Product Sense: Designing a Safety and Wellbeing Monitor for Older Adults

You are the PM for a new device that monitors older adults. Decide what it should watch for and who it serves, describe the product, and explain how you would know it is working. ```hint Two users, one device The older person living with the device and the relative reading its alerts want different things. Decide whose problem comes first, and what the older person has to accept in return. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Should monitoring cover safety events such as falls, health signals such as vital signs, daily routine and medication, or may I choose? - Is this a Google device that can connect to its existing smart-home and wearable products, or must it stand alone? - Is the buyer the older adult, an adult child caring from a distance, or an institution such as a care provider or insurer? - Which market should I start in, given that care norms and health regulation differ by country? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A clear goal and a reasoned choice among older-adult segments, from active retirees to people needing daily care - Pain points of both the older adult and the caregivers, including dignity, consent and alert fatigue - A specific device concept and first version, compared against at least one alternative form factor - Success metrics tied to outcomes, such as how fast help reaches someone after a fall, with guardrails for false alarms and privacy - Risks: medical-device regulation, health-data privacy, and failures of power, connectivity or batteries ### Follow-up Questions - Families start ignoring alerts because the device raises too many false fall alarms. What do you change? - How would you get meaningful consent from an older adult with early cognitive decline? - Would you sell direct to families or through insurers and care providers, and why?