sticky notes to come up with as many solutions as you can think of, then group solutions by common themes, and select your favorites.

    2. Consider applying solutions from other industries. Think out of the box. How would Elon Musk solve this? How might Airbnb think about this problem? Or Disney? Utilize random words to generate fresh ideas. Take a walk to gain inspiration from a new environment.

  6. Select the most innovative, effective, and feasible solution to prototype and test. Choose a solution that best meets the judging criteria.

  7. Build a Prototype of your solution (see above list of types) and test it on others. Your prototype should demonstrate how your solution is utilized.

  8. Develop your pitch

    no longer than 3 minutes in length

    no more than 6 slides on Google Slides (provide the link)

    More on Design Thinking at https://www.innovation.fsu.edu/design

Event Agenda

  • Planning, Teaming, Empathy, Framing

    3:30 PM Check-in

    4:00 PM Welcome and Introductions

    4:05 PM Intro to Design Thinking

    4:15 PM Presentation: Smart Home Design for Aging in Place

    4:45 PM Panel Discussion

    5:30 PM Break

    5:40 PM Teaming

    6:00 PM Dinner, Getting to Know You

    6:30 PM Empathy and Reframing Presentation

    6:45 PM Empath Work - Research and Stakeholder Interviews

    8:00 PM Ideation and Prototyping Presentation

    8:15 PM Team Work

    12:00 AM Hub Closes

    Friday, 8:00pm - Saturday, 8:00am

    Teams may work on their own at the Hub until midnight, or work elsewhere. Take some time to sleep so that you feel sharp and rested on Saturday.

  • Ideation, Prototyping, and Pitching

    8:00 AM Check-in / Breakfast / Networking

    8:30 AM The Day Ahead Presentation - Ideation and Prototyping

    8:45 AM Back to work!

    12:00 PM Lunch & Learn "The Pitch"

    12:30 PM Back to Work - Presentation

    2:00 PM Gather for Pitches
    Pitches will be 3 minutes, 6 slides with two minutes of Q&A

    3:30 PM Awards

    4:00 PM Concludes

Participants, please provide us with your feedback!

https://fsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ezB9GBQigleB0Wy

SPONSORED BY:

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH:

Planning Committee: