Stardust: End-of-Life Planning and Support

Three questions to the project team

What was the particular challenge of the project from a UX point of view?
The key challenge was designing an inclusive service for older adults with diverse health conditions and their caregivers. While aware of digital skills barriers, I recognised the need for digital touchpoints for long-term effectiveness. Therefore, I ensured inclusive, accessible options through mixed digital and physical touchpoints. For example, events at accessible local venues, multiple contact methods beyond QR codes, and special booking requests. The app has a WCAG-compliant design with high contrast and large buttons. User flows, information architecture, and UX writing were refined through iterative testing with diverse users to be straightforward and set clear expectations, continuously improving inclusivity.

What was your personal highlight in the development process? Was there an aha!-moment, was there a low point?
This project challenged me with a wicked, systemic healthcare problem. The deeper I researched, the more issues I discovered across the system, making it difficult to identify design opportunities. After extensive analysis and supervisor discussions, I realised the focus should be on awareness and preparedness - advance care planning as key to a good death, starting with individuals and communities for a larger impact. My initial AI-powered concepts seemed innovative until user testing revealed the aha! moment: AI intimidates users on this sensitive topic. Users preferred human connection, leading to facilitated advance care planning sessions with trained volunteers becoming the unique core feature.

Where do you see yourself and the project in the next five years?
I want this project brought to life as a real service that sparks innovative movement around this taboo subject. I hope it encourages end-of-life preparations in society, making death a conversation we can have earlier, just like life planning. Having met people working in this field, I'm impressed by their good intentions and hope their work gains recognition earlier in people's lives. I see myself as a UX designer continuing to work on meaningful projects that drive societal impact for better living, using design to address complex social challenges and create positive change in how we approach sensitive but important life topics.