Conceiving and developing a mainstream consumer service to support older or vulnerable people living independently

The project aimed to explore what potential users would want from an innovative consumer care service platform which helps people live independently, and helps friends and relatives more easily support them. Co-creation methods were used to design a prototype of the service with stakeholders. Existing technologies were repurposed to prototype the service concept, which was tested in-situ with older people and their carers. Results from this initial pilot were positive, with participants finding the service non-intrusive, reassuring, and easy to use. The service is now being developed as a customer proposition and commercialised with business modelling by ADI, support from the charity CarersUK, and a national channel partner, with the intention to roll the service out UK-wide to customers. This paper describes the methods and processes used, and how the holistic service design methodology is proving to be a powerful persuader to help take the service to commercialisation.