Share how you feel
Record a short voice note whenever you need to express what is on your mind.
The challenge
Loneliness that doesn't look like isolation.
Many older adults experience everyday loneliness not as total isolation, but as the lack of a safe space to express themselves freely.
- They have emotions, worries and things they want to say.
- They avoid speaking up for fear of bothering others.
- They do not always feel understood, even when accompanied.
Three ways to connect, on your own terms.
An anonymous, asynchronous voice space where older adults can share, support someone or simply listen.
Support someone
Offer a brief, empathetic response whenever you feel ready.
Just listen
Feel accompanied by others’ voices without having to speak or respond.
Validating the problem before designing anything.
Benchmark
9 competitors
Emotional support, companionship and community products.
Surveys
48 participants
Adults aged 65 80 with basic mobile literacy.
Interview
11 questions
Semi-structured sessions lasting 20 25 minutes.
Competitive benchmark
Benchmark comparing emotional exposure, social pressure, moderation and scalability.
The gap we found
No existing product combined anonymous voice, asynchronous support and peer-to-peer companionship for older adults.
The numbers that justified the project.
48 older adults between 65 and 80 participated in the research. The findings revealed a clear emotional need, while also confirming that a simplified mobile experience could be realistic for the audience.
76%
Loneliness
76% have felt lonely at some point in their daily life.
66%
Silence
66% rarely or never talk about how they feel when loneliness appears.
61%
Intent
When they do speak, 61% do it mainly to vent, more than to seek advice.
Target portrait
An emotional need, with manageable digital barriers.
The opportunity was not only emotional. Mobile familiarity suggested that a guided, simple and voice first product could be realistically adopted.
Who we designed for
Three archetypes of loneliness.
José, Nadia and Carmen represent three emotional entry points into loneliness. Their differences helped define a product space where all three options sit side by side without hierarchy.
Persona in depth
José, the reserved listener.
From “I don't want to bother” to “it helped to say it.”
The critical moment
The biggest opportunity sits between Decision and Expression. Removing urgency and social pressure allows someone to move from hesitation to speaking up.
Five insights that guided every decision.
Need to talk
Fear of bothering others blocks expression.
Need to listen
Listening alone provides emotional company.
Need to respond
Welcome only when voluntary and pressure-free.
Anonymity
Reduces exposure and enables honesty.
Own pace
Control over when to participate is essential.
Turning insights into design questions.
Each insight became a “How might we” question . a starting point for generating concrete ideas before prioritizing anything.
Prioritizing what mattered emotionally.
An Effort vs. Impact matrix defined an MVP centered on expression, listening and voluntary participation.
Phase 1 · MVP
Anonymous voice messages
Listen-only mode
Optional responses
Asynchronous experience
Phase 2 · Later
Matching by experiences
Empathetic response guides
Advanced moderation
Mood-based recommendations
Consciously discarded
Real-time interactions
Popularity rankings
Mandatory continuity
Fixed listener/speaker roles
Talk when you need to.
Listen when it helps.
Accompany without obligation.
A safe, anonymous space where older adults can express themselves, feel heard or accompany others through voice messages, without pressure, in their own time.
Testing the concept before building the UI.
Before prototyping the product, I validated whether the concept was understandable, desirable and trustworthy. The goal was to confirm that the framing, promise and emotional value were strong enough to move forward.
Comprehension
100%
Understood the value proposition
Participants recognized safety, anonymity, listening and expression as the product's core value.
Intent
80%
Would try the product
Positive intent exceeded the validation threshold.
Completion
100%
Reached the end
Every participant completed all six steps without dropping off.
Trust
Safety was central
Interest depended on clear moderation, anonymity and a genuinely protected environment.
Relevance
The idea felt meaningful
60% said the proposal fit them completely. The remaining 40% answered “more or less”.
Verdict
All concept KPIs met or surpassed the expected thresholds. A strong signal to continue into prototyping with confidence.
Card sorting, on paper, in person.
To keep the exercise accessible, I ran the activity face to face using printed cards. The goal was to understand how participants grouped features, interpreted labels and expected the structure to work.
The resulting categories informed the main tabs, labels and first pass navigation structure.
What it gave us
Architecture and microcopy improved together.
The exercise validated category groupings while also revealing the labels that felt natural, confusing or ambiguous for the audience.
12
Clear matches
Most cards landed consistently in the same category.
4
Partial consensus
Some cards generated discussion but converged after explanation.
2
Ambiguous cards
The weakest matches became direct design opportunities.
31
Screens
3
Main tabs
3
Max nav levels
5
Modals
From Figma to production-like code.
After validating the flow in Figma, I rebuilt the experience in HTML, CSS and JavaScript to test real microinteractions, audio recording and behavior close to production.
Figma
HTML5
CSS3
JavaScript
Inter for legibility, a two-tone green palette and oversized touch targets.
The functional prototype, live.
The exact build used in usability testing is embedded below.
Testing the product, not the person.
I designed the usability test so participants could stay inside the experience while completing tasks and giving lightweight feedback. This reduced friction and made the sessions easier to follow for older adults.
Participants
3
Older adults from the target audience
Sessions were completed remotely and in person to validate the main flows of the MVP.
Tasks
5
End to end scenarios
Users completed sharing, replying, listening, checking activity and identity related actions.
Per task
3
Success, ease, comment
Each step captured completion, perceived ease on a 1 to 5 scale and a short qualitative note.
Closing measure
SUS questionnaire
A standard usability score complemented the qualitative feedback gathered during the tasks.
Interview
Short reflection at the end
A final conversation helped connect the numbers with the actual experience behind them.
Testing principle
The focus was on understanding where the product created confidence and where it still demanded unnecessary effort.
Everyone finished. Not everyone found it easy.
Completion
100%
Task success rate
All participants completed all five tasks successfully.
Usability
83.3
SUS score, excellent
The product scored above the 80 point excellence threshold.
Challenge area
3.3
Lowest perceived ease
Sharing and listening required more effort than the rest of the flows.
Perceived ease by task
Where the friction actually was
Scale 1 to 5. 1 = very difficult. 5 = very easy.
Completion was high, but ease varied. That gap between finishing and finding it effortless revealed the next design opportunities.
Participant #2“It feels simple, and that gave me confidence.”
On friction“Some names made me stop and think for a second, but I could still complete the tasks.”
On potential“I can see how this could help many older adults who need to talk without being judged.”
From MVP to a companion ecosystem.
Shipped · MVP
The core loop
Anonymous voice messages, listen-only mode, optional responses and a fully asynchronous experience, validated with real users.
Next · Immediate fixes
Resolving tested friction
Respond directly from Listen, rename “My Space” as message history and add more nuanced moods.
Phase 2 · Personalization
Matching and guidance
Connect people through similar experiences and provide empathetic response guides.
Phase 3 · Safety
Advanced moderation
Protect sensitive content and recommend messages based on emotional context.
Vision
Bridging peers and professionals
Evolve Hablemus into a bridge toward trained emotional-support professionals without losing its low-pressure nature.
Up next
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