Fourth Trimester
Creating an end-to-end iOS app that provides parents, primarily focusing on mothers, with access to resources needed in order to combat and/or manage postpartum depression
Project Date: July 2023
Company: Fourth Trimester
My role: Research, personas, sitemapping, task/user flows, sketching, wireframing, prototyping, user testing
Team: Group Crit Peers, Mentor
Project Background
Objectives
Overview
The idea of Fourth Trimester came about through a passion for women’s health, combined with the stark reality of postpartum depression's impact. The idea took shape as I recognized the potential of technology to bridge gaps in support and care. Leveraging my medical insights, I envisioned an app that would serve as a comprehensive resource, catering to both the physical and emotional well-being of postpartum mothers wherever they are in their journey’s.
Design an end-to-end iOS app that allows users to seamlessly onboard, keep track of daily tasks and appointments, and book appointments with healthcare professionals to further facilitate their postpartum journey.
User Interviews
Feature Roadmap
Empathize
Using competitive analysis I compared 4 of the most popular apps; Babycenter, Glow Baby, Sprout Baby, and Pregnancy+, and discovered that while there are a variety of pre- and post-natal apps available to mothers, few of them ever mention postpartum topics.
*Through secondary research, competitive analysis, and 1:1 interviews, I discovered that personalization, privacy, specificity, credibility, and usability were the most important aspects of a postpartum focused app.
After analyzing the competition, it was time to dig into the habits of users through 1-on-1 interviews. I spoke with 3 women, ages 26-30 who had given birth within the past 5 years, two of which struggled with severe postpartum depression. The following 3 questions were the basis of the conversation:
Determine postpartum app expectations
Assess preferred content and tools
Identify key postpartum depression triggers
Key Findings:
Insight 1: Every interviewee mentioned valuing the ability to connect and interact with medical professionals such as therapists, midwives, doulas, etc
Insight 2: Users highlight the importance of receiving random affirmations and reminders throughout the day. Admits it can improve their overall mood
Insight 3: 2/3 people also mention they would enjoy having access to mood trackers and breastfeeding resources
Insight 4: 3/3 interviewees agree that mental health is extremely important, especially as a new parent and being able to openly talk about the topic without feeling shame or guilt is vital to them
Define
My interview debrief revealed two distinct types of mom profile experiences- the single mother (Emily) and the stay at home mom (Eliza).
With my two personas in mind, I created a feature roadmap, including all of the potential features Fourth Trimester could possibly have based on research findings. Highlights include but are not limited to; mood trackers, breastfeeding resources, and nutrition. However, for the purpose of this project I will be primarily focusing on two key flows and the associated features: getting users started on Fourth Trimester and using the Telehealth tool to search for and book appointments with healthcare providers.
During ideation stage, I brainstormed effective solutions based on my research findings: users want a structured and effective way to transition into their “fourth trimester”. Most importantly users want to feel seen. However they struggle when it comes to locating readily available, reliable, and useful resources to provide the needed and necessary support during this critical time.
To establish a solid foundation for my design, I created a comprehensive site map that served as a blueprint for the apps structure and organization. The site map was an essential tool in visualizing and determining the foundational layout of the design.
Task flow in the carousel below explores the flow of the two main features the app will focus on; signing up for the app and searching for and booking an appointment with a healthcare provider.
Using my trusted pencil and sketch pad, I began sketching out my wireframes. I referred to my sitemap and task flows to guide me on which screens to sketch out.
Ideate
Using Figma, I then transferred my sketches into high-fidelity wireframes. At this stage, I was thinking about typography, color palette, choosing an icon set, and overall UI design. I was looking for a good balance of texture, color, and visual hierarchy of elements.
Prototype
Usability Testing
Test
See the three tasks/scenarios outlined below:
You're a new user who wants to join our postpartum app community. Please walk me through the process of creating a new account.
You're feeling overwhelmed and would like to schedule an appointment with a mental health professional. Please use the app to find available dates and times for an appointment.
Imagine you're a new mother looking for breastfeeding support and educational articles to read. Please navigate through the app to find where these resources would be located.
What worked well?
Users enjoyed immediately being greeted by an affirmation on their dashboard
Brand colors felt soft and feminine to users also felt colors compliment each other well
Incorporating how far along mom is in her postpartum journey and baby updates dashboard
User friendly and organized design
What needed work?
Ensuring resources icon is representative of feature
Adding checkbox to To-Do list instead of tasks being automatically removed once completed to cater to those users who get positive reassurance from seeing the tasks they have completed being checked off
Ensuring all illustrations used resemble the same style
Making function of appointment confirmation pop up less confusing to users
Design
The keywords I had in mind while designing the UI kit were Simplistic, Encouraging, and Calming to resonate with a stressed new parent. I chose the Urbanist typeface, and knowing that cool colors counteract feelings of anxiety and create a calming atmosphere, I picked a deep purple color as the brand's primary color and a pale blue as a neutral highlight.
Iterate
1.By opting for the "X" button, I aimed to eliminate the ambiguity and confusion users were experiencing with the term "Cancel Appointment." The "X" symbol universally signifies closing or dismissing a window, ensuring users understand that pressing it will dismiss the appointment scheduling view without making any changes. This simple and intuitive design choice minimizes users confusion.
2. Also, darkened overlay so that appointment confirmation message could stand out more and not blend in so much with main page.
3. Incorporated check boxes for each task because users explained that it can be more fulfilling to be able to go back and see what they were able to complete within whatever time frame they gave themselves versus checking it off and it being removed from the list completely.
4. Incorporated a way for users to add to their to-do list.
5. The lightbulb icon is a universally recognized symbol for ideas, inspiration, and information, making it a suitable choice to represent the resource page. This icon intuitively conveys that the page contains valuable insights, tips, and educational content that users can explore to enhance their knowledge. By including an icon that more closely relates to the purpose of the resource page within the navigation bar, I reduce the risk of users being unsure about its content or functionality.
6. Fixed the padding and alignment of items within the page to enhance the visual consistency and overall user experience of the app.
Conclusion
Future Considerations
Next Steps
In conclusion, my prototype was a great success and I could not be more proud about the end result. It is a topic I am extremely passionate about so it was pretty rewarding watching my ideas come to life. Additionally, every person that I user tested the product with mentioned that this was a very useful resource they wished they could have had it when they were going through postpartum depression or going through their postpartum journey in general.
Because this project was created in a 2 week sprint, there are a few things I would do differently if I had the time and resources to do so:
Interview a larger pool of potential users possibly total of 8-10
Expand more on community page as well as potentially expand on mood tracking feature in order to add to the overall experience