Beacon
A digital literacy platform that helps older adults learn everyday online skills, stay safe from scams, and get help without feeling embarrassed.
View Prototype
Year
2025–2026
Platform
Desktop
Role
UX Designer
The Problem
Scams, pop-ups, and constant updates make it easy to feel lost.
One confusing moment is often enough to make someone give up.
Hard to Spot a Scam
Many older adults can't tell a real alert from a fake one.
Lost After Every Update
When an app or website updates and things move around, people think they broke something.
Helpers on Call
The people they lean on end up answering tech questions while juggling work and school.
The Solution
Lessons Matched to Their Level
A few simple questions place each person at a starting level that fits their comfort with technology.
Practice That Builds Confidence
Short lessons ask real-life questions, like which password is safest, and explain every answer.
Ask Anything, Anytime
Beacon answers questions as they come up. People can even share a screenshot to ask if a message is safe.
Help From Someone They Trust
When people want a person instead of AI, they can message or call a helper or reach the Beacon team.
Background
English isn't my parents' first language. Growing up, I helped them fill out forms, read documents, and figure out new technology. I wanted to design something that gave older adults that same support in a way they could use on their own.
Beacon is a digital literacy platform I designed. I handled the research, design, and testing on my own. I was really designing for two people at once. The older adult trying to stay independent and the person they lean on when something online goes wrong.
One caregiver I interviewed described what happens when her mom sees something confusing online:
"She won't even try, she just freezes."
Interview participant – caregiver for her parents
Research
I wanted to know what makes the internet feel hard for older adults. I looked at the tools already out there, then talked to older adults and the people who help them.
Competitive Analysis
I compared 3 tools built for older adults: Candoo Tech, GrandPad, and GetSetUp.
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What They Do Well: Each one is designed with older adults in mind. GetSetUp's classes are even taught by older adults, which builds trust.
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What They Miss: Help isn't there in the moment. Candoo Tech has no live chat, GetSetUp runs on scheduled Zoom classes, and GrandPad only works on its own tablet.
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Where Beacon Fits: Beacon is a calm guide that stays with people while they search and learn online. It pairs step-by-step lessons with quick ways to reach someone they trust.
User Interviews
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Who I Talked To: 3 older adults (ages 55 to 82) and 3 caregivers (ages 24 to 33) who often help with tech.
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How I Sorted It: I wrote my notes on sticky notes and grouped them into the patterns that came up around confidence, safety, and getting help online.
What I Found
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Confidence, Not Skill: One confusing screen or pop-up was often enough to make someone stop trying.
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Real or Fake?: Older adults couldn't tell real alerts from scams. One had her email hacked and now keeps a separate email just for bills.
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Updates Feel Like Starting Over: When an update moved things around, people thought they'd broken something. As one put it, "I just figured it out and now it's different again."
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Helpers on Call: Caregivers were the go-to tech support while juggling work and school.
Define
I turned my interviews into 3 personas. Josie and Maria are older adults who want to do more online on their own, but one bad experience can shake their confidence. Melanie is a daughter who gets the call whenever something goes wrong. Beacon needed to build Josie and Maria's confidence so Melanie wouldn't have to step in as often.
How Might We…
Ideation
My first idea was a new browser with a built-in AI guide that walked people through things like online forms, step by step. Two things changed that. Older adults already use browsers they know for email and daily tasks, so switching felt like a lot to ask. Early feedback also showed the word "AI" could make people nervous. So Beacon became one place to learn online skills and contact someone they trust, with the AI assistant as just one part of it. Four ideas guided every screen:
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Every icon has a text label so no one has to guess what it does
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Each assessment screen asks one question to keep things simple
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Help is always one click away whenever something feels confusing
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Text stays large with a zoom button to make it even bigger
First Concept Storyboard
I sorted my feature ideas into four groups based on my research:
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Must-Have: An AI assistant that answers questions, a way to message a trusted helper, voice input so people can talk to the assistant instead of typing, scam alerts, and a navigation tour people can revisit anytime.
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Nice to Have: Saved lesson progress, quick tips while learning, and a review step before submitting important forms.
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Surprising and Delightful: A practice mode for things like spotting scams, short lessons right when they're needed, and encouragement when someone hesitates.
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Can Come Later: Form autofill with helper approval and a weekly browsing report.
I ran a card sort with 4 people (ages 24 to 82) to see how they'd group Beacon's features. All 4 put the safety features together, so I built safety into the lessons instead of hiding it in one menu. When a label was unclear, people guessed. One person put screen sharing under Settings and said:
"If I don't know, I'd probably just go back to Settings."
