NOW & NEXT
MY ROLE
UIUX Designer
UX Researcher
OVERVIEW
designer
Elaine Zeng
Charlotte Moore
Dianne Aguas
Sofia Lozano
Greeshma Hosalli
This project helps professionals navigate one of life's biggest transitions: retirement through shared guidance and meaningful conversations. The dashboard brings together reflection tools, goal-setting prompts, and supervisor collaboration features, while also connecting users with retirees who have “been there.” Through stories, mentorship, and structured support, the platform empowers employees and managers to prepare for the future with confidence and clarity.
problem OVERVIEW
The current transition into retirement neglects retirees’ emotional needs to reconstruct identity and gain recognition for the value of their life-long contributions and post-retirement impact.
TARGET AUDIENCE
Our platform equips companies and supervisors with practical tools to support employees through retirement transitions. By facilitating smoother departures and maintaining connections with experienced professionals, the service benefits both organizations and their workforce. Supervisors gain resources to manage transitions effectively, ensuring valuable knowledge and relationships are preserved.
BACKGROUND RESEARCH
As people retire, many experience a profound loss of identity, purpose, and social belonging, leading to a 40% higher risk of clinical depression. (Olesen et al., 2015)
Most retirement systems stop at financial guidance, leaving employees to navigate identity shifts alone.
But retirees want more: continued purpose, flexible engagement, and a sense of contribution beyond their former roles.
This gap reveals a clear opportunity: organizations can support healthier retirements by providing emotional guidance, reflective tools, and purpose-oriented programs that empower employees to enter the next chapter with confidence, not fear.
OUR FOCUS
Fostering emotional well-being & purpose in retirement
Cultivate supportive relationships, meaningful engagement, and holistic care systems that help retirees navigate identity transitions, reduce anxiety, and thrive in their next life chapter.
RESEARCH INSIGHTS
Many retirees struggle with anxiety, loss of identity, and purpose approaching and following retirement.
opportunities
In our effort to encourage more individuals to contribute to environmental protection through everyday actions, it becomes essential to identify and engage with additional "potential users." Addressing their specific needs and challenges related to electric vehicles can attract more users, thereby enhancing the societal impact of reducing CO2 emissions among those who are already inclined to drive electric cars.
OPPORTUNITIES
How can retirees be supported emotionally as they redefine their identity without structured work?
INTERVIEW
We conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 retirees and 9 community members to understand emotional and psychological needs around retirement. Each session lasted about 20 minutes, with retirees interviewed in person and community members participating through an online survey. This mixed approach helped us capture both deep personal experiences and broader community perspectives.
TACKLING PROBLEMS
Our research revealed a deep mismatch between what retirees emotionally need and what existing systems provide.
Retirees struggle with identity, purpose, and self-worth as work often defined their value, yet retirement programs—across employers and government—focus mainly on finances.
They also face a lack of flexible, meaningful opportunities that allow contribution without giving up newly gained freedom.
Meanwhile, retirement is culturally framed as an ending, reinforced by family expectations and media narratives that prioritize youth, leaving retirees unsure how to rebuild purpose or imagine new beginnings.
Current programs connect people socially but rarely support introspection, passion rediscovery, or the psychological transition into this new chapter.
CO-CREATION WORKSHOP
Understanding Retirement Through Collective Reflection
To further explore retirees’ emotional needs and everyday challenges, we conducted a co-creation workshop inviting pre-retirees and retirees to share stories, map their concerns, and collaboratively re-imagine what a meaningful retirement transition could look like. Through guided exercises—such as journey mapping, fear unpacking, and aspiration exploration—we identified recurring emotional patterns and unmet needs that financial planning alone does not address.
KEY INSIGHTS
Insight 1: Concerns & Fears in Retirement
Participants expressed anxiety around identity loss, cognitive decline, and social disconnection. Financial stability alone was not enough—many feared losing purpose once their professional roles disappeared.
Insight 2: Support & Social Connection
Retirees highlighted the importance of peer consultation, emotional validation, and role models who have successfully transitioned. They emphasized that structured rituals or recognition moments could help mark this life shift more positively.
Insight 3: Planning & Daily Life
Pre-retirees desired flexible yet supportive planning tools that help them maintain a light structure while exploring interests, passions, and new forms of contribution. They want guidance that adapts to personal rhythms rather than replicating rigid work routines.
USER JOURNEY MAP
PERSONA
IDEATION SUPPORT
Help pre-retirees begin internal reflection on their identity, emotions, and goals to prepare emotionally and mentally for retirement through guided reflection and goal-setting tools.
Equip supervisors to facilitate open, empathetic conversations and co-create personalized retirement plans with pre- retirees, improving transition support, and ensure logistical planning is standardized.
Support retirees in envisioning and designing meaningful post-retirement lives through connecting them with colleagues those who are “doing it well.”
DESIGN SOLUTIONS
Grounding
Journal Prompts, designed to facilitate your reflection and capture your dreams for retirement gradually. Reflection Workbook, resurfacing those dreams and synthesizing them into action pathways to make the most out of your next chapter.
Maintaining Connection and Legacy
Promoting retirement success stories from company peers, enabling pre-retirees to take inspiration from and connect with people who have been through the same thing and have relevant experience.
Transitioning
A Transition Guide, preparing both employees and supervisors for an empathetic and productive conversation, discussing legacy, impact, and knowledge transfer.
A sentiment survey, to capture feelings before and after the conversation, and ensure the employee feels supported and valued, while the
the employer ensures smooth work coverage.
REFLECTION
With the instruction of Professor Sunghan Kim, I learned how to balance diverse perspectives and align different disciplines toward a shared design goal. Collaborating closely with teammates strengthened my ability to synthesize qualitative data into actionable insights and translate them into human-centered design opportunities.
I also deepened my understanding of retirement as a complex emotional and social transition rather than a purely financial one, which reshaped how I approach problem-framing and value creation in service design. Most importantly, I developed greater confidence in facilitating co-creation, negotiating ideas, and iterating rapidly based on real user needs.
