APP concept
Researcher & UX/UI Designer
TIMELINE
Nov-Feb 2023
TOOLS
Figma, Miro, OptimalSort
This project was done during a UX Design bootcamp. I will guide you through each phase in this case study.
CHALLENGE
How might we help women with
endometriosis* to manage their condition, so that they live a better life and feel supported?
*Endometriosis is a female chronic disease, where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places, such as the ovaries, fallopian tubes or the digestive tubes. It's a long-term condition that can have a significant impact on women’s daily life.
INITIAL PRODUCT GOALS
📈 Tracking
Help women track their period and symptoms, which over time will be compiled into easy to digest graph and analytics.
💡 Inform
Showcase expert resources for holistic health for example topics around nutrition, activity, meditations, alternative medicine, plants...
🫱🏼🫲🏾 Support
Create a safe community for women to share their experiences, feel understood and supported.
🗓 Organize
Enable women to manage appointments, medecine and documents into one place.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
To start the research, I conducted a competitive analysis to get to know the market space, understand competitors offerings and find unfulfilled user needs.
I reviewed ~10 apps within the female health space. Specifically, I analysed two of the top period tracking apps (Flo and Clue) and a specialized app on endometriosis (Luna). I evaluated each app towards potential features aligning with the product goals:
Endogirl aims at filling a market gap
Then, I conducted a SWOT analysis for each competitor.
I was able to identify underserved market opportunities:
A well-designed app that doesn't look scientific
Simplify and make accessible expert resources about endometriosis
An adapted tracker for endometriosis symptoms
A space to save and organize documents and appointments
How do women currently manage their endometriosis?
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
0-20%
of women have endometriosis*
6-7 years
on average for women to get a diagnose during which they feel alone and misunderstood*
only 15%
of women with endometriosis feel it is well controlled by current treatment***
8/10
of women with endometriosis prefer going to a specialized endometriosis centre, even if this is further from home**
86%
of women with endometriosis have tried 1 or more natural or complementary therapies to manage it*
81%
of women with endometriosis said their life is affected by it*
INTERVIEWS
As I have experience with endometriosis, I could build empathy even more and ask relevant questions
AFFINITY MAPS
In order to make sense of the data from the user interviews, I clustered every topic into groups until I could surface trends.
The colors of the stickers correspond to each user
INSIGHTS
Going one step further, I translated the main trends into insights, which will guide the strategy and the prioritization of the product design’s main features.
this was one of my favourite parts, I love making sense of data
Taking charge
Endometriosis expert resources
As women trust towards GP's is broken, and they feel left alone after being diagnosed, they need practical solutions on how to manage their chronic disease backed by certified endometriosis specialists as well as a list of specialised centres they can visit.
Keep the tracking history
For women to keep on organizing their life around their cycle, they need to keep the history from their previous period or fertility tracking app.
Tracking symptoms visually
Women need an easy and visual way to track their symptoms, which can also serve as an educational cheat sheet on the possible area in the body that can be subject to pain due to endometriosis.
All admin in one place
For women to advocate for themselves and simplify the administrative management of endometriosis, they need to store their documents, medical reports, appointments and questions in one place.
Coping
Tips and positivity
Women want to be supported by a closed community of women in the same situation, that is focused on positivity and sharing practical tips.
personas
Based on the research, it became clear that the needs of women with endometriosis differ with the gravity of their condition. Therefore, I created 2 personas (one has light endometriosis, whereas the second is more extreme) to help me better inform design decisions going forward.
The project's Endogirls !
site map VALIDATION tests
Based on the research, I drafted a site map to organize the information. In order to validate it, I conducted a card sorting analysis with 5 female participants aged 20-40.
I analysed the results through a standardization grid in Excel, and highlighted the data <60% that needed to be optimized, the changes to perform, and the results expected from the next round of research.
Then, I conducted the same test with the revised site map on 5 new female participants to validate expected results.