So I chose menu names that say exactly what's inside, like Lessons and Get Help.
I turned the card sort results into a sitemap for learners and helpers.
Learners and helpers start differently. Learners answer a few questions to find their starting level. Helpers can handle setup for them instead. They create an account, pick the learner's starting level, take care of the plan and payment, and send an invite.
Before adding any color, I laid out each screen in grayscale wireframes.
Design
Older adults told me one confusing moment was enough to make them quit. So each screen focuses on one task and makes the next step clear:
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Simple Starting Questions: The starting assessment asks one question at a time with large answer buttons.
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Learn by Answering: Each lesson starts with a question to see what someone already knows. A right answer moves them forward. A wrong answer opens a short explanation and a tip.
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Zoom When You Need It: Small text is hard for many older adults to read. A zoom bar at the bottom lets people make everything bigger at any time.
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One Stop for Help: The Support Center brings the AI assistant, a trusted helper, and the Beacon team together on one screen.
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One Typeface: I used DM Sans for everything. One font keeps screens simple and easy to read.
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Soft, Accessible Colors: I tested several palettes and chose calm greens that passed accessibility checks.
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Matching Icons: I redrew every icon so they share the same filled style and rounded corners. Each one has a text label.
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A Lighthouse Logo: The logo is a lighthouse, a simple nod to the name Beacon. I first explored an arrow inside a circle, but my mentor pointed me back to the lighthouse I started with. Early versions looked a little like penguins, so I refined the shape until it read clearly as a lighthouse.
Testing & Iterations
I tested a clickable prototype with 3 older adults and 2 helpers. I ran some sessions remotely and some in person. Each one lasted 20 to 30 minutes. Testers worked through these tasks:
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Taking the starting assessment and creating an account
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Following the welcome tour and exploring the homepage
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Completing a lesson and checking their progress
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Using the AI assistant and sending a message to a helper
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Feedback: The password tips sat at the bottom of the page, so testers didn't see them until after they had made a password. They expected a checklist like the ones on most sign-up pages.
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Final Iteration: A checklist now appears next to the password box. Users can see every rule as they type.
Tested Version
Updated Version
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Feedback: The welcome tour felt separate from the product. Several testers asked if they were already using Beacon or just watching a demo.
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Final Iteration: Right after users create an account, a short tour now runs on the actual homepage. They learn what each button does before exploring on their own.
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Feedback: I had left "AI" out of the labels, but one helper suggested naming it clearly. Seeing the word would help older adults grow comfortable with AI and the terms around it.
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Final Iteration: "Beacon Companion" became "Beacon AI Assistant." Users can now tell right away when they're getting help from AI.
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Feedback: On the lessons page, testers couldn't always tell which lesson they were on or what to do next.
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Final Iteration: I rearranged the page so the next lesson sits at the top in a dark green card. A Start Lesson button at the bottom gives a second way in.
Tested Version
Updated Version
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Why: My next steps after testing included refining the colors and bringing more of the Beacon brand into the screens.
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What Changed: I swapped the teal for a soft purple and blue gradient. This version hasn't been tested with users yet.
Tested Version
Visual Refresh
Results
Testers finished most tasks on their own with few errors. They grew more confident as they went, especially after the starting assessment and their first lesson. The strongest areas were the calm tone, the question-based lessons, and the safety content. Testers said the scam examples matched things they had dealt with in real life.
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For Older Adults: The question-based lessons felt interactive and the gentle feedback boosted their confidence.
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For Helpers: Testers knew where to find help and liked being able to share a screenshot.
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On Readability: Testers loved the zoom button. Some also suggested making the smallest text bigger from the start.
Final Prototype
Final Thoughts
Working on Beacon changed how I look at every product. I notice right away when a design assumes everyone already knows how technology works. It also showed me how often new products leave older adults out. Along the way, I learned to stop designing every screen to perfection in Figma. Hearing testers pick apart my design stung at first. Most of their feedback was right and it made Beacon better. Testing is now the part of the process I look forward to most.
Next Steps
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A Dashboard for Helpers: Give helpers one place to follow the progress of the person they support and answer their questions.
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A Built-In Scam Checker: Check emails, texts, and links for scams before someone clicks or replies.
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A Working Language Toggle: Let people learn in Spanish and other languages. This goes back to why I started Beacon.
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Test the New Look: Run a round of testing on the gradient design and check text sizes with older adults.
What I'm Most Proud Of: Turning something personal into a real product. Beacon started with me helping my parents online. It grew into a place where older adults can build their skills and ask for help without feeling embarrassed. Testers found it friendly and supportive, not intimidating. That's exactly what I hoped for.