The Nui Care App is a mobile application that aims to make caring for older-aged friends and loved ones in Germany more humane by supporting a carer's routine tasks, such as submitting applications for benefits, organising doctor's appointments, or learning new care approaches with just a few taps. Users can interact with Nui's AI assistant, which responds conversationally across a range of care topics, ensuring that users are empowered to reach their caring potential.

The Nui Care App revolutionises caregiving in Germany, offering comprehensive support, including instant AI-driven assistance and personalised care plans crafted by experts. Caregivers can schedule appointments, apply for benefits, or connect with care experts and fellow caregivers, delivering empathy and assistance for the complexities of informal care. Nui empowers caregivers to reclaim their time for well-being while balancing work and family demands and delivering quality care at home.

PROJECT CONTEXT AND SOLUTION

The Nui Care Redesign and AI enablement project is an acknowledgement of the dynamic and multifaceted nature of caregiving. Through its high degrees of personalisation and its AI assistant, Nui makes caregiving more accessible and more humane.

The main users of Nui are individuals living in Germany, who provide (non-professional) care for one or two loved ones at home. These individuals are often children caring for their parents and are disproportionately female. They frequently belong to the 'Sandwich' generation, simultaneously caring for their own children, while also tending to their parents' needs, all while working in some capacity. Their main challenge lies in time management, while a secondary obstacle involves acquiring and retaining knowledge about the German government support available through their insurers. The rules are often highly complex and demand time these individuals lack, resulting in approximately €12 billion in unclaimed benefits annually, which could significantly improve their quality of life.

Caregivers can reclaim their time in two ways: they can become more organised or have some of their responsibilities reduced, and Nui provides solutions for both approaches. Nui assists users in becoming more organised by providing them with a personalised Care Plan consisting of tasks, along with to-do lists and a calendar to manage appointments. Additionally, Nui simplifies the process of applying for care benefits through users' insurance providers. At the core of Nui lies its AI assistant, which serves as the application's focal point offering guidance on time management and providing explanations to complex questions about government benefits.

The essence of this product is to deliver the right information to the users in the right format and at the right time, tailored to their context and desired objective. We have redesigned Nui from being merely informative to offering a proactive experience that adapts to the user's needs. This evolution is driven by our AI assistant feature that answers inquiries about the intricate bureaucratic rules and regulations surrounding care benefits – something that was previously handled by scheduling a call with a care expert. In addition to the AI assistant, we introduced the concept of Care Paths: curated sets of tasks, articles, benefits to apply for, and other resources designed to guide users on their journey towards realising their caregiving potential.

DESIGN APPROACH

The Nui redesign and AI enablement project aimed to enhance the application' capabilities based on user feedback and long-term strategic objectives. To that end, our emphasis was on conducting user testing and validating each feature or modification throughout the process. We used clickable prototypes and actively engaged in user testing sessions every 2 to 3 weeks throughout the design phase. Additionally, we participated in quality assurance reviews to ensure that the developed features aligned with the intended designs. These user testing sessions provided us with the opportunity to experiment, take risks, and develop a deeper understanding of Nui's customers over time.

SOCIAL VALUES

Nui has always been focused on providing the best tool to people who "care for the heroes of their childhood." Whether it's grandchildren caring for grandparents, children caring for parents, or other family constellations, caregiving is more often than not a collective family effort and is likely to impact every person on Earth at some point in their lives. Nui aims to equip caregivers with the tools and knowledge necessary to deliver excellent care, particularly to those who once cared for them. Nui's redesign aims to alleviate caregiving burdens by ensuring that government funds and other benefits, such as time off for caregiving responsibilities, are accessed and utilised to create a dignified caregiving experience for both the caregiver and the one being cared for.