Emma Coughlin

Industrial Design, 2021

Senior citizens in living communities during the pandemic are especially isolated from visitors that normally help to increase residents social, emotional, and physical worlds. This isolation includes their meals by removing what was once a habitual, joyful part of their day. Residents crave social connection and miss the opportunities to see people. In a response to seniors declining health due to isolation, I designed Weebler: a tool for playful conversation between seniors in nursing homes. Weebler is a device that sits on a residents kitchen table and, when used, can connect residents together while facilitating conversation between them. Residents will press the head of their Weebler to initiate conversation pairing with either someone new or someone they know, hit their Weebler over to hear a new conversation prompt, and speak to the resident on the other line. A Weebler provides seniors with a technology that has one clear use: to have a conversation with someone.

Emma Coughlin is an Industrial Designer originally from Cleveland, Ohio. In addition to her major, she is earning an Engineering Sciences minor specialized in design for healthcare. Her goal is to design products, experiences, and systems that enhance peoples’ lives, both practically and aesthetically. She has always been curious about how and why humans do things which is what inspires her as a designer. She is looking forward to her final semester of design and continuing her job search.