From an unused tablet to weekly video calls with grandchildren
Woman in her 80s · Hoboken, NJ
41 → 6
Home screen icons
Weekly
Video calls
3
Lessons needed
2
Family helpers
The challenge
What was going wrong
A tablet bought as a gift two years earlier had sat unused in a drawer. The home screen carried forty-one icons, the text was too small to read comfortably, and two previous attempts by family members to explain it had left her feeling foolish and reluctant to try again.
The solution
What we built
We simplified the home screen to six large labelled buttons, pre-added her family as favourites with photographs, and delivered three unhurried lessons with the same tutor each time. She now video calls her grandchildren in Oregon every Sunday.
How we approached it
Stage 1
A first visit spent only on what she wanted to do, with no technology touched
Stage 2
Replaced the cluttered home screen with six large labelled buttons
Stage 3
Added five family members as favourites, each with a photograph
Stage 4
Set text and display to a comfortable, readable size
Stage 5
Three one-hour lessons, same tutor, at her pace
Stage 6
Left printed large-print notes in her own words
Stage 7
Installed Remote Helper so her daughter can assist from Oregon
Outcome
Weekly Sunday video calls with grandchildren, unaided
Uses the tablet daily for photographs and news
Her daughter resolves small questions remotely instead of flying out
She has since asked for a fourth lesson on email
“My own children had tried twice and we all ended up cross. The young man who came here never once made me feel slow. I telephone my grandchildren every Sunday now and I do it myself.”
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