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.

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”.