Elderly AI App
An iOS companion app designed for users 65 and older. Built, shipped, and published to the App Store in 10 weeks.
Designed for clarity, built for confidence
Four features built for people who find most apps overwhelming
Zero to App Store in 10 weeks
Overview
AI built for the people who need it most
The idea came from noticing how much of the existing AI landscape is built for tech-savvy users. Tools like ChatGPT assume you know what a prompt is. We wanted to build something for older adults who might benefit the most from AI but find most interfaces overwhelming.
We focused relentlessly on one question: can a 70-year-old who has never used a smartphone understand this immediately?
"My 74-year-old mother can actually use this. Finally an app that doesn't assume everyone is 25."
Design Decisions
Every pixel was decided by asking one question
Can a 70-year-old who has never used a smartphone understand this immediately? That meant large buttons, 20px body text as the floor, high-contrast white cards, and exactly three primary actions on the home screen.
We shipped without a hamburger menu, a buried settings icon, or any gesture-based navigation. All primary actions are reachable in one tap from home.
Design is not just visual. It is understanding your user deeply enough to anticipate their confusion before it happens.
Five things that were harder than expected
What I Learned
First time taking something from zero to the App Store
The biggest lesson: design is anticipating confusion before it happens. The second: the gap between "it works" and "it ships" is enormous, and most of that gap has nothing to do with code.
I also learned how to gather qualitative feedback from non-technical users, navigate App Store policy, and think seriously about user acquisition and retention.