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Modernizing Maternity Care

Carina Health, a San Francisco-based group healthcare SaaS platform, has tasked our design team with creating a mobile app concept. While the platform will eventually cover various cohorts with similar clinical needs, our immediate focus is on maternity care. Through extensive research and design processes, we aim to develop a user-centered app that facilitates easy connection and collaboration between patients and healthcare providers, ultimately improving patient engagement and outcomes.
DESIGNER
RESEARCHER
PROJECT MANAGER
Project Overview
What's the Problem?
In traditional healthcare settings, patients often struggle to stay motivated due to emotional barriers, mental fatigue, and feelings of isolation. This challenge is particularly pronounced in maternity care, where pregnant individuals face unique physical and emotional complexities. Carina Health aims to address these issues by creating a platform that fosters collaboration and support among patients, healthcare providers, and peers. By facilitating meaningful engagement and peer networks, the platform seeks to enhance patient motivation, improve healthcare outcomes, and foster a sense of community within maternity care.
Duration: 3 Week Sprint
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Project Status: Delivered on February 2, 2024
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Method Used: Screener Survey, User Interview, Competitive & Comparative Features Analysis, Affinity Mapping, User Persona, User Journey, Feature Prioritization, Sketching & Design Studio, Style Guide, Wire-framing, Prototyping, and Usability Testing
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Tools: Figma, Notion, Zoom, Google Docs/Sheet/Survey/Forms, Slack, Keynote, Trello, and Zepelin
Goal And Hypothesis
How Do We Envision Solving the Issue?
Our goal is to create a hub where individuals can easily connect and collaborate with healthcare providers and peers in similar situations. This connection directly contributes to motivation which can lead to improved outcomes for patients, as they feel more engaged in their own healthcare journey and have a support system they can rely on.

Deliverables:
  • User research & insights
  • UX-driven problem statements, design hypothesis, and approach to solutions
  • Flows and maps of problem and solution
  • Wireframes and prototype
  • Usability testing & insights
  • Design artifacts
Assumptions
Users in group treatment programs need a platform to track and manage their treatment goals, give and receive peer support, and stay motivated with health behavioral changes. Pregnancy, and healthcare as a whole, has a plethora of unknowns and complications. As a result, expecting mothers often feel alone and unsure who to trust to navigate maternity.
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How might we assist patients in medical group care to feel supported by their community and engaged in their personal wellbeing and health?
Product Reveal
Introducing Carina Health
Prototype
(Interact with me!)
Features

GROUP CHAT

Facilitates real-time communication and collaboration among healthcare providers and peers in similar maternity care situations, fostering a supportive community while enhancing engagement in personal wellbeing and health.

Social engagement

The inclusion of group goals, polls, quizzes, and collaborative features promotes social engagement within users, facilitating a supportive and interactive community dedicated to improving maternity care outcomes and overall wellbeing.

care resources

Comprehensive access to health programs, information, reminders, and tracking features, empowering patients to adhere to their care plans and take proactive steps towards self-care and improved health outcomes.

Events

View event details including description and date, ability to RSVP, and seamlessly add events to their native calendars, enhancing convenience and participation in health-related activities and aiding real-world connections with peers.

badges

Badges earned through accomplishments are prominently displayed in the user's account and on their profile card, allowing peers to view and celebrate achievements, promoting a sense of recognition and community engagement.

