GrandPad apps

GrandPad helped older adults stay in touch through a tablet, while their families shared photos, left comments, and called from iOS and Android companion apps. Those apps were a private space for family life, but they had drifted apart. Android lacked features available on iOS, and both apps used an inconsistent mix of custom and platform patterns.

I redesigned both companion apps, starting with iOS to establish the visual direction. Alongside bringing the platforms into closer alignment, I focused on the details that made a family conversation easier to follow: playing a voice comment, remembering which photo a reply referred to, and finding an update after its notification was gone.

We didn't have time to build a shared design system for both apps. I used Apple's Human Interface Guidelines and Android's Material Design as the starting points, giving each app navigation and controls familiar to its users.

The designs continued to change during development. On iOS, we replaced the raised posting button shown in these designs with a standard New Post tab. It simplified the implementation while keeping the action in the bottom navigation.

Comments from the GrandPad tablet could be text or audio, but the existing interface didn't distinguish them clearly. Some voice messages were long, and family members needed more control over listening. I added play and pause controls, a duration indicator, and a waveform to make audio comments recognizable and show playback progress.

Long comment threads created another problem: the photo could scroll out of view. I designed a compact preview with the photo and caption that stayed visible as someone read the replies. This also gave people context when they arrived directly from a notification.

The comment field expanded as people typed so they could review a longer reply before posting. A full-screen photo view let them take a closer look when they wanted to.

The shared photo feed was the heart of both apps. Photos from a tablet or phone appeared with the person's name, the time they posted, and a preview of the conversation underneath.

User feedback about complicated family dynamics led me to add the ability to hide posts from specific contacts. Sharing with family still needed to leave room for personal boundaries.

Research surfaced a detail I might otherwise have underestimated: the weather on each contact's profile. Grandparents often started conversations by asking about it. I kept the local weather alongside each person's photos and ways to get in touch. It gave the screen a small piece of everyday context about the person on the other end.

People had no place in the app to review past notifications, a recurring support request. I added a notification center with updates in chronological order and swipe actions to mark them as read. A missed notification now had a home people could return to when they had time to catch up.

On Android, the posting button expanded into two choices: take a photo or choose one from the library. In a later update, we added the ability to share several photos at once. A review grid showed everything selected, with one caption for the group. This kept the posting flow short while letting people check what they were about to share.

Invited family members could create an account directly in the app. Choosing a profile photo was part of that first visit, so the rest of the family could recognize them when they posted or joined a conversation.

Video calling connected family members across GrandPad tablets and the companion apps. Alongside photos and comments, it gave families a way to spend time together in the moment.

Both redesigns shipped. The apps followed their respective platform conventions more closely and gave families clearer ways to listen, reply, share, and catch up.

Looking back, I would have made more time for a shared component library. The platform guidelines gave us a useful starting point, but maintaining two apps still took ongoing work to keep them aligned. A stronger shared reference would have helped carry the consistency of the redesign into later updates.