Case Study
catchline about case study
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Project Background
Methods & Tools:
As the solo UX researcher and designer, I created Wellmama - a mobile app aimed at providing comprehensive support for new mothers and their babies. This all-in-one app allows moms to track their baby’s health, their own mental health, and find supportive information in a streamlined and easy-to-use format.
Directed Storytelling: Conducted interviews with 3 new mothers to gather qualitative data on their routines, what tools and apps they currently use, and what sorts of functionality and support they desire in a mobile app.
Competitor Analysis: After the initial interviews, I analyzed the competitor apps to gain knowledge on what was currently on the market for new moms. I evaluated the functionality, support, and user design of these products for my own background knowledge.
Wireframing/ Architectural Diagramming/Prototyping: I sketched out a rough idea of the design of Wellmama, created an architectural diagram to gain insight on the larger functionality of the app, and iterated over my design to create a high fidelity interactive prototype.
Usability Testing: I conducted think-aloud usability interviews to analyze any pain points in the user flow of the prototype. I also evaluated what functionalities the participants were most likely to interact with on a daily basis.
The Problem
Key Takeaways:
Becoming a new mother is overwhelming. There is so much to learn and too much to keep track of. There are infinite sources of information on the internet, and it can be difficult to sort through what is useful.
Many apps have too much functionality. When mothers are using tracking or wellness apps, they typically only interact with a small fraction of the full functionality. New moms desired a tool that was tailored to their exact needs, without any extra ads, popups, information, and tracking categories that they do not need to use on a daily basis.
Tools typically focus on only the baby’s wellness, leaving much to be desired in terms of supporting the mother in her own emotional and physical health.
In the present age of information, new moms are faced with an overwhelming onslaught of apps, tools, articles, and advice. Becoming a first time mom is already a big life transition, and the apps on the market are not helping to ease anxieties or provide helpful emotional and informational support to users. New mothers desire an all-in-one app that can be customized to their exact needs as they experiment and figure out what routines and tools are useful or them on their journey.
How can I combine all of the most desirable functions of mom & baby apps into a calming, supportive, and empowering all-in-one tool?
Many apps in the mother/baby wellness space were cluttered with ads, pop-ups, and overwhelming functionality that many interviewed users had not even noticed or attempted to use in their daily routines. When products felt too overly complicated, many users gave up on the app and moved on to another option. This left all of their tracked data on their baby’s health scattered across many different apps, which added to more mental clutter for the mother trying to keep track of their baby’s health.
When using the apps for their own emotional support, the mothers frequently got frustrated with a lack of options and information to help them be their best selves and regain autonomy of their own wellness. They often had to turn to other options, including scouring the internet for information and tools around emotional and physical postpartum care for themselves. This left a lot of desirability in the functionality of mother/baby wellness apps as a holistic option for users.
Solution
Sketching ideas out on paper was an easy jumping off point as I moved through the process of developing a solution. I synthesized all of the qualitative data about user pain points, desires, and goals and turned that information into a user product that addressed all of the opportunity areas I analyzed from competitive products.