Additionally, I ran a similarity matrix grid to verify the grouping of the pages.
The overlap makes sense as the “Today” section is showing condensed daily content from the “Analytics” and “Track” sections.
final site map
After defining the navigation on pen and paper, I sketched the main flows for each of our two users, as well as a flow they have in common. I first sketched on pen and paper (low fi) and then digitally on Figma (mid-fi to high-fi)
#1 Log symptoms & self diagnose
#2 Store & share documents
#3 Onboarding & keep period tracking history
Low-fi
Mid-fi
High-fi
In order to validate the designs, I conducted a serie of usability tests. The first test was conducted on mid-fi wireframes in order to establish the structure of the app before designing in high-fi.
Research goal 📍
Validate the user interface
Test and validate 3 main user flows
Identify pain points or frictions
Validate the app’s structure
Methodology 💻
Moderated in person usability test
Moderated remote usability test
Tasks 🗒
First impression and purpose of the app
Log in symptoms and find recommendation on how to manage it better
Send your doctor a medical report ahead of an appointment
Participants 👩🏼🤝👩🏾
6 participants from the user target group
Data analysis
To make sense of the usability tests, I noted every observation from the recordings, and organized those into “errors”, “observation”, “negative” and “positive” for each participant.
In the spreadsheet, I also included:
The count of occurrences of each comment
The rating of errors based on Nielsen Norman rating scale from 1-4.
The prioritization of the comments based on the number of occurrences and their gravity
Potential solutions and next steps for each of the comments
The priorities 1-7 will be tackled below
Key takeways
Missing confirmation indicators (logs & privacy)
Accessing “My files” felt like a disconnect
The flow after logs is confusing
The symptoms’ analytics are not easily accessible
Based on the prioritization from the spreadsheet, I addressed the comments. Below are the first 4 main issues and how I improved the design accordingly.
Issue #1
The flow after login symptoms to check resources is confusing
Issue #2
In “My files” - unsure if the document’s privacy options are saved
Issue #3
The individual symptoms analytics is not easily findable
Issue #4
The password to enter “My files” felt like a disconnect
This was an easy quick fix! When I rapid tested it again with users, they didn’t notice an interruption in the flow, so it worked well
In order to streamline the design to finalize and hand it off, I created a style guide and a design language from scratch. The elements shown below are the ones I used so far. All the styles, components, icons and grid layout are accessible in the Figma file. The library aims at being constantly updated.
Although I designed with accessibility in mind, I reviewed all the assets, and adjusted a few things such as font size and clickable icon frames to be AA or AAA compliant
design language
Each section includes the style guide, guidelines on how to use and accessibility as well as examples.
Here are the final main screens for the 3 flows of our personas.
#1 Log symptoms & self diagnose
#2 Store and share documents
#3 Onboarding & keep period tracking history
NEXT FEATURES
as research has shown that endometriosis is a very individual condition and there isnt “one solution fits all”
In the next iteration, I would focus on features to customize the tool further (bookmarking articles, specifying interests or importing recommendations from outside sources such as Facebook groups that are widely used by the endometriosis community). These should aim at increasing the user return rate, as well as conversion rates. In order to develop further features linked to customization, I would plan 1-2 months (incl. further research, prototype, testing and validating hypotheses).
In parallel, I would continue to improve the UI and add interactions, especially the log in symptoms with the women body.
PERSONAL RETROSPECT
I learned much working on a full process from defining a challenge with research, doing strategy to designing and ideating a product.
Although this is a mock-up project, the research I did is well grounded and could have been extended further (with a larger and more diverse user group, more research questions,...). I do believe this product fills a need on today’s market.
My focus laid on strategy and UX/UI during the project, and I would have liked to explore more the branding side
Even if mentors and peers were involved in the process, I missed working in a team and realized how valuable it is to get inspired, bounce ideas and feel connected.
Now, I would love to see how the product performs and is used in real life through AB testing and data analysis