YOU+
Preparing you and your network for the post-partum experience
PROJECT DETAILS
Intent
Service Design
Semester Project
Duration
6 Months
Role
UI/UX Design
Researcher
Design Strategist
Team
Alisa Elliot
Megumi Goto
Mirna Tejeda
Krezia Savella
EMPATHIZE
Design Process
EMPATHIZE
Secondary Research
Recruitment & Onboarding
Primary Participant Interviews
TEST & ITERATE
Prototype Testing
Future Directions
DEFINE
Synthesize Date
Needs & Outcome Statements
Recommendations
Market Research
Business Model
Design Principles
IDEATE & PROTOTYPE
Brainstorm Concepts
Prototype
EMPATHIZE
Research | Recruitment |Onboarding
First, we had to narrow down our scope. Our research and recruitment would focus on parents who have recently had a baby and have gone through the postpartum experience. (2019-present)
Diving into the design process, we began researching and informing ourselves on a topic uniquely unfamiliar to this team, as none of us have had children. Due to the time constraints of this project, we reached out to friends and family to recruit our research participants. The COVID19 pandemic required all interviews to be conducted over Zoom. Each participant was provided an onboarding package consisting of:
- Explanation of project
- Information on Participant Compensation
- Participant Consent Agreement
- Protections taken for any personal information obtained
- Consent for audio & video recordings
Research Participants Interviews
We conducted 6 interviews with parents from around the world who had recently gone through postpartum. Each interview was around 1 hour and conducted over Zoom.
- 2 parents from Japan
- 2 parents from Mexico
- 2 parents from the United States
During interviews, we utilized interview tools such as:
- Artifact Analysis
- Ecosystem Models of Networks
- Journey Mapping
- Emotion & Body Language Identification
Because this was an experience no one on our team had been through, it was crucial to check our biases, approach this topic with kindness and consideration, and stay true to our interviewee’s voices while leveraging our own.
DEFINE
Synthesize
We created data walls for each of our interviews and started to group data into common themes to draw insights from.
Our research found that:
-
Social Media was a powerful tool, helping people find connection, common ground, and validation for their experiences. It also can quickly become consuming and overwhelming.
-
Uncertainty was experienced at some or multiple points for all participants.
-
Advocacy was either gratefully found, or utterly lacking.
-
Loneliness was a common theme, but not always where we expected.
-
The quality of relationships and of care received were a core foundation for all.
It became clear that, though these individuals were from all over the world, they all share very similar emotions and experiences.
Need
Help me, a parent, to create an informed and supportive environment suitable to my lifestyle in order to improve my emotional state within the postnatal months of raising a child.
Outcome
Our tool is successful when it improves their emotional state by connecting and assisting parents through suggesting applicable information during their own specific postpartum experience
Recommendations: Support & Information
- A service provided for new parents to inform and suggest supportive resources
- An informational tool to assist parents in obtaining applicable information to aid in decision making and advocating for themselves
- A tool to aid in connecting a support system for new parents
- A tool to connect new parents with emotional support counselors before the need arises
Market Research
With the needs of our parents clearly defined, we began service mapping the ecosystem that expecting and new parents fit into and analyzing the existing competition.
Tools used include:
-SWOT Analysis
-Competition Matrix
-Business Model
Our research showed four primary categories of products or services:
-Support
-Information
-Connection
-Subscription
After more conversations with our participants and our own market research, it became evident that there is a large shift in focus from mother to baby during postpartum. The parent’s network and the market’s available services are both focused on the new baby’s wellbeing and no longer the mother’s. These discoveries led us to create our design principles.
Our Design Must...
Generate Stronger Community
Enable Conversations
Build Awareness & Perspective
Challenge Narratives to “Rebuild the Village”
IDEATE & PROTOTYPE
Brainstorm Concepts
We brainstormed multiple different solution concepts, weighing how well they would impact our users and how they fit into the existing market. Finally, landing on an art instillation sharing real mothers voices and experiences. However, after some initial raw feedback from our users, it became clear that new mothers would not be in a state to visit an art instillation in the months after giving birth. So we went back to the drawing board. Though this was a major setback, we stayed positive and pushed through to meet our deadline and were able to build out a solution concept that was more in-tune with our end users.
Who
YOU+ is for anyone thinking about or planning to have children.
This is Intentionally designed for someone who has never been through the experience of postpartum since You+ provides guided prompts, to facilitate thoughts and ideas about comfort, support, and communication.
What
Why
Postpartum is unpredictable, but women's bodies are expected to return to their pre-pregnancy state. However, this expectation can become unrealistic. It is a common, yet different experience for each woman and no one is talking about it. Let's start having this conversation.
You+ is a physical workbook, with a digital app counterpart. Once a page is completed, it can be captured and uploaded directly into the app, where additional information can be changed or added. You+ encourages mothers-to-be, to think about and design their network of support, ideally becoming an accessible resource later on.
Prototype
YOU+
TEST & ITERATE
Tested Features
Prototype was tested with two mothers via zoom. The concept was tested via survey, asking if they would use this product personally. The response was 85.7% YES.
Below are the user tested features of YOU+.
