Unelmatehdas

In the spring of 2019, ARVA ry wanted to increase the impact of its work for the benefit of the elderly. A new concept was created for this purpose: the Unelmatehdas (Dream Factory) portal, an open channel for making the dreams of individual dreamer’s a reality.

One of the considerations when designing the portal was that, down the line, it should also allow anyone to express their dreams. The goal of the project was to provide the lives of the elderly with joyful moments and fond trips down memory lane, while taking into account the bigger picture: building a new culture for the elderly that highlights their individuality and uniqueness.

The project kicked off by mapping the existing role of charity in ARVA’s operations via people who had participated through different channels. The idea was to design the new portal so that it would evoke emotions and dreams, both in the people collecting the dreams and those making them come true. By interviewing and engaging older people, partners and ARVA’s employees, a clear vision was created of what the new service should be like and what its impact should be.

The technical implementation sought to strike a balance between quality and cost-effectiveness. The end result was a portal that makes it possible to finance the dreams of the elderly, either in part or in full. The payment transactions to fund the dreams were integrated via the Checkout.fi service.

The final product published was the first version of the web-based portal, which will also be very easy to develop in the future. The portal provides the users with a new personal way to do charity work in areas that the users find personally interesting. Everything happens transparently and in the service of the contributors. Even though the portal has only been active for a short while, several dreams have already been realized.

In addition to the benefactors, the Unelmatehdas portal acts as an important information channel for engaging new partners. What’s more, it creates a foundation for developing old-age culture as a whole.