The challenge – Transparent devices for more accessibility with a cool look
Jakob Bergmeier, Tim Haug, and Moritz Kutschera are the founders of enna and, based on the identification of needs in their own families, they came up with a product that is simple and intuitive to use and allows virtually anyone without prior knowledge to access the digital world. Lead users were found quickly – in fact, their grandparents acted as product testers for the first technical trials and developments.
My grandmother kept complaining that we were constantly sending each other pictures via Whatsapp within the family and that she only noticed when I came to visit. That’s when I knew I had to change something. And that was the birth of enna, so to speak.
Jakob Bergmeier, founder of enna
After the technical pre-developments and first tests confirmed the idea, the design team of HYVE was allowed to support and continued to deal with not building barriers and giving the main target group of digital immigrants of the baby boomer and world war generations, but also generation X and people with handicaps access to the digital world.
The approach – A multidisciplinary team of enna founders and HYVE experts
Designers and engineers formed the core team of the Smart Device for Elderly mission. After market research, HYVE’s designers worked out various design approaches in numerous creative sessions, which were condensed into initial design concepts. In the process, user requirements were always balanced and averaged out with technological requirements.
The basis for a broad approach was, among other things, a study we conducted in which we examined how the visual design of, for example, communication technology developed over the lifetime of the main target group. We asked ourselves: When someone over 75 thinks of modern technology – what image do they have in their mind?
Andreas Beer, Managing Director HYVE
Three concepts were elaborated, design and electronics proposals were created, evaluated, discarded, and pursued.
For many, the final design selected and implemented for enna may not seem particularly progressive and thus less attractive – but that is intentional. We wanted to pick up the main target group exactly where it is. The design deliberately cites a formal aesthetic from the 90s in conjunction with the color scheme used for “technology” at the time. The device is intended to convey security through familiarity and not to create barriers.
Andreas Beer, Managing Director HYVE
At the same time, the design considered that the investment costs for tools remain low due to low complexity and number and that the device can be disassembled entirely and thus repaired in terms of sustainability. In addition, it can be disassembled into all its components and recycled at the end of its life cycle.
The design was refined with each iteration until a design for manufacturing was created. Jakob, Tim, and Moritz accompanied all process steps.
The success – enna Dock, Cards, Tablet and an App
Facetime from vacation, watch a new series in the media library or quickly check whether the bus is on time. Things that we take for granted. And now for senior citizens, too.
Without a touch display, enna brings them into the digital world. Whether video calls, photo albums, live information from the Internet, or access to media libraries and podcasts. There is an enna Card for everything! And all you have to do is put it on the docking station, and off you go.
In addition to the enna Dock, enna has developed the enna App. It runs on the smartphone and is the digital bridge to family and friends. Together you can communicate in the app, plan appointments or simply create new enna Cards for grandma and grandpa.
