Minor Project - Final Project: Caregiver First Aid

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Name: Liong Xenyi (0383125)
Module: Minor Project (PRJ62204)
Date: 20/04/2026 - 24/07/2026 (Week 1 - Week 14)
Degree: Bachelor of Design (Honors) in Creative Media 
University: Taylor's University



Table of Contents

Module Information Booklet
Fig 1.1 Minor Project MIB

Links
Slides:
https://canva.link/q8drfmnlrovnz33

Fig Jam Board: 


Weekly Progress
Week 1
We started an introduction into the topic and what minor project aims to cover, and what were the skills we would gain at the end of the module. The project brief from a client is introduced to us. Our class's client is a doctor who wants to focus on Caregiver's First Aid Tools, aiming for solutions to help caregivers destress and keep calm.
Fig 1.2 Project Brief: Caregiver First Aid


Week 2
We were introduced what design thinking was all about - each stages were briefly introduced. We focused on the empathy stage of design thinking, and what we must do during this stage for our project. Our client - Dr. Mugil from the Impact Lab, Active Ageing- came into class and presented her project idea, discussing what needs to be done and our goals to solve the main problem statement.
Fig 1.3 Dr. Mugil presenting the project

Fig 1.4 Dr. Mugil presenting the problem 

We formed into groups and discussed who we needed to interview as our target users.


Week 3
We learned about conducting user research, understanding user personas, and the importance of surveys and research methods. This helped further our empathy research on the target users and how we should further continue our empathy design thinking stage. 

We found our two main groups of target users to interview: family caregivers and professional healthcare. I found one professional healthcare to interview, while my other teammates found the other target users. These are our interview questions and participant consent form (with two other translations).
Fig 1.5 Interview Questions



Week 4
We were introduced what the define stage do after the empathy stage. We learned how to derive insights from the data and findings from our interviews - by grouping key themes and making insights from each group. Later on, we learned how to form problem statements and how might we (HMW) questions to help provide solutions to the problem statement. Additionally, we would have to create user personas for each target user groups. 

This week, my group was interviewing our target users and writing down the key insights for each interviewee. We wrote our results in Figma Jam Board and grouped everything together. We also put everything, including results, transcripts, participant consent form and interview video inside the Google Drive.
Fig 1.6 Interview Results and Key Insights

Fig 1.7 Key Insights Grouped


Week 5
This week, we learned how to ideate and brainstorm ideas after the empathy and define stages. We learned the importance of this role and how we should come up with ideas based on the user personas made - making solutions to solve the problem statements and HMW.  As a class activity, we did the crazy 8, as each of us quickly scribbled down 8 ideas in a short given time. We then discussed and compared on how we might combine ideas and finalised on one idea.

Our ideas can be found here.
Fig 1.8 Crazy 8 Ideas

Fig 1.9 Discussing our ideas

Fig 1.10 Crazy 8 Ideas in Figma Jam Board

This week, my group was finalising the define stage parts - writing down the problem statements and HMW for each target users. We also had to do Task 1: Proposal an Innovative Project Proposal as a Group (20%), where we have to form slides that briefly gives a project overview, along with our results from the empathy stage. We made a brief timeline and and estimated our budgets and resources we might need. We also brainstormed our ideas in Figma Jam Board. Besides task 1, we updated our define stage in Figma. 
Fig 2.1 Task 1 Project Proposal Slides


Week 6
We learned what design proposal presentations are and how we could make them effectively to present them convincingly later on. We learned some tips and step-by-step on how to polish our presentation slides. 

We continued to polish our slides and add each stage we have not yet added, updating the previous slides we used with the define and ideation stages. We finished our problem statement, HMW and user personas in our Figma Jam Board.
Fig 2.2 Insights for Professional Healthcare Users

Fig 2.3 Problem Statements for Professional Healthcare users

Fig 2.4 How Might We for Professional Healthcare users

Fig 2.5 User Persona for a Healthcare Professional

We changed some resources and budget based on the new ideas we are focusing on. We also continued to finalise our idea by using the SCAMPER method to make it better, adding and subtracting ideas. We also voted on each idea that we like, and those with 3 votes above will be included into the product. We added these ideas into the slides.
Fig 2.6 SCAMPER method


Week 7
There was no class this week due to public holiday. We continued to work on the slides, as next week, we had to do a mid-term presentation.