Impact
What Difference Did our design make?
We conducted testing on several screen flows that aligned with our users' goals and requirements, and here are the ways in which our design enhancements impacted user experience:
Users completed the flows 11.8 seconds faster
Users completed the flows 26.7% more directly
Users rated our app 4.7 out of 5 on easiness
Users completed the flows 11.8 seconds faster
Users completed the flows 26.7% more directly
Users rated our app 4.7 out of 5 on easiness
These developments showcase our dedication towards improving user experience while also achieving business goals, confirming our commitment to a future where technology and healthcare seamlessly converge.
Methodology
how did we get here?
The Research and Design Process:
Discovery
synthesis
ideation
design
delivery
discovery
What did we learn from competitors and users?
Business Analysis
Our team conducted both comparative and competitive analysis to assess strengths, weaknesses, and unique features among competitors. Specifically we looked into platforms that offered group chat functionality, health & lifestyle gamification, and the overall maternity/modern health landscape. Through this analysis, we were able to establish a baseline of features we would need in our app (polls in chat & badges) as well as features that would set Carina Health apart from others (vitals tracking & gamification).
User Research
Our client provided us an interview pool that fit the target audience - mothers or expecting mothers that have participated in group during maternity. We interviewed 11 individuals, keen on gaining an understanding towards how individuals matched with their group, how connected they felt with their peers, accountability and motivation, and comfort levels sharing sensitive health information.
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Here’s what mothers had to say:
Insights & Takeaways
Users place high value on ability to connect with others that share their similar experiences
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Moderator features that foster ongoing connections among members beyond initial engagement. This includes regular check-ins, discussion topics, and facilitated meetups
Users find maternity and being a new parent isolating
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Implement user profiles within the group platform to highlight interests and bios, allowing members to introduce themselves to the group and establish connections more effectively
Users feel more reassured when they have an open line of communication with their healthcare provider
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Prioritize open channels of communication between users and their healthcare providers within platforms
Synthesis
Who Are we designing for?
Persona
After synthesizing the user and business research, we consolidated what we learned about our users and created our persona. This allowed us to keep our target audience in mind and empathize with their needs, motivations, and behaviors. Say hello to Audrey!
Journey Map
We mapped out the process that Audrey would navigate as an first time expecting mother. From this, we learned Audrey’s pain points, frustrations, and emotional experience through each step in order to identify opportunities for implementing new features and refining existing ones.
Insights & Takeaways
New parents don’t know what to ask at medical visits
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Develop educational resources, such as checklists or guides, empower patients for active participation and advocacy in medical appointments
Expecting parents want to connect with others that are in a similar situation and not feel judged
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Integrate features like group goal-setting and profile sections for sharing personal interests, to forge deeper connections
Online forums are often not facilitated by medical professionals thus creating conflicting and judgmental opinions
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Provide a community space facilitated by healthcare providers where patients can access judgement-free information and support
ideation
What features would users want?
Feature Prioritization
As we transitioned from research into design, we were conscious of utilizing the key insights and takeways gathered through user and business research to make informed design choices. We deliberated on the set of features we would intake for the initial launch scope, factoring in the both how essential and how much effort the feature is to build. Once we had all the features mapped out, a prioritized list was created to not only run by our client, but also narrow our focus.

The following were our top MVP features:
Sketches to Mid Fidelity Prototype
Utilizing a design studio, we broke out app into four bite sized sections: Feed, Chat, Program & Modules, and Profile. For each section, our team collaborated by individually sketching concepts, sharing our visions, ultimately refining a solution that incorporated our favorite design choices that conveyed what Carina Health stands for. With the screens drawn on whiteboard, we tackled the four different areas of the app transitioning our design from low to mid fidelity. We were conscious of utilizing a style guide and components to provide consistency across the design.
Design
How did our design perform?
Using six situations and tasks, we conducted two rounds of usability testing to observe how users navigate the prototype and gather feedback and data. Between rounds, we took those insights and made modifications to our design aimed to improve usability. Below are three examples of our learning and takeaways from testing as we transitioned from mid to high fidelity:

RSVping to an event

• Changed section label from "Upcoming" to "Upcoming Events" for clarity.

• Tab bar navigation "Search" changed to "Events" with a dedicated standalone page for upcoming events.

Group goal Status

• Tab bar navigation "Group" label changed to "Chat". Icon is also changed to indicate a group chat section.

• "Chat" and "Activities" tab navigation within the Chat screen removed, results are all shown within one feed

• Group goal details changed from a pull down drawer a dedicated page, chevron used to indicate navigation

• Group goal progress bar increased size

Cheer a peer

• Added reaction icon for quick access to kudos

• Increased text size for username and chat

Next Steps & Reflection
What did we learn?
Design
• Platform Tour: Screen flow for a quick, skippable introduction to what Carina Health’s Platform offers and how to use core functions.
• Events page: The events page enhanced to categorize events into past, future, and RSVP'd categories, alongside incorporating a calendar view and the functionality to seamlessly add events to the native calendar.
‍• Module Indication: Active module should be visible by default, while past modules are greyed out. Future modules will stand out due to the absence of greying out.
‍• Account Page: Include a preview of the user's group profile on the main account screen. Simplify the Account page by removing the three badges block and instead show the complete list of badges in its own section.
Research
• Gamification: Conduct specialized user interviews to delve into the integration of gamification features and explore the underlying motivations and preferences driving user engagement.
• Healthcare Providers: Conduct User interviews with providers of group health care programs to gain insights into their needs, preferences, and program format requirements.
KPIs
• Task Completion: Percentage of patient completing tasks offered by their provider.
• Program Completion: Percentage of patients who completed their program.
Reflection
Our team will continue to refine the aesthetics and usability of Carina Health's high-fidelity prototype based on data gathered from usability testing. We aim to closely align our design with user behavior and preferences to enhance the overall user experience. By collaborating with the software development team, we will bring Carina Health to life and gather further data once the product is accessible to the public. This iterative process will ensure that Carina Health evolves to meet user needs, fostering a supportive and engaging health community.
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