Supporting Older Adults In Navigating Life Transitions Through Service Design
Navigator
2025
Collaboration with Umeå KOMMUN
Group Work
The project collaborates with residents over 65 in Umeå, using service design to help them strengthen social connections, expand networks, and adapt to changes in a rapidly evolving society
Service Design
Participatory Design
Social Innovation
Systems Thinking
Background
As societal demands outpace the support for Sweden’s aging population, this project explores leveraging family and community networks to help older adults stay socially engaged and navigate rapid societal shifts
As society digitizes, invisible barriers and shifting roles are increasingly excluding Swedish seniors from public life
600k
are digitally isolated
15%
face frequent loneliness
25%
will be over 65 by 2030
70%
of support is already informal
Challenge
The challenge lies in rebuilding systems that enable older adults to navigate life transitions with composure, grounded in trust and designed to uphold dignity through service provision.
We are not merely repairing functional deficiencies, but reconstructing the trust-based contract between individuals and societal systems.
Reconstructing Identity
Enabling active participation and new roles in a digital society
Empowering Agency
Designing for autonomy, fostering continuous growth and capability
Research
The initial phase focused on icebreaking and trust-building to share project goals with elderly volunteers, establishing a foundational mutual understanding and rapport
Warm-up Meeting
#Building Trust
#Introduction
In-depth interviews allowed us to explore critical life transitions and challenges. By identifying needs and service touchpoints, we visualized the findings through journey maps
#Journey Maps
#Desk Research
Active Interview
Through collective mind mapping and 'think-aloud' sessions, we observed how retirees navigate daily hurdles across two scenarios. We discovered that problem-solving is a social act rather than an informational one for them.
#Co-creative Activities
#Concept Ideation
C0-creation Workshop
“
Problem-solving is a social act, making the 'trust circle' the essential interface for navigating complex societal systems
”
Strategy
Our goal is to empower friends and family to support pensioners in navigating the modern world more independently
Mending Connections
1
Strengthening the increasingly distant relationships between pensioners and their social circles through people-centered navigation
From Physical to Remote
2
Extending offline social networks into the digital realm to empower pensioners to stay in the loop and informed
Dual-Path Support
3
Integrating two ways together to transform family, friends, and potential contacts into a resilient trust network for sustainable information flow
Explorer
Kompassverket
Support & Knowledge Sharing
(Pensioner)
(Helper)
Navigator
Digg
Main Funding
Strategy
Initiative
Event Organisation
Staff Support
Feedback
Economic
Support
Practice Support
Sweden’s Agency for Digital Government
Umea
collaboration
Van i Umeå, the Umeå City Library, and Seniortorget
Kompassverket: Social Support Ecosystem
Funded by DIGG, Kompassverket connects Explorers and Navigators through the Navigator app and local Umeå partners to ensure independent living through shared social support
Conclusion
Notebooks are categorized and shared, helping new explorers learn and solve similar issues
Digital Library
Face-to-face video calls where explorers share issues and navigators annotate and guide in real time
Calling
Call notes are archived, edited, and saved into organized digital notebooks
Creating Books
Clarify needs, goals, and reasons for adding close-circle members, guided by prompts to define problems and aims
Warm-up
The final service is called Navigator, a digital platform that enables remote support and shared learning between pensioners and their personal networks.
Brochure
Poster
Navigator
The service journey transitions from community-based Discovery to workshop-led Understanding, concluding with platform-based Using where seniors evolve from Explorers to Navigators
Story
Stage
Discovery
Understanding & Decision
Using the Service
Backstage
Prepare promotional materials
Staffing arrangements
Schedule events
Toolkit
App maintenance
Website maintenance
Digital Experience
Information from the website
Browsing
Online tutorials
Registration
Build team
Request
Keep records
Sharing knowledge
On-site Experience
Staff assistance
Attend workshop
Sharing knowledge
Information from flyer/place
Evidence
Flyer
Poster
Place
Place
App
Website
Reflection
While grounded in solid research and comprehensive process mapping, the system reveals key gaps:
The digital platform creates hidden barriers for seniors with zero digital literacy, and the reliance on existing "Navigators" potentially excludes isolated individuals lacking social networks. Moreover, the project’s heavy dependence on government funding (DIGG) and public infrastructure limits its long-term operational sustainability
