2023

2025

2020

2019

2018

2021

2022

2024

2026

Aparna Somvanshi

Quint Bailey

Amanda Kong

Varun Khatri

Nandika Gupta

Individual Credits

Lead Designer

University or Design School

Profile Website

Project Website

Varun Khatri, Aparna Somvanshi, Quint Bailey, Amanda Kong, Nandika Gupta

Design Team

Video (direct link)

Massive innovations in technology are happening at record breaking time. Those without the time, energy and resources to stay up-to-date are bound to get left behind. This is just as true for our generation in the future as it is for the current aging demographic who get left behind because technology is not designed for them. As a result, there is a growing digital divide between older adults and modern technology. The digital divide is between two types of technology users; namely, the digitally adept: those who grew up with technology in their daily lives and use it frequently and digital newcomers: those who did not grow up with technology in their lives and learned to use it in their adult years. According to several research reports, people over the age of 65 are the fastest growing demographic in a lot of countries, including the United States. As an increasing population of older adults chooses to live independently as they age, maintaining their autonomy can be harder when modern technology is not made with older adults in mind.

This digital divide has cut off a whole generation of digital newcomers from effectively using technology. How might we reduce the digital divide between older adults and modern technology to facilitate independent living?

To make the digital world more tangible and easier to navigate for older adults, we designed Molecule: a tablet dock and productivity app system to bridge the gap between the digital and physical world. The dock brings fun and tangible ways for them to interact with technology in their physical space while the app provides a streamlined and accessible experience of the digital world.

The tablet docking case provides easy access to key actions for quick reachability. When attached to the tablet via its USB-C port, the Molecule app is launched. The Molecule physical accessories bring the digital world into your physical space for a more tangible experience. For instance, the app blocks make it convenient to quickly access users’ top applications by having it in their physical space. This makes it easier to launch, close, check the status of, and split-screen apps since it’s in the users’ physical space. 

Molecule is also built from the ground up to support writing as a primary mode of interaction. Text fields are writable, check boxes are checkable, and buttons are tappable.

Molecule’s productivity app home page features a spatial canvas for quick note-taking to jot down thoughts and provides quick access to their Saved Items. The web browser app provides a streamlined and organized view with a focus on important tasks, like notetaking, saving items, and picking up where you left off. The Saved Items feature offers users a centralized location to access web articles, notes, photos, documents, and other things that they’ve saved. Users can see their saved items in different views including a timeline, a scrapbook, by zone, or in a gallery.

Silver Winner in Computer Animation for Graphic Design

Silver Winner in Mobile Responsive Design

Silver Winner in Mobile Interaction & Experience

Gold Winner in Innovative Use of Mobile Technology

Bronze Winner in Branding for Electronics

Silver Winner in Digital Tools and Utilities for Digital Design

Silver Winner in Product or Gadget Design for Social Change

Silver Winner in Education for Social Change

Gold Winner in Product or Gadget Design for Digital Design

Silver Winner in Websites Design for Social Change

Silver Winner in Branding for Services - Other

Silver Winner in Branding for NGO & Non-Profit

Silver Winner in Branding for Household Appliances

Silver Winner in Branding for Entertainment

Silver Winner in UX, Interface & Navigation for Digital Design

Bronze Winner in Interactive Design for Digital Design

Silver Winner in Branding for Social Change