Designers
Hanhui Li, Zhiqi Lin
Year
2025
Category
Concept
Country
United States
Design Studio / Department
UX Design
Three questions to the project team
What was the particular challenge of the project from a UX point of view?
The biggest challenge was designing a health app tailored for adults 50+, balancing simplicity and advanced functionality. Older users often face accessibility barriers like vision changes, unfamiliarity with technology, and cognitive overload. We addressed this with large fonts, high-contrast colors, intuitive navigation, and a voice-first interface. Ensuring culturally adaptive recommendations and presenting complex health insights in a user-friendly way were key hurdles. The goal was to create a tool that felt supportive and easy to use, while empowering users to manage their health confidently.
What was your personal highlight in the development process? Was there an aha!-moment, was there a low point?
The highlight was refining the voice-first interaction system and realizing how it simplified use for older adults. The 'aha!' moment came when we streamlined the dashboard, shifting from cluttered layouts to a focus on essential metrics, which made the app clearer and more engaging. A low point was balancing advanced features like Fact Check with usability—ensuring they were both reliable and approachable took significant iteration. Despite challenges, seeing the final design provide accessible health management was incredibly rewarding.
Where do you see yourself and the project in the next five years?
In five years, we see COCO becoming a leader in digital health for older adults, integrating predictive analytics, wearable tech, and personalized AI-driven insights. It could expand to offer culturally adaptive recommendations globally, improving health outcomes and reducing healthcare burdens. Personally, we aim to drive inclusive design projects, applying lessons from COCO to create tools for underserved populations. COCO’s success would set a standard for accessible, user-centered health technology that fosters independence and confidence in managing well-being.
