Help Me

A digital tool for social housing residents to grow, socialize, and gain independence.

Client:
London Municipality

Project Type:
Digital platform for social
housing residents

Team:
Product Manager, UX Designers, Engineers

Background

Help Me is a digital initiative launched by the London Municipality to help residents in supported housing live more independently. My work focused on Phase 1, which targeted the resident-facing interface.

Phase 2 (the caregivers' UMS platform) had not yet been implemented, but caregiver needs were considered during the research.

My Role:
UX/UI designer — research, concept, wireframes, prototyping, testing

Problem

Residents in supported housing often experience social isolation, a lack of confidence, and difficulty handling daily tasks. Caregivers, in turn, are overwhelmed with manual oversight and lack digital tools to assist them. Most available platforms are too complex, not designed for users with cognitive limitations or low digital literacy.

⚡ Challenge: Designing a digital experience for users with low
Digital literacy and cognitive differences.

Product Goals & Values

Empower residents to complete small tasks independently
Encourage social interaction and self-worth
Provide a simple, motivating interface
Lay groundwork for future integration with caregiver tools (UMS)
Support long-term habit-building through visual progress tracking

User Research

The research showed us that users weren’t lacking motivation — they were overwhelmed by complexity. What they needed most was clarity, emotional support, and simple, guided steps.

Persona 1:
Joe, 45, resident. Struggles with memory and routine. Gets discouraged when results are not immediate. Finds typical apps too complex. Feels lonely and disconnected from others.

Pain Points:

Feelings of isolation
Lack of daily structure
Difficulty understanding complex interfaces
Fear of making mistakes

Persona 1:

Samuel, 38, caregiver. Oversees multiple residents. Lacks tools to track their engagement and provide structured motivation.
Relies on paperwork and face-to-face check-ins.

Pain Points:

High administrative burden
No real-time insight into residents' progress
Difficulty engaging residents consistently

Market Research

We explored habit-building apps, gamified cognitive training tools, and support platforms. Most lacked:

Designing a digital experience for users with cognitive differencesIntegration with caregiving workflows
Simplicity
Features for long-term social and behavioral growth

Concept & Key Features

A step-by-step interface that speaks the user’s language - visually clear, emotionally supportive, and free of distractions. The goal was not to teach technology, but to make it natural with some features:

Task Cards — simple daily activities like “Make breakfast”
Achievement Ladder — visual system showing progress
Motivational feedback — badges, supportive messages, and icons
Accessible onboarding — animated, voice-assisted walkthrough

Testing Insights & Iterations

This phase was critical to making HM intuitive and confidence-building.

Wireframes & Prototyping

Initial wireframes and simple prototypes helped the team validate the idea of straightforward, linear flows. However, due to the specific cognitive needs of our users, effective testing required an almost fully designed interface — only then could we truly observe how users interacted with the experience.