Week 8
This week we learned about the prototype design thinking stage, and what are the different types of prototypes we could do. There are different prototype phases that will help build our prototype step-by-step. 

This week, we had our mid-term group presentation to our client and lecturer, so we could gain feedback from our presentation and slides. We completed the empathy, define and ideation stages. After our presentation, we received the feedback for our ideation. 

We mostly focused on the caregiver needs, but additionally, the patient as well, to ease the stress on the caregiver. Our robot plushy - Mori - will be a comfort plushy that has an app in the middle of the plushy, which can be reachable within seconds for the caregiver, which will help guide and support them. 

Our feedback given was that our idea was interesting and something that could work, and we should develop more solid ideas and create the prototype. We had other minor feedback to change our some aspects our slides, such as not making it too cluttered or making it clearer. 


Week 9
We learned what iterative design is, and how important it is to constantly test and gain feedback, at least 2-3 times, to ensure the product works to its best performance. 

We continued to work on our prototype and started our with sketching. Our main idea would be to make the robot plushy with the app, so we split the work to some working on the plushy and to some working on the app. I was mostly working on the app and thinking of each parts of the prototype. 

I created the sketches and wireframes for the app (first two images on the left).

 

Fig 2.8 Sketches and Wireframes for the App

As for the plushy and overall app mood board, we wanted to create a forest feeling, since Mori means forest in Japanese. We want the user to feel calm and at peace, which is usually represented by the forests. We also want our Mori brand to look cute and express comfort.
Fig 2.9 Mori Mood Board


Week 10
This week, we continued on our prototype from the previous week. I continued on making the information architecture and user flow for the app, making the main contents and what we would see in the app.
Fig 3.1 Information Architecture

Fig 3.2 User Flow example

My team and I continued to work on the Lo-Fi of the app prototype, making the examples of the content. We continued to make the Lo-fi for the main content, seeing if the user flow would work, fixing and refining the prototype.
Fig 3.3 Lo-fi Prototype

As for the plushy robot, my team made sketches of how it would look like, labeling the main features and what the whole idea is built on. 
Fig 3.4 Mori Plushy Sketch


Week 11
The following week, we started designing the app, making elements and colours that would work in the app. We added an additional pink to make it contrast against the green. We decided the screen would be square and a phone size, so it can be viewable and useable while fitting in the Mori Plush. 
Fig 3.5 First version of the App interface

We used boxes and vary between a light green and yellow white to create sections for different features. Our main content would feature 6 items: guide, contact, community, tools, monitor and chat. There will be a homepage, settings and help center. 

The homepage will have the 6 features, with Mori speaking to the user. There will be a navigation tool at the bottom, with a top bar on each page with the page name, a search button, and an extra feature button. The chat page allows the user to talk to Mori and ask it anything, such as help, support or questions.
Fig 3.6 Homepage and Chat page

The guide page allows caregivers to find different guides based on topics, where it will help caregivers navigate on how to take care of the patients, and information will be easy to access. The contacts page will contain different contacts where caregivers can find information about different people that could help the caregiver, such as other caregivers, doctors, and emergency numbers.
Fig 3.7 Guide and Contact page

The community page allows the users to find community support groups that will provide caregivers emotional and physical support, as it covers caregivers, patient and daycare groups. The tools page contains different tools that allow the caregiver to easily communicate with their patient, which will help reduce the stress as they could communicate better, rather than stressing over one way to talk to the patient.
Fig 3.8 Community and Tools page

The monitor page additionally helps the caregiver feel less stress as they could use this page to easily monitor the patient, instead of having many devices. They could easily access the functions and make sure the patient is healthy and well.
Fig 3.9 Monitor Page

Later on, we added the additional resources that are needed, such as the charger. We put int the main materials needed to make the Mori Plushy, so that we have a clearer idea. 
Fig 3.10 Resources needed for the Mori Plush

Fig 3.11 Additional resources (charger)

Based on the previous feedback, we made the Mori Plushy look fluffier, with a better indicated with a fur coat. There are updated sketches, with a 3D model to accompany the sketches, so that there is a better view.
Fig 4.1 New Sketch of the Mori Plush

Fig 4.2 Different View of the Mori Plushy

Fig 4.3 3D Model of Mori Plushy


Week 12
After the feedback, we changed some parts of the app. Some feedback given was that some pages like the homepage, contact page and navigation bar were too small and had cluttered information, which will be hard for users to see. We should space them out better and also add the information and pictures inside to complete the Hi-fi prototype. 

