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An app to help co-parents plan together, even when they're apart.
See video presentation HERE.
Project Overview
A.
The Challenge
Design a digital mobile product that addresses a problem space in co-parenting
B.
My Role
I was responsible for all things UX: Defining the problem space, primary and secondary research, HMW, journey maps, task flow, low and high-fidelity prototypes, moodboards, user testing, and even the marketing website design
C.
Responsibilities
Discovery, ideation, user flows, wireframes, and end-to-end prototype & testing
D.
Timeline
Two months to design an app from research to high-fidelity prototype
User Experience & Human-Centered Design
By conducting personal interviews with co-parents and researching scholarly journals, I kept real-world issues and problem spaces related to coparents at the forefront of product development, which resulted in and stemmed from an empathetic approach to design.
Problem Space & Research
Defining
Co-parenting (i.e. when separated or divorced parents both share the responsibility for raising and parenting their children) affects millions of parents and children
Factors
Stress and anxiety can be major factors for co-parents while trying to communicate with each other
Effects
Conflicts between parents increase children's risk factors for depression, behavioral problems, teen pregnancy, suicide, delinquency, and school failure and dropout
Problem Space
Friction, conflicts, anxiety, and stress can occur between co-parents due to miscommunication, non-communication, and unaccountability while working together
How Might We...
help co-parents come to clear agreements and improve collaboration when aligning on weekly goals and responsibilities for their children?
Initial Interviews
Primary Insights
Co-parents want to:
Improve communication
Share information
Document what has been shared and said
Access information in a central location
Themes
From interviews
-Easing tensions
-Sharing information
-Communicating with CP
-Compartmentalization from personal life and CP
-Documenting interactions
Epics
Derived from user stories
-Sharing medical information w/CP
-Keeping records of important documents (e.g. school)
-Easing tension with CP
-Ensuring CP fulfills responsibilities
-Knowing how child(ren) is doing while away
Persona - Journey Map - Task Flow
(Alyssa Malone) was created from interviews, insights, and themes.
Her goals, frustrations, motivations, and behaviors closely match those from what was said during user interviews
Her hero statement reflects a summary of the insights and themes that were gleaned from interviews
The Journey Map illustrates a primary epic of the persona and highlights opportunities for the digital product
The Map shows what Alyssa is thinking, doing, and feeling to give insights for intervention with her pain points
The Task Flow shows each screen needed to get our persona to her destination
Alyssa wants to easily and amicably share medical information about her child with her co-parent so that she can know her child is well-taken care of and to minimize misunderstandings and tensions with her co-parent
Sketches - Lo/Mid Fi Frames - User Testing
Flow & Ideation
The sketches show the screens for the task flow that Alyssa wants to take
Components and CTAs are based on research from user interviews (i.e. what the interviewees said would be important to them)
Framing & Ideation
The low-fidelity frames show the layout in a digital format, while the mid-fi give more depth and detail and prepare the project for user testing
Task Flow
These frames illustrate Alyssa's task flow of "sharing a medical document with co-parent"
User Feedback & Ideation
I conducted two rounds of user testing, each round had five participants (i.e. ten total participants)
Suggestions and observations showed issues users were having with the version 1 prototype
Moodboard - Branding - Inspiration Board
Keywords & Identity
After multiple iterations involving keywords that would define the brand, I determined three words would fit best for the product:
Simple, Inviting, Harmonizing
These embody the desires and needs of interviewees for a co-parenting digital product
Other iterations involved: harmonious, secure, amicable, boundaries, friendly, and relaxed
Font, Wordmark, Colors
Through market analysis, I found that all co-parenting apps use sans-serif fonts. Some examples were: Poppins, Montserrat, and Avenir Next. The open and rounded font of Nunito font was chosen as it is inviting and well-balanced
Expanded for Prototype
The second inspiration board expanded on the functionality and features of those on the first
This board took into account CTA colors, brand icons, layouts, and accessibility issues
High-Fidelity Screens
The Brand
Inspiration
Familiarity
Simply, Inviting, Harmonizing
The screens of my hi-fi prototype utilize the primary colors of turquoise and orange for CTAs and some variations in tint for UI components
From 1st and 2nd Boards
The inspiration that was collected from the expanded board and the first inspiration board were implemented in the organization of the product (e.g. the predetermined text layout and the CTAs on subpages)
Consistency Maintained
Although the user will land on various screens, there is a clear continuity and feeling of familiarity throughout. Button placement, icons, and coloring are in similar locations, even if there are slight differences between screens
Marketing Website Design
Sketches
Iterations
The flow starts from above-the-fold (i.e. 700px), keeping the most important CTAs and components visible
Then the most important features are listed, followed by user reviews, a breakdown of components and functionality, and a final CTA and slogan in the footer
Responsive Web
Adjusting to Platform
The marketing site was optimized for responsive web at 320+ / 720+ / 960+px. (i.e. mobile, tablet, and web)
Some components, especially for mobile, were replaced with a CTA to take the user to an additional screen to view more (e.g. reviews or functions of the app)
Marketing Web
Branding & CTAs
Utilized InVision inspiration board made from pre-existing co-parenting websites
Maintained brand colors and identity through slogans and CTAs
Final Thoughts
What I Learned
As a co-parent, I learned a tremendous amount from listening and empathizing with other CPs. I learned that there are stories and situations very different from my own, and this is why interviewing multiple target users is important.
I also learned to better synthesize the various needs, goals, and pain points from hearing "positive" experiences from CPs with "negative" experiences from others.
Next Steps
This project helped me to improve on creating moodboards, as I spent several days trying to capture the essence of this product while getting feedback on my designs from other UX designers.
I also learned that valuable insights can be had from non-target users (e.g. from other UX designers), but that will not address direct pain points or goals of the target users
There are opportunities to create more screens for this product, especially with adding interactions between co-parents, and there could be more features for adding additional co-parents (e.g. grandparents, "god-parents," or even babysitters) so that they can have specialized access to areas like medical information for a child
More accessibility options can be added as well, such as talk to text, Siri, or more one-tap options for completing tasks, other than the single-tap (predetermined) text responses already built in
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