Willo

It’s the one thing we all have in common, a service we will all use and experience in our lifetime. Yet the industry of funerals remains one of the last significant human milestones untouched by design innovation. The industry of death is awaiting positive disruption, Willo is an industry first, a concept reimagining the funeral service providing a user experience people really want. A service for modern life, integrating technology people love and already enjoy.

As part of my project at Loughborough university I set about reimagining how we could deal with the disposing of the body and ceremonial planning of funerals. I believe the solution Willo fits into the category disruption as it reimagines an activity unchanged in decades and becoming unfit for modern life. The solution disrupts by creating new user behaviours and removes existing pain points with the current service provision available. Through research we knew people of early 20, 30 and 40 something individuals lived further away from the family home whilst balancing the demands of a busy life.

One example is the behaviour of remote collaboration allowing anybody to contribute to funeral planning regardless of one’s location. This allows family to come together to plan the perfect send off. Whilst making a very complex service, data and legal requirements simplified. Allowing an individual to plan a funeral end to end with support at every step, you the user becomes the expert as Willo makes complexity simplified.

By bringing funeral planning to the living room it opens the service to an entirely new group of users whom are currently neglected. Willo is designed to work on accessibility friendly devices removing existing barriers. All the more powerful when those with physical or mental disabilities now have equal opportunity to feel part of funeral arrangement of a deceased loved one. Willo ensures no matter who you are or location, you can join in the celebration of a deceased loved one’s life. Providing them the send-off they deserve.

The next disruptive element is shifting user behaviour in planning and personalisation. A funeral is a celebration of a decease’s life, showcasing the impact and how greatly they will be missed. Willo disrupts by providing full customisation at each stage of decision making, its purpose is customisation as standard. Introducing an entirely new outlet for expressing one’s emotions and therefore shift current perception of the funeral as a negative event to a positive celebration of life and beyond.

Take a look at a brief introduction to Willo and process followed.

Take a look at Willo in action with the below link to the video playlist.