I changed accordingly, and made some components so they could be easily used in all pages. I decided to change the navigation bar at the bottom to just be an indicator of the Wi-Fi, brightness, sound and battery, and to have the navigation in the 3 dots drop-down menu that includes the homepage, settings, notifications and support. All pages have the pink top bar with the navigation, and the bottom indicator bar.
Fig 4.4 Components in the Mori App

We continued to work on the app, completing the pages we needed to show in our prototype. I mainly helped worked on making the prototype, connecting the prototype flows and interactions so that it becomes like an app. I also made the main content of each page, fixing and making the design similar and consistent. We made sure the whole app works and continue on the design.
Fig 4.5 Making the Hi-fi Prototype of the Mori App

The Mori Plush has a new 3D model that shows 6 sides of it, showcasing how each angle looks like, to give a better idea of the whole product. 

Fig 4.6 3D Model of more sides for the Mori Plushy

Additionally, there are more sketches for the different outfits and face features the user can customise on to expand the Mori brand.
Fig 4.7 Thumbnail, accessory and outfit exploration, and face exploration


Week 13
This week, we finalised making the app, adding more designs, icons, pictures and content that will help better showcase our idea for the app. We expanded in areas that need to, and make it seem like an actual app. 
Fig 4.8 Final Hi-fi Prototype design (Community group page)

Fig 4.9 Final Hi-fi Prototype design (Tools page)

Fig 4.10 Final Hi-fi Prototype design (More tools page)

Fig 4.11 Final Hi-fi Prototype design (Monitor page)

We also fixed any bugs or forgotten prototype interactions, checking each button, page and feature works when using the app. 
Fig 4.12 Hi-fi Prototype Interactions and Flow

Lastly, this is a demo for the app, showing each page and how it works.
Fig 4.13 App Demo

If you want to test it out yourself, here is the link (or refer to the top of this blog).



Additionally, the Mori Plushy has an icon and profile made to be used in the app, and to promote the Mori brand further. 
Fig 5.1 Mori Icon

Fig 5.2 Mori Profile

The colouring for the illustrations and 3D model is done, further enhancing the look and how the colours reflect the brand and theme of Mori.
Fig 5.3 Mori Plushy Coloured Illustrations (with sides)

Fig 5.4 Coloured 3D Model of the Mori Plushy (with sides)

Fig 5.5 Coloured thumbnails, costumes, and facial designs

After we finished each part of the prototype, we made the final presentation prototype slides for the next task and final day presentation in class. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to complete the testing stage of this project. Additionally, we couldn't reach out to our previous caregiver interviewees, as they could not be contacted during this time. We only tested the prototype, such as the app, among our group members, and we fixed our prototype based on the lecturer's feedback. In the future for my next project, I will make a better timeline, and make sure to have users that could test out the prototype.


Week 14
This final week, we presented our idea and prototype to the client and lecturer. We documented each step of the design thinking phase, and put all of our ideas inside the slides. We decided to also change our slides to better fit our idea - we used a forest theme slide, where it better reflects the brand Mori. These are the slides for our Task 3: Produce Final Presentation of Your Solution (Group - 40%).

The links for all pages can be found here.

After our presentation, we received feedback from the client and lecturer. There were some issues saying our prototype did not fully focus on the solution meant only for caregivers, and that many features were redundant and could be found elsewhere instead of our product. The Mori Plushy was not well received, commenting that the plushy would not help comfort the caregiver, and thus not solving the main problem. Lastly, we should focus on developing the chat feature so caregivers can easily talk to a robot or A.I. that focuses on giving accurate caregiver information and emotional support. We received the feedback and took notes to change the best we could, and to take note for future projects.

However, I would like to argue on some points of why we included some features. Firstly, our idea was approved during the first presentation during week 8, where we presented this very exact idea. We explained that a plushy can help lower a caregiver's cortisol level and provide a physical presence for comfort, instead of just a lifeless and normal app. It is customisable, so if a caregiver isn't into cute things, the plushy can just look normal and have the main functions of the app. Even if it does not help the caregiver much, this could potentially help the caregiver calm the patient down by using the plushy too.
Fig 5.7 Mori's Customisation slide

Secondly, touching on why we also target patients and add features that could help or communicate with them, is because we want to focus on the root problem of why caregivers can feel more stressful and hopeless. Sometimes they might feel stuck because they are not able to do anything more when their solution is only through taking care of the patient in one way. 

