YouMom
The Project
YouMom is a fictional mobile application that simplifies the pregnancy journey. It provides hopeful and expecting moms with the content, tools and resources needed to build confidence for parenthood.
My Role
Tools
Timeline
UX / UI Designer
User Research
Prototyping
Interaction Designer
Usability Testing
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Figma, Marvel, Miro
5 Months
The Problem
When I became pregnant, I felt initial excitement and then immediately felt overwhelmed with the thought of learning everything during pregnancy. There were endless places to look and a lot of information that I wanted to find, but I didn’t know where to start.
Many women find themselves in this situation and in the cycle of stress and uncertainty during the pre-conception phase. Finding personalized, useful and reliable health information that you actually want and need during this time can be difficult.
The Ask
How can users simply find personalized, useful and reliable health information during the pregnancy journey?
The Outcome
YouMom is an all-in-one solution that provides hopeful and expecting moms with reliable, trustworthy health information, a safe and supportive community, journey tracking tools, a convenient marketplace for all things baby and the resources needed to build confidence for parenthood. Click into interactive prototype to view final designs.
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The Process
Starting with a personal pain point and talking to other users in the same situation, it led me to explore this problem and discover others throughout the pregnancy journey. I used the iterative process of Design Thinking to guide my decision-making. Phases included: Discovery, Design, Validate and Finalize.
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Discovery
Empathize
Design
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Validate, Finalize
Test
Iterate
Phase 1: Discovery
Empathize
During this initial step, I analyzed and drew insights from the following methods:
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Secondary Research
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Competitive Analysis
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User Interviews
1. Secondary Research
I collected data from medical journals, research papers and online article sources around the following topics, in relation to pregnancy:
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Information seeking behavior
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What groups were seeking info
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Main factors causing difficulty in finding info
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Current methods of finding info
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Topics being searched
Key Findings
Heightened interest and need for relevant and reliable information
Internet is a leading source, but can lead to unreliable info and overall anxiety
Nutrition is a key topic; users feel they have more control over it during pregnancy
2. Competitive Analysis
I conducted a heuristic analysis with three top competitors in the current market and examined standout features offered by each application. This analysis identified strengths, weaknesses and what new improvements can be offered.
Flo Health
Supports women at every cycle stage from menstration, cycle predication, preparation for conception, pregnancy, early motherhood and menopause.
Ovia Pregnancy
Helps women conceive, have healthier pregnancies and start families with confidence with a personalized approach to baby development.
The Bump
Targeted towards moms-to-be and first-time parents, provides an interactive and personalized experience with pregnancy tools, parenting tips and baby advice.
Consistency & Standards
User Freedom & Control
Aesthetic & Minimalist Design
Overall Rating
2/5
5/5
3/5
Needs Work
4/5
5/5
4/5
Average
5/5
5/5
4/5
Good
3. User Interviews
After reviewing the screener surveys, I conducted 30-minute interviews with 6 participants - 5 on Zoom and 1 in-person.
Video Interview
I’m trying to balance wanting a lot of info, but also not having so much that it becomes paralyzing.”
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Think about what resources you can provide to new a parent to help them be confident.”
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Pregnancy is so broad and different for every single person and the info is not.”
Interview Insights
Phase 2: Design
Define
In helping to focus on the larger problems and synthesize my interview findings, I used the following methods to identify solutions:
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Affinity Maps
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Empathy Maps
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User Personas
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Problem Statements
1. Affinity Maps
I organized participant observations, quotes and thoughts on to post-it notes. I looked for larger common themes while grouping insights into the following categories:
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Users
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Problems/Need
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Existing Solutions
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Dependent
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Technology
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Expectations
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Ideas
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Process/Journey
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Frustration/Pain Points
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User Behavior/Psychology
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Connection/Social
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Engagement
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Miscellaneous
View the full Affinity Map here.
2. Empathy Maps
After grouping insights and finding overall themes, I created two user personas. The empathy map created a framework for each persona and was guided by the following categories: Think & Feel, Say & Do, Hear and See.
View the full Empathy Map here.
3. User Personas
My two personas embody characteristics and needs of each main target. They include the Millennial Mom-To-Be for the pregnancy phase and the Hopeful Future Mom for the pre-conception phase.
4. Problem Statements
After defining the user personas, I began to frame my “How Might We” (HMW) Questions. Identifying the problem statements first was a crucial step in being able to find with solutions. These questions helped shape the Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
How Might We
Help users find reliable and personalized health info?
