Participant 1
The first interviewee has over 30 years of experience within the funeral industry and has managed his own independent funeral business since 1998.
Interview Time: 90 Minutes
Results
• Thought that the funeral business needed to keep up with technology and agreed that social media was becoming an extremely important part of the bereavement journey
• Liked the idea of The Story of Us and advocated that users should have their own individual profiles in which they can write some information about their loved ones
• They should also have the option to upload a profile picture if they choose too, they can always leave the picture blank if they want too, many social media platforms have a picture function now when creating a profile, so they might feel more comfortable having the choice of that function.
• Would invest money into the application as a sponsor but would not advertise on the platform if other services were advertising as well. For example, one of the services they have is transferring cremated remains into glass, but if the company Ashes into Glass were advertising on their as well, they wouldn’t pay to have that service distributed
• Thought the age should be open to under 18s as some teenagers may be very mature and would benefit from the services available
• Approved of the idea of connecting with local charities
• Would be happy to promote an altruistic application
• Thinks it is a good idea to have wider advertising as specific times of the year when people may be particularly struggling (Christmas)
• Thinks one of the biggest and most sensitive issues we could face would be monitoring trolling, we would need to be especially careful about this, as our users are likely to be more vulnerable and be more susceptible to people taking advantage
• Would need to make it accessible for the older users and make sure it has simple to use functions
• Suggested initial advertising take place at the National Funeral Directors Conferences
• Thought that rather than just having a newsfeed function for people to post in, people should have private profiles, For Example, a woman who has lost a five-year-old child, my want to connect with someone who has lost a child of a similar age, being able to share similar stories, may provide more comfort
• Felt there should definitely be a picture sharing function available, so people can share images of their loved ones if they choose too
• Also recommended that pictures be approved by a moderator before they are uploaded, to help with safeguarding
• Thought it would be a good idea to correlate our application with existing charities in the area including Cruise and Simon Says
• Agreed that social media platforms like Facebook provide an alternative outlet for grief, but are not moderate, so people will often take advantage so an application like ours would be a way of potentially putting a stop to this
Participant 2
The second interviewee has over 10 years of experience within the funeral industry working for an independent and family run stonemasons that was established in 1896.
#Interview Time: 60 Minutes
Results
• Main concerns centred around the marketing of the application, maintaining any advertising needed to be appropriate and dignified
• Explains the way her company will only advertise in the yellow pages or online through an external company and doesn’t think it’s appropriate to advertise anywhere else, specifically within hospitals or hospices, as the family may want to see funeral advertisements, if someone has just suddenly passed away, or is in the process of dying
• Thought the idea of The Story of Us was necessary and would be a good application to link up local businesses in the area, so local companies could work together and promote each other
• Thought there should be an age limit, and the application should be marketed towards adults
• Thought it was a good idea to advertise through existing funeral directors and businesses rather than advertising on social media forums
• Thought this sort of application would be something that many people would benefit from
• The company would pay to advertise on the application and would advertise it to their customers as they are keen to get involved with innovation
• Thought social media was so much a part of the grieving process now that it was time there was a local application that could be used
• Thought the trained grief counsellor was a good idea, as were the links to local counselling services as many people will be suffering and want to reach out for help but wont necessarily be aware of how to do so
• Thought the terms and conditions needed to be very thorough and state exactly what we deem to be acceptable behaviour
• Was a bit hesitant about picture sharing content, as people could post images that could cause offence
Participant 3
The third interviewee has over 15 years of experience within the funeral industry working as a funeral director in a small branch of one of the largest funeral chains within the UK
Interview Time: 90 Minutes
Results
• Was really excited about the idea of a social networking application and was informing me that many people come into her office all the time just to unload to her because they don’t want to burden their families, or have no family around to talk too
• Stated how big a problem loneliness and isolation were especially among the older generations, so something that focuses on uniting people would be greatly appreciated
• Was interested in the marketing aspects, believing there was a thin line between what is appropriate, and we need to make sure we didn’t cross it
• Felt like the funeral industry needed to keep up with the changes in technology, as more situations are moving online, and it is the businesses responsibility to keep their clients up to date
• Felt that big companies like the one they were working for would fund this sort of innovation, because they would get widespread and local advertisement in return
• Equally they were more likely to get repeat business if they were affiliated with something that was linked in with a bereavement journey
• Thought it was a good idea to have the application moderated by a trained grief counsellor, as sometimes people may be struggling, but not necessarily recognise that they are, it would be good to have someone online that could spot the signs and reach out if it was necessary to offer help
• Also, many people cannot afford professional counselling services, or would not attend open grief groups, due to stigma or pride, so felt an application like this would be popular
• Felt that nothing like this exists previously, particularly in the local area, so it would fit in nicely with local businesses
• Felt like sometimes it was inappropriate what people share on social media, which is one of the problems of those pages not being moderated
• Claimed as a company they would definitely recommend the application to their families as a mechanism of coping
Participant 4
The fourth interviewee has over 40 years of experience within the funeral industry working as a funeral director an independent and family run company
Interview Time: 60 Minutes
Results
• Thought that social media was the way forward when it came to the bereavement journey, particularly if it is properly moderated and safe
• Felt that many people get taken advantage of on social media, particularly the bereaved because they are the most vulnerable
• Thinks that many local charities would be interested in investing as many companies like to keep up to date with the advancements in technology, and this would be a good way for companies to work together to build something new
• Had concerns about the marketing, because it needs to be advertised in a sensitive and appropriate manner
• Felt they would advertise it within their business if they could see the overall benefit