The tools page is to help caregivers communicate in many ways, depending on the patient, which could lessen the stress and frustration of the caregiver, especially when patients don't seem to understand or cooperate. This function was an idea from one healthcare professional, who informed us on how she communicates with her patients that usually works. The monitor page also helps ease the caregiver's stress by having most caring functions in one app, where they can easily access without feeling overwhelmed when needing to use many devices. The notes, reminders and checklists are all in one place, where they could easily navigate through. As for the community page, it is to help caregivers find groups for their own emotional and physical support, patient group activities to let their patient participate and be active, and lastly daycares to help take care of the patient if they are very busy.
Fig 5.8 Chat, tool and monitor page



Finally, these features are not to help the patient, but to ease the caregiver's frustrations and stress by making a device that doesn't overwhelm the caregiver, but help reduce their stress. Most solutions are thought of in the app, where the caregiver can access easily and know what to do with the guides. They can ask for help anytime, or contact other people with all their main information inside the contact page. In the future, it would help if we could develop the chat feature with Mori so that the caregiver can easily find the features or guides, so that they don't have to navigate through each page that could slow them down and overwhelm them. However, due to the limitations of resources and skill, we cannot make a chat feature that works and show how it should be like in the prototype stage.


Feedback
Week 1
We were told to research further on our topic and to find a group of 3-5 members.

Week 2 
We formed into groups, and I found a team of 4 members. We were asked which target users we would like to focus on and to continue with our research on the topic.

Week 3
We should lessen our interview questions, and make it related to our topic. The questions should sound neutral and not hinting towards a wanted answer, such as looking for frustration or challenges. We should also include an inclusion and exclusion criteria for each target user group we are going to interview.

Week 4
We needed to find the key insights from each interview, and update our Figma Jam Board. We also needed to include all the transcripts, participant consent form and videos into the google drive. We should highlight the key information and gather them into clusters.

Week 5 
We should combine our ideas and finalise them after doing the crazy 8 activity. Our problem statement should be in a smaller sentence and straight to the point. The How Might We is okay, as it answers the problem statement. Update our slides.

Week 6
Update the Figma Jam Board and the presentation slides. Continue finalising the ideas into something more solid.

Week 7 
Public Holiday.

Week 8
Our idea was interesting and something that could work, and we should develop more solid ideas and create the prototype. We had other minor feedback to change our some aspects our slides, such as not making it too cluttered or making it clearer.

Week 9
Make the app and plushy related to the theme of Mori. Continue developing the prototype.

Week 10
Sketches and wireframes are okay, but make the labels clearer and easier to read. Continue developing the sketches into the prototype. Add resources and materials the prototype will need. If the plushy is supposed to be fluffy and soft, make the sketch reflect that.

Week 11
Some pages like the homepage, contact page and navigation bar were too small and had cluttered information, which will be hard for users to see. We should space them out better and also add the information and pictures inside to complete the Hi-fi prototype.

Week 12
The prototype should have a smoother flow and work properly, and have consistent design. Fix the bugs and flow of the app. Continue the Mori plushy prototype and show a more labelled and coloured prototype. It would be good if there is a 360 degree turn of the 3D model.

Week 13
Finish the prototype and finalise the designs and colours. 

Week 14
There were some issues saying our prototype did not fully focus on the solution meant only for caregivers, and that many features were redundant and could be found elsewhere instead of our product. The Mori Plushy was not well received, commenting that the plushy would not help comfort the caregiver, and thus not solving the main problem. Lastly, we should focus on developing the chat feature so caregivers can easily talk to a robot or A.I. that focuses on giving accurate caregiver information and emotional support. 



Reflection
1. Concrete Experience (What did you do?)
a) What specific topic, project, or task did you focus on during this module?
I was the group leader of this project, so I mostly helped direct the discussion and project to what we want to focus on and achieve. I did the research, the making of the slides for our presentation, and different parts for each design thinking phase of the project. I managed to get one interviewee for the healthcare professional interview, and put in the input and gathered the key takeaways. I helped my group form the problem statement, how might we from the insights we gathered, and later formed the persona for the healthcare professional. Later on, during the ideation stage, I helped come up with several ideas, and after choosing a topic, used the SCAMPER method to finalize our idea. As for the prototype stage, I was mostly doing the UI/UX part, which is making an app that is attached to our robot plushy, and the user flow along with the information architecture and wireframe.


