One in every seven Americans are +65 and the number of older adults will be doubled in 20 years. In many other countries, older adult population is rapidly increasing. For instance, China will be the most aged society in 2030. Therefore, designing for the need of these population will be critical in near future.
Wanderlust is a board game, which fosters meaningful interactions in older adults, and can be easily repurposed for younger ages and encourage intergenerational dialogue. Wanderlust helps older adults continue to pursue meaningful activities after retirement.
Wanderlust was presented at the annual Aging and Society Conference in 2015 at Edward J. Pryzbyla University Center Washington D.C, USA.
My teammate, Emily, and I interviewed Lucy in two, 1.5 hour sessions, and used brainstorming, net mapping, and mind mapping tools to conduct our research. We implemented the tools to find out how we could add to our participant Lucy’s enjoyment of life and what makes her life more meaningful.
We used brainstorming, net mapping, and mind mapping tools to conduct our research. We implemented the tools to find out how we could add to our participant Lucy’s enjoyment of life and what makes her life more meaningful.
We used brainstorming, net mapping, and mind mapping tools to conduct our research. We implemented the tools to find out how we could add to our participant Lucy’s enjoyment of life and what makes her life more meaningful.
Through the research, we learned that strong friendships were very important to Lucy. Since the research tools, specifically the cards, facilitated an enjoyable and deep conversation with Lucy in our work session, we took that as a cue to design a final product that would create a similar impact without our presence. We created a game called Wanderlust.
Wanderlust is a history and geography trivia game that inspires curiosity, storytelling, and friendship. The game is played by 2-6 players. The board features several routes taken by famous explorers such as Marco Polo and Amelia Earhart.
The primary strength of the game is the analogy it creates to actual travel. Through the game we recollected a feeling of openness, adventure, and willingness to talk with strangers in travelling.
