Social Media Innovation for the Young at Heart How Faichi helped its client build a social networking site exclusively for Senior Citizens About our client The idea of building a social network for Senior Citizens i.e. Sentizens.com is conceptualized by Zlife Systems Pvt. Ltd. and supported by one of the renowned builders of India, Paranjpe Schemes Constructions Ltd. This is an extension to their unique initiative i.e. Athashri. Athashri is one of its kind housing projects where the structure, design and facilities are built keeping the convenience of senior people in mind. There are several Athashri societies in Pune and the new centers being launched in Coimbatore, Baroda & Chennai. Problem: The demographic overlooked Citizens who are 55+ years and older are changing all over the world. They are living longer, are more active, and becoming increasingly literate online. There are currently 39 million people aged 55 and older using Facebook, Twitter, and Skype, making them the fastest growing age demographic on these sites. Unfortunately, none of the current social networking sites cater to specific needs of Senior Citizens. Currently in India alone, there are 98Million people who are 60+ which will rise to around 173Miliion by 2026 i.e. 12.6% of the Indian population. With these numbers in mind, our client wanted to build a dedicated social networking platform that focusses on the holistic living needs of senior citizens. Copyright 2014, Faichi, All Rights Reserved. www.faichi.com 1
The Faichi Solution Together with our client, we chose Drupal 7 as the Open source technology to build this social networking platform. Initially it was a big challenge to understand and customize the site as per the senior people s needs, with client s inputs and our expertise in Drupal Development; we were able to rapidly create this unique website. The major requirement was to develop a social platform for senior citizens where they can share, collaborate, learn and avail variety of one stop services with a focus on holistic living. Some of these needs are: Articles & Classes on yoga & fitness. Contacts of doctors, specialists & emergency services Sharing memories, posts, photos & thoughts. Engage in Groups Articles Classes Groups The Articles & Services on Travel destinations. Reminders for travel dates & document information Articles & Services on financial services. Reminders for payments & documents Articles, Groups & Camps info on wellness programs Engagement Overview Time to Market is of the essence. In order to speed things up we used Drupal Commons 3 for prebuilt applications and adopted Drupal modules like Panels Ajax tabs to show today s and upcoming events Performance of the site was a prerequisite due to the anticipated huge traffic flow on the site. We used Drupal modules Memcache & XHPr and increased RAM to handle more requests.faichi team developed new Drupal modules for customised features like Advance clock to show clocks of different time zones & Multiple Skype plugin to display contacts and their user status Faichi deployed a dedicated team of 6 resources including designer, developers, QA & Project manager Copyright 2014, Faichi, All Rights Reserved. www.faichi.com 2
The Outcome After an accelerated journey of requirement gathering, development & testing, one highly interactive yet user friendly social networking platform for senior citizens came to life i.e. www.sentizens.com Our experience in UI/UX design helped us create a clean interface which is easy to scan and focused on user experience with clear call to action. We also did Facebook integration so that the user can Login using his/her existing account. Sentizens offers most of the essential features of popular social websites that includes posting, sharing, liking and joining groups. But besides this, Sentizens offers several innovative features which are designed and developed exclusively for senior people like: Option of increasing Font size for the better readability Event reminders as default setting at one hour before the event, if they forget to set reminders Skype integration to connect directly with their loved ones from the application itself. Clocks of different time zones worldwide My Wallet: To store important/emergency contacts as well as reminders for crucial document information like passport & bill payments Content curated articles on health, finance, travel, hobbies and spirituality Services available in proximity to their society & their addresses & contacts stored in My essentials list e.g. plumber, dairy, shopping malls, movie theatres, restaurants & much more Copyright 2014, Faichi, All Rights Reserved. www.faichi.com 3
Wireframe for post login user specific features The Faichi Difference Core strength in Drupal development allowed us to successfully build the platform in Drupal 7. It helped the client to launch beta version faster & reduce time to market Used Agile Methodology for development, enabling better collaboration and quick delivery. Synergizing with the client in scaling up the business model through phase wise development, ongoing support & Mobile App conceptualization. Copyright 2014, Faichi, All Rights Reserved. www.faichi.com 4
Client Speak Sudhir Alekar, CEO and Co-founder, Sentizens.com When we were looking for companies to develop software portal, we made it clear that we are looking for a development partner and not just a vendor. Faichi Solutions was one of the very few companies which understood this and has been working with us in a partner mode since. Being a newly formed startup, we wanted to focus on the functionality, services and the business growth. Having a reliable partner like Faichi gave us a chance to focus on the business aspect, rather than getting tied down by software development. Mr. Sudhir Alekar, a true technology visionary who holds over 25 years of experience in software product development as well business development in USA, Europe and India. He held engineering as well as management positions in technology leading companies in USA including Oracle, Oblix and RedBrick Systems. Most recently, he has worked as the Senior VP (Business Development) at Persistent Systems Ltd., India. About Faichi Solutions Faichi Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is a technology company specializing in outsourced product development and setting up offshore development centers. We hold expertise in technologies such as Drupal, Java, Mobile and UI/UX development. Established in 2009, with a vision to transform the outsourced product engineering landscape through technical excellence and delivery model innovation. Faichi Solutions has successfully delivered some of the most complex technology projects through partner collaboration & agile processes. The company has developed proven frameworks for several platforms which reduce time-to-market while delivering consistent quality and customer satisfaction, as evidenced by strategic partnerships that span several years. To know more visit: www.faichi.com or mail us at inform@faichi.com USA India Faichi Solutions Inc. Faichi Solutions Pvt. Ltd. 2023 Mandelay Pl 504, Accord IT Park, Baner Road San Jose, CA 95138 Pune, Maharashtra 411045 Tel: +1 (408) 769-4941 Tel: +91-20-65291435 Copyright 2014, Faichi, All Rights Reserved. www.faichi.com 5