b) What actions did you take, and what was the immediate result of your work?
I usually take initiative to do the tasks first, so my other members could understand my direction or help me complete the tasks later on. I completed each part mentioned above – sometimes I do it with my members, or I do it separately, depending on the tasks. As for the final prototype, we worked on it together, but I mostly did the flow of the app, first making the wireframe, then using Figma’s prototype planning, made the app work to see the overall design. I also organized most of the files and slides, making sure everything is properly labelled and indicated, while staying concise and have a similar design.


c) What challenges or surprises did you encounter while completing this task?
There were many challenges during this project. Since I just started my specialization, there were parts where I still have not learned, and was trying to figure it out myself. But I could still ask help from my members or classmates, which helped. Many times, I was confused or did not know what exactly we needed to accomplish for our task, but we managed to put our best effort into it. The main difficulty was getting interviews and completing the prototype. This topic on healthcare, with very specific needs is difficult to get people who are free and willing to be interviewed so we could get their insights. In fact, we were short of one healthcare professional interviewee, as we couldn’t get a person in the short time. Additionally, the caregivers we interviewed couldn’t test our prototype, so we had to leave that part out too. The prototype took some time too, as we had to figure out how to make certain adjustments or use some tools from scratch.


2. Reflective Observation (How did you feel and react?)
a) How did you feel during the process (e.g., confident, frustrated, confused, or excited)?
Many times, I felt frustrated and confused, because I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to fulfill for some tasks. This is a difficult topic to cover, and some processes feel impossible with the time constraints, and didn’t know when to start. But with the help of my members, I managed to do what I could and helped me feel less frustrated when doing this project.


b) What strengths did you discover in your own skills or knowledge during this module?
I discovered that I am usually all-rounded and can do any part of the project. Unless it is a specific task like making a 3D module, I could learn how to do things so I could fulfill a task. I am better at discussing and bringing the group to a certain direction while we work together, rather than making decisions on my own.


c) How did your peers or instructors respond to your work, and what did you learn from their feedback?
They responded well, but some areas of the project should be refined, such as making the prototype more focused on the caregiver only and needing to find time to do the testing stage. The work is well done, but some parts were redundant and not needed, which is saddening to hear about when we worked really hard on those parts too. I learned that we need to just sketch everything out and give a very rough prototype, such as wireframes and ideas only, so that we could test and fix from that stage first before working on a final prototype.


3. Abstract Conceptualization (What does it mean?)
a) How does this experience connect to the theories or concepts taught in the lectures?
This experience helped improved my overall understanding of each stage of the design thinking stages, and how important it is to make a well-designed idea or product. The lectures cover the topics for each stage and what we should do. I could carry on this information into the future.


b) What new insights or mental models have you developed about this subject?
I have gained the mental model of the design thinking stages, and what we should do in each project moving forward to ensure a well-designed idea that fulfills the user needs. The insights I gained was to know how important it is to gather user’s needs and opinions into the work and idea, so that we could make something productive instead of just jumping straight ahead. The process is constant and should be done at each stage so that feedback is provided and we could continuously refine our project.


c) What mistakes did you make, and what do they teach you about how this subject works?
From what I previously mentioned, we didn’t manage to test our products with the interviewees or any users in our target user group, and this had us stuck for a bit as we couldn’t get feedback that would have helped refined our project prototype much more. We could time our time management better in the future, with an actual calendar and planner for each stage and week of the process.


4. Active Experimentation (How will you use this?)
a) How will you apply what you learned in your next module, future career, or personal projects?
I will apply the design thinking stages for whatever project I do in the future. It should matter what users want and design based on empathy, so that it could be relevant and useful to many. Communication, critical thinking skills and other technical skills I learned and used in this project will also benefit me for any future projects.


b) What specific skills or habits do you need to change or improve next time?
I need to learn how to manage my time better, and to plan out each step further so we could plan everything down and finish it in a given time. I wasn’t sure about the goals and instructions, so I should confirm and know each step till the end first from the very beginning. I need to improve on my UI/UX skills to help provide better solutions and ideas in the future.


c) What is your immediate next step to continue mastering this topic?
I will apply the skills I have learned into each project I do in the future, so that I could remember how each process is done and that each stage is covered. I will improve the skills I mentioned above and put them into practice into my future projects.




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