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JINYUE 今月

Rebrand the system for cross-gen communication.

Cross-generational communication

Brand Design

UI Design

Product Design

RECOGNITION & AWARDS

JIN YUE is an innovative communication system that serves as a bridge between the elderly and the young, addressing the gap that often separates these two generations. Inspired by the idea of two parallel lines that rarely intersect, JIN YUE reimagines the visual language of intergenerational connection. This project, a collaborative effort between scientists, engineers, and designers, is driven by a shared commitment to public welfare.

JIN YUE aims to inspire Gen Z to pay closer attention to the emotional needs of elderly individuals living in solitude. By facilitating a deeper understanding of the emotions of the elderly and providing strategies to navigate their emotional well-being, JIN YUE seeks to strengthen intergenerational bonds and enrich the lives of both seniors and their younger family members.

YEAR

2022

PROJECT TYPE

Sponsor (Tsinghua University)

CONTRIBUTOR

Mobile UIUX Design & UX Research & Brand Design
Zoe Zhang (Me)

Kiosk UIUX Design & UX Research
Monica Zhang

UX Research & Product Design & Brand Design
Luka Fang, Joy Cai

Cross-generational communication

Brand Design

UI Design

Product Design

JIN YUE is an innovative communication system that serves as a bridge between the elderly and the young, addressing the gap that often separates these two generations. Inspired by the idea of two parallel lines that rarely intersect, JIN YUE reimagines the visual language of intergenerational connection. This project, a collaborative effort between scientists, engineers, and designers, is driven by a shared commitment to public welfare.

JIN YUE aims to inspire Gen Z to pay closer attention to the emotional needs of elderly individuals living in solitude. By facilitating a deeper understanding of the emotions of the elderly and providing strategies to navigate their emotional well-being, JIN YUE seeks to strengthen intergenerational bonds and enrich the lives of both seniors and their younger family members.

RECOGNITION & AWARDS

YEAR

2022

PROJECT TYPE

Sponsor (Tsinghua University)

CONTRIBUTOR

Mobile UIUX Design & UX Research & Brand Design
Zoe Zhang (Me)

Kiosk UIUX Design & UX Research
Monica Zhang

UX Research & Product Design & Brand Design
Luka Fang, Joy Cai

01 The Challenge

Needs of the elderly?

I always remember my grandfather as confident and healthy. He loved to talk and ride his bike all over the city: to the park and to the food...

But when I came home last year, I realized he had become depressed. Because of his deteriorating health, he often stayed at home and sighed from time to time. There were times when he wanted to call me to talk, but he was always worried that it might affect my studies and work.

I realized that the emotional needs of older adults also needed to be attended to, and after speaking with my group, I found that everyone observed it.

Needs of the elderly?

An elderly living in Beijing mistakenly fell in love with a ‘news account’ because she failed to understand WeChat and also suffered from emotional loneliness

I always remember my grandfather as confident and healthy. He loved to talk and ride his bike all over the city: to the park and to the food...

But when I came home last year, I realized he had become depressed. Because of his deteriorating health, he often stayed at home and sighed from time to time. There were times when he wanted to call me to talk, but he was always worried that it might affect my studies and work.

I realized that the emotional needs of older adults also needed to be attended to. And after speaking with my group, I found that...

Emotional emptiness in the elderly is a common pain point in almost every Chinese family.

02 Current Situations

Low mental life satisfaction

The survey found that 154 elderly people expressed dissatisfaction with their current mental life, accounting for 41.29%. 113 elderly people said they were average, accounting for 30.29%. 106 seniors expressed satisfaction, accounting for 28.42%. This indicates that the overall mental life satisfaction of the elderly is low, and its influencing factors are worthy of further study.

Seniors' loneliness

The prevalence of loneliness among the elderly in China reached 24.78%, of which 1.42% felt severe loneliness.In other countries, about 27% on average seniors aged 65 years and older in select countries worldwide who reported feeling isolated often or some of the time.

Digital Divide

Rapidly evolving technology has "phased out" elderly. The user experience of digital products is very unfriendly to older persons, indirectly leading to the marginalization of some older persons from society.

03 Research

How might we design for driving?

