Margaux Reynolds Shu Ou, and Charlie Hodges
ID Research Katherine Bennett Summer 2017
OBJECTIVE What does it mean to search for love in the later years of life?
RESEARCH What is their Experience?
How do they see the world?
What is the Motivation?
DATERS SPECIFICATIONS: People over 65 years of age and actively dating.
DATERS SPECIFICATIONS: People over 65 years of age and actively dating.
Judy, 72 “I still miss living with someone.”
DATERS SPECIFICATIONS: People over 65 years of age and actively dating.
Judy, 72
“Mary,” 66
“I still miss living with someone.”
“There just aren’t many good men out there.”
DATERS SPECIFICATIONS: People over 65 years of age and actively dating.
Judy, 72
“Mary,” 66
Robert, 65
“I still miss living with someone.”
“There just aren’t many good men out there.”
N/A
DATERS SPECIFICATIONS: People over 65 years of age and actively dating.
Judy, 72
“Mary,” 66
Robert, 65
“Alejandro,” 69
“I still miss living with someone.”
“There just aren’t many good men out there.”
N/A
“I think I’m in love!”
DATERS SPECIFICATIONS: People over 65 years of age and actively dating.
Judy, 72
“Mary,” 66
Robert, 65
“Alejandro,” 69
Steve, 72
“I still miss living with someone.”
“There just aren’t many good men out there.”
N/A
“I think I’m in love!”
“I can’t forget...”
EXPERT KEN SOLIN: A Boomer Dating Expert Specializing in Women Over 50. Solin has written about boomer sex, dating, and relationships for more than a decade, and is a dating expert and columnist for The Huffington Post, AARP, About.com, and Maria Shriver.
TOOL KIT Timeline
Dixit Cards
Pile Sort
KEY TAKE-AWAYS: - Almost no one uses the stickers. - Participants not sure what’s the “right” way. - A good ice breaker.
What is their Experience?
Timeline
KEY TAKE-AWAYS: - Changed the focus from what happened to what they felt. - Hard for some participants to relate to the abstract images. - Successful tool to compare now and then.
How They See The World
Dixit Deck
KEY TAKE-AWAYS: - Discussion lead to changing the arrangement of the cards. - Window to understand how the participant defined words. - The survey revealed many subtle contradictions.
What Is Their Motivation
Pile Sort
FINDINGS
SELF-ASSESSMENT “I’m old, and so are the men. No one wants to be reminded we’re over 70.”
FINDINGS
FIRST IMPRESSIONS “I really put my best foot forward, but then I meet these people and they look so shlubby. It’s not who I thought I was going to meet.”
FINDINGS
ONLY ONE WAY IN “Gotta start from somewhere...”
FINDINGS
WAITING “I never heard from him again!...I can handle rejection. What I don’t like is the not knowing.”
FINDINGS
NOSTALGIA “In my mind, I kept remembering what it was like 18 years ago. In the end, it just wasn’t the same.”
THEMES SELF-ASSESSMENT Women vs. Men Willingness to Participate Shame or Denial Society’s Hurdles
Shop SelfWork Reflection
Debrief
The Search
Out
Therapy Talking
Process
First Contact
Out
THEMES SELF-ASSESSMENT
ONE WAY IN So much History Priorities Evolve No Merit for Experience Mixed Expectations
Shop SelfWork Reflection
Debrief
The Search
Out
Therapy Talking
Process
First Contact
Out
Back n Forth
Out
THEMES SELF-ASSESSMENT
ONE WAY IN
FIRST IMPRESSION Youth vs. Aging Location Financial Exchange Mixed Expectations
Shop SelfWork Reflection
Debrief
The Search
Out
Therapy Talking
Process
First Contact
Out
Back n Forth
Out
First Date
Out
THEMES SELF-ASSESSMENT
ONE WAY IN
FIRST IMPRESSION
THE WAITING Self Doubt Thick Skin Face to Face Honest and Up-Front
Shop SelfWork Reflection
Debrief
The Search
Out
Therapy Talking
Process
First Contact
Out
Back n Forth
Out
First Date
Out
The Wait
Out
THEMES SELF-ASSESSMENT
ONE WAY IN
FIRST IMPRESSION
THE WAITING
NOSTALGIA Long Lost Love Long Lost Youth Long Lost Identity/Era Missed Opportunities
Shop SelfWork Reflection
Debrief
The Search
Out
Therapy Talking
Process
First Contact
Out
Back n Forth
Out
First Date
Out
The Wait
Out
More Dating
Out
New Love
Out
THEMES SELF-ASSESSMENT
ONE WAY IN
FIRST IMPRESSION
THE WAITING
NOSTALGIA Long Lost Love Long Lost Youth Long Lost Identity/Era Missed Opportunities
Shop SelfWork Reflection
Debrief
The Search
Out
Therapy Talking
Process
First Contact
Out
Back n Forth
Out
First Date
Out
The Wait
Out
More Dating
Out
New Love
Out
THEMES SELF-ASSESSMENT
ONE WAY IN
FIRST IMPRESSION
