End-to-end iOS design to connect new moms to on-demand support.
Tasks
Research
UX UI Design
Branding
Prototyping
Usability Testing
Brief
Solo entrepreneurial design (“identify and solve a problem”)
Timeline
12 weeks
Problem
New moms are overwhelmed. They lack the support and resources to feel in control and well-informed. At the same time, qualified women are burned out from their demanding frontline jobs in medicine and education.
Solution
A marketplace app that connects new moms with qualified human supports - like experienced doctor or teachers - for 1:1 coaching and guidance they can trust.
What I did
Initial research leads to early pivot.
I was passionate about solving the inaccessibility of childcare at the onset of this project. I wanted to tackle an EdTech problem and did 10+ hours of research to clarify the problems within childcare and identify opportunity areas. But through this research, in addition to conducting 3 user interviews and analyzing 41 survey responses, I was drawn towards a different problem:
KEY INSIGHT
For new moms, accessing trustworthy information and making decisions is extremely overwhelming. And child care is only 1 piece that.
Insights generation clarifies the new problem.
KEY INSIGHT
I learned that new moms:
Feel unprepared and overwhelmed.
Rely on their network for information and support.
Have very diverse needs and preferences.
A compelling solution emerges from ideation.
Using Crazy 8s and brainwriting exercises, I came up with dozens of ideas for how to solve this problem. Most of them were bad. I pitched my top 3 ideas for feedback and received unanimous support on creating a motherhood platform to connect moms to human supports.
Task flows, wireframes and prototypes - the product comes to life.
CORE DESIGN GOALS
PRIORITIZED USER FLOWS
Efficient yet comprehensive onboarding and data collection
Trust-building Umma selection process
Navigating in-app video + messaging
User testing validates the concept and points out opportunities.
Through 4 user tests and several rounds of critiques with my professors, 3 themes emerged.
KEY INSIGHT
Change color palette for accessibility
Add stronger “trust signals”
Simplify the UI
“ I wish I had this when I was a new mom. Just knowing there's a trusted resource available when you need it would provide some much-needed peace of mind”
Morgan Hornung
MOM OF 2
UX and Brand are refined for the final product.
What I would do next
I would do much more user testing to understand both sides of the marketplace. My research focused on understanding challenges for new moms, but I would need to do additional research to understand the needs of the Ummas too. I would also want to conduct more user interviews with new moms to gain more clarity on how they are solving for this problem today.