WanderMap was initially designed as a mobile application, and the challenge was to create a more optimal user experience for a car-compatible version.
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This involved implementing a car HMI design that took into account the unique requirements of in-vehicle use, such as minimizing driver distraction, integrating with existing car infotainment systems, and providing clear and concise information. Additionally, I needed to ensure that the UX design was adapted to the car environment.
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Despite the basic functionality already being in place, the design process required a thorough understanding of both car HMI design and UX design principles to create an effective in-vehicle user experience.

Why don't seniors have family members as their primary emotional connection?

A questionnaire survey was conducted to better understand the emotional and communication needs of Chinese older adults.
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The survey showed that:

Elderly people most want to communicate with their children because they have the deepest emotional connection with them.
Children also have the same desire to communicate with older people, but also have concerns (e.g., no topic, too busy).

Given the relatively positive attitudes on both sides, why don't connections happen more often?

Through our interviews we found that frequent connections can be stressful for both parties. This stems from the strong signaling and interaction nature of nowadays social approach, but lacks a booster for emotional expression.
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How can communication between young and old be designed in such a way that the elderly are willing to confide without pressure and the young are willing to initiate communication?
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JIN YUE revisit the relationship between people and people, and technology.

We designed a system that allows products to keep users in the loop, but gently, shifting from background to foreground as needed.

Product System

The JIN YUE system comprises two core components: the "Moonlight" Lamp and the accompanying mobile application (App). The Moonlight Lamp serves as an intelligent home device placed within the elderly's living environment. It empowers senior citizens to capture and record their current emotions and thoughts in real-time, enabling them to share messages and sentiments with the younger generation anytime in a easy-to-use way. Simultaneously, the App provides a platform for younger individuals to access this information, gain insights into the emotional state of their elderly loved ones, and track emotional patterns over time.

THE YOUNG Side - JIN YUE APP

A platform for younger individuals to access these information, gain insights into the emotional state of their elderly loved ones, and track emotional patterns over time.

THE ELDERLY SIde - MoonLight

An intelligent home device placed within the elderly's living environment. It empowers senior citizens to capture and record their current emotions and thoughts in real-time

04 Scenario

THE ELDERLY SIde - MoonLight

When not needed, Moonlight is just a nightlight in the background. When there is a message or a reminder set by the young, Moonlight flashes slightly.

（检测到用户的情绪低落）“能和我聊聊你印象最深刻童年的回忆吗？”

“和我聊聊和你最亲近的人吧”

“初见如故，很高兴认识你！我是今月！”

“琦琦：很多假是可以请的，很多事是可以推的，切记自己的身体是最重要的！！”

THE ELDERLY SIde - MoonLight

When the elderly are in need, Moonlight is the emotional support that provides companionship. By talking to the elderly, Moonlight collects their stories or feelings and conveys them to the young.

THE ELDERLY SIde - MoonLight

Moonlight uses AI models to generate & track sentimental analysis by analyzing the content and tone of voice shared by seniors.

“琦琦：很多假是可以请的，很多事是可以推的，切记自己的身体是最重要的！！”

THE YOUNG SIde - JIN YUE APP

Moonlight and JIN YUE are connected via the Internet. The stories of older people are shared with the young anytime.

THE YOUNG SIde - JIN YUE APP

The young receive the sharing and mood of the old.

THE YOUNG SIde - JIN YUE APP

In this messages, there is not only content shared by older people, but also audio as well as virtualized emotional analysis.

THE YOUNG SIde - JIN YUE APP

Keep track of the elderly’s emotional wellness, understand more about the elderly

THE YOUNG SIde - JIN YUE APP

AI advice recommendation to help the young continue the conversation based on the contents and their emotions.

不同時代人之間的隔閡像兩筆不會交錯的橫，而月的一撇把兩條難以相交的線聯繫起來。

The gap between people of different generations is like two parallel lines that do not intersect. And the curve of the character moon (月) connects the two lines that are difficult to intersect.

How have our products reduced communication stress?

Moonlight guide topic, situational conversation

Synchronized update, asynchronous communication

AI suggestions

Emotion analysis, let young people understand the elderly better

From 10 to 1000

In early 2023, we launched a beta version of JIN YUE in 5 homes in China and are now preparing to roll it out to the wider market. Along the way, we analyze data from our transparent backend to help us understand what works and what doesn't, and prioritize our feature development and rollout strategy. As we move into 2025, we aim to maintain continuous insight to ensure that Inclusive Deign remains at the core of the service.