THE WAITING
NOSTALGIA Long Lost Love Long Lost Youth Long Lost Identity/Era Missed Opportunities
Shop SelfWork Reflection
Debrief
The Search
Out
Therapy Talking
Process
First Contact
Out
Back n Forth
Out
First Date
Out
The Wait
Out
More Dating
Out
New Love
Out
THEMES SELF-ASSESSMENT
ONE WAY IN
FIRST IMPRESSION
THE WAITING
NOSTALGIA Long Lost Love Long Lost Youth Long Lost Identity/Era Missed Opportunities
Shop SelfWork Reflection
Debrief
The Search
Out
Therapy Talking
Process
First Contact
Out
Back n Forth
Out
First Date
Out
The Wait
Out
More Dating
Out
New Love
Out
THEMES SELF-ASSESSMENT
ONE WAY IN
FIRST IMPRESSION
THE WAITING
NOSTALGIA Long Lost Love Long Lost Youth Long Lost Identity/Era Missed Opportunities
Shop SelfWork Reflection
Debrief
The Search
Out
Therapy Talking
Process
First Contact
Out
Back n Forth
Out
First Date
Out
The Wait
Out
More Dating
Out
New Love
Out
THEMES SELF-ASSESSMENT
ONE WAY IN
FIRST IMPRESSION
THE WAITING
NOSTALGIA Long Lost Love Long Lost Youth Long Lost Identity/Era Missed Opportunities
Shop SelfWork Reflection
Debrief
The Search
Out
Therapy Talking
Process
First Contact
Out
Back n Forth
Out
First Date
Out
The Wait
Out
More Dating
Out
New Love
Out
THEMES SELF-ASSESSMENT
ONE WAY IN
FIRST IMPRESSION
THE WAITING
NOSTALGIA Long Lost Love Long Lost Youth Long Lost Identity/Era Missed Opportunities
Shop SelfWork Reflection
Debrief
The Search
Out
Therapy Talking
Process
First Contact
Out
Back n Forth
Out
First Date
Out
The Wait
Out
More Dating
Out
New Love
Out
THEMES SELF-ASSESSMENT
ONE WAY IN
FIRST IMPRESSION
THE WAITING
NOSTALGIA Long Lost Love Long Lost Youth Long Lost Identity/Era Missed Opportunities
Shop SelfWork Reflection
Debrief
The Search
Out
Therapy Talking
Process
First Contact
Out
Back n Forth
Out
First Date
Out
The Wait
Out
More Dating
Out
New Love
Out
PAIRINGS SELF-ASSESSMENT
ONE WAY IN
FIRST IMPRESSION
THE WAITING
NOSTALGIA
PAIRINGS SELF-ASSESSMENT
ONE WAY IN
FIRST IMPRESSION
THE WAITING
NOSTALGIA
INSIGHT: The Downward Curve Seniors feel, and are seen as being on the downward curve of life. Being old is loathesome, exhausting, lonely, regretful, burdensome and unwanted.
OPPORTUNITY: Rebrand Old Age Redesign the AARP to provide exclusive dating benefits, not just financial discounts, turning V.I.P.’s into V.I.O.P.’s.
PAIRINGS SELF-ASSESSMENT
ONE WAY IN
FIRST IMPRESSION
THE WAITING
NOSTALGIA
INSIGHT: Only One Way In Seniors have to enter the dating pool in the same line as 20-somethings. There’s no merit for experience, knowledge or history.
OPPORTUNITY: Create Love Capital What if seniors could collect “love capital” allowing them to enter the dating process at stages that match their background? Imagine “Executive” or “Stock Boy?” levels.
PAIRINGS SELF-ASSESSMENT
ONE WAY IN
FIRST IMPRESSION
THE WAITING
NOSTALGIA
INSIGHT: Men Are Too Schlubby Senior women feel men are poorly presented, poorly kept and poorly behaved. Men typically skip the emotional well-being and go straight to seeking a care taker.
OPPORTUNITY: Get Your Shit Together What if design could improve how men currently present themselves? Or educate the youth how to care for their ‘tomorrow,’ like saving for retirement, but in health.
PAIRINGS SELF-ASSESSMENT
ONE WAY IN
FIRST IMPRESSION
THE WAITING
NOSTALGIA
INSIGHT: Where Are Your Parents? Senior men ghost, while women seek face-to-face, authentic engagement.
OPPORTUNITY: Full Accountability Imagine a reward system for honesty and transparency during a first date, a way to score in real-time the behavior of a dater.
PAIRINGS SELF-ASSESSMENT
ONE WAY IN
FIRST IMPRESSION
THE WAITING
NOSTALGIA
INSIGHT: Nostalgia Rules Missed opportunities, lost loves, bygone eras and abandoned identities color the experience for seniors at every stage of the game.
OPPORTUNITY: Get Your Software Up To Date What if Lost Loves could be Reunited, Rekindled or Retried? What if seniors could hold whom they are today as an overwhelming preference to whom they were before?
CONCLUSION What does it mean to search for love in the later years of life?
CONCLUSION People want to experience, share, laugh and love. They need comforting, ackowledgment and belonging. Love is what makes us human. Nothing, not even time, takes that away.
THANK YOU
FINDINGS
“Gotta start from somewhere.”