Reduce feelings of stress and uncertainty around pregnancy?
Create digestible, consumable and time saving content?
Foster personal connections around pregnancy?
Help users gain confidence in preparing for parenthood?
Ideate
During this critical period in the UX design process, I worked on the following:
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User Stories
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Sitemap
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User Flows
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Sketches & Wireframes
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Style Guide
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High Fidelity Mockups
1. User Stories
To stay aligned with UCD, I brainstormed possible solutions to my users’ problem and defined specific tasks they would want to complete. These essential features and tasks aimed to shape the Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
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View the full list of User Stories here.
I want:
So that:
As a Future or Expecting Mother:
To have a personalized
experience
I receive more relevant information
To foster personal connections and build a network
I feel less alone and hear others experiences
To reduce feelings of stress and uncertainty
I feel confident and happy about what’s to come
2. Sitemap
Once I had an understanding of my user stories, I started to lay out the information architecture which included a sitemap, red routes and sketches. The sitemap illustrates the hierarchy, layout and screen connectedness within the app.
View the full Sitemap here.
Example of Onboarding Flow
3. User Flows
To show how the user will interact and complete tasks, I created common routes within the user journey. Below are two key user flows.
View the final Onboarding Flow here.
Flow 1
As a user, I want to search for and find my desired content.
Flow 2
As a user, I want to track my health progress.
4. Sketches & Wireframes
From rough sketches, I created low fidelity wireframes to go with the red routes of keys screens which formed my wireflows. I conducted an initial round testing to validate my ideas and get quick, feedback to make adjustments before creating high fidelity screens.
Wireflow 1
As a user, I want to search for, find, and save my desired content.
5. Style Guide
In order to create a cohesive visual identity, I created a style guide to use for a consistent design across the product.
Logo
Font Family
Header and Body
UI Components
Color Palette
Icons
6. High Fidelity Wireframes
With a design system in place, I created high fidelity mockups and a prototype in Figma to make the product interactive. I conducted two rounds of usability testing with 10 participants. Testing uncovered pain points in the user experience and defined areas of improvement.
Onboarding
Onboarding
My Track
Marketplace
Community
Menu
Prototype
The prototype was created to transform the project into an interactive state.
Phase 3 & 4: Validate, Finalize
Test Findings & Iterations
During testing, I conducted two separate rounds and identified three main issues in the first round and two main issues in the second round. Below are examples of changes that were implemented in each round.
Round 1
Issue
Solution
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In My Track, unclear what value the yearly tracker was providing. User didn't know what info was showing and if it was applicable to their use case.​​
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Changed calendar to a timeline with updates and milestones up to the current point in the user track.
Issue
Solution
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During Onboarding, users unsure if they needed to fill out all fields or not, which caused slight delay in sign up process.
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After necessary input field was complete, added indicator to remaining fields to show that no other information was required to move to next step.
Round 2
Issue
Solution
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In My Track, To-Do lists weren’t optimized for frequent use. Most users only had interest in part of the feature and wouldn’t use the daily checklist.
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Recategorized To-Do toggle bar with more practical categories; checklist changed to monthly from weekly; all lists changed to be customizable so users can add and remove tasks.
Issue
Solution
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When saving content, unclear where to locate and retrieve content after. Saved Content is available in Menu section, but users need to know to go there.
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Added custom copy to "Saved" page directing users to their saved content and directions on how to find it.
Final Designs
Click into the interactive prototype to view final designs. Or view the final prototype here.
Retrospective
Key Learnings
1. Less is more.
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Throughout the design process, I wanted to make sure that all decisions were based on the users’ ease of use. Keeping a minimalist approach helped to shape UI and UX and stay true to the main goal of creating a stress-free, uncluttered and delightful product. I chose a graphic intensive style rather than a text heavy design.
2. Understand the competition.
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I took the time to fully examine the competition and identify what aspects I wanted to emulate and improve upon, in addition to what I felt led to a bad user experience. A lot of the competition had useful information and content, but was organized in an overwhelming and unhelpful way. My goal was to provide reliable content, but deliver it in a way that was simple, approachable, digestible and enjoyable.
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3. Iteration is key.
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Being open-minded and not getting attached to a version of your product is key. Listening to and implementing the users’ feedback is a crucial part of evolving and improving the product. While it’s easy to get stuck on a specific design or user flow, the target user is ultimately who you are designing for. Don’t take feedback personally or get hung up on your own personal preferences.
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