"Parents Up!" - How can our application help new parents?

"Parents Up!"
How can our application help new parents?

"Parents Up!" - How can our application help new parents?

Type of project:

Academic project

Durations:

Mar. 2023 - Jan. 2024

Scope:

User Research

Strategy

Product design

Prototyping

UI design

Testing

Partners in crime:

Anna Reszka

Monika Grobicka

Maciej Wachowicz

Kinga Chaładaj

Joanna Ozdoba

About the project

The challenge

As a team, we're focusing on new parents who seek help and connection. They're looking for a single place to find advice, connect with trusted experts, discover baby-friendly activities, places, and find recommended products.

The goal

Our project aims to simplify life for new parents by providing a caring and safe solution. By adopting a user-centered design approach, we can identify the best solutions to their challenges.

The solution

We provide a mobile app that consolidates all the essential insights we've gathered from our research. Why we choose a mobile app? It's clear that, at the beginning of parenthood, a parent often holds their infant in one hand, leaving only the other hand free for use.

01 Design process

Whole process of design in a nutshell

02 User research

Our primary research objective were to discover the needs and challenges new parents may have in terms of various aspects of infant care and self-care.

Our primary research objective were to discover the needs and challenges new parents may have in terms of various aspects of infant care and self-care.

Our primary research objective were to discover the needs and challenges new parents may have in terms of various aspects of infant care and self-care.

1.Research methods: IDIs :


2.I conducted 4 IDI (with 2 mothers and 2 fathers)

and in 2 I was observer.

8

mothers

5

fathers

26-42

age rage

2-12 mth old

baby’s age rage

03 Insights

In order to analyse the data obtained during the research,

we used an affinity diagram in which we discovered

the problems faced by parents, which are:

In order to analyse the data obtained during the research,

we used an affinity diagram in which we discovered

the problems faced by parents, which are:

🤯

Reorganization of life

🙍‍♂️

Lack of support & community

🤷‍

Lack of a reliable sources

of recommendations

😭

Limited information on baby-friendly activities and places

🤯

Reorganization of life

Reorganization of life

🙍‍♂️

Lack of support & community

Lack of support & community

🤷‍

Lack of a reliable sources of recommendations

Lack of a reliable sources

of recommendations

😭

Limited information on baby-friendly activities and places

Limited information on baby-friendly

activities and places

🥸

The involvement of fathers is still devalued

😱

Difficulties with emotions during postpartum

👩‍💻

Lack of reliable sources of knowledge

😭

Difficulties in finding specialists

🥸

The involvement of fathers is still devalued

The involvement of fathers is still devalued

😱

Difficulties with emotions during postpartum

Difficulties with emotions during postpartum

👩‍💻

Lack of reliable sources of knowledge

Lack of reliable sources of knowledge

😭

Difficulties in finding specialists

Difficulties in finding specialists

04 User persona

We design with our target group in minds. Developing three different personas based on in-depth interviews helped us understand our aim, below are two of them:

We design with our target group in minds. Developing three different personas based on in-depth interviews helped us understand our aim, below are two of them:

We design with our target group in minds. Developing three different personas based on in-depth interviews helped us understand our aim, below are two of them:

Sara, 29

Lives in Kraków, married

first child, Hanna, 9 months old

Bio

Sara, a vibrant first-time mom, adores her healthy baby girl but feels drained by the constant focus on childcare. An outgoing sports enthusiast, she misses the physical activity and social connection that sports brought into her life.

Goals & needs

  • wants to keep balance between a role as a mother and her own personal interests\wants to go back to being active

  • wants to know if the place where she is going is accessible for mothers with baby

Alex, 38

Lives in Wrocław, has a partner

first child, Martin, 6 months old

Bio

Alex is a first-time father who' is highly committed to being an involved parent. He sees the importance of shared responsibility in parenting and wants to participate in caring for his newborn son.

Goals & needs

  • wants to be an involved father

  • would love to create a strong bond with his son and contribute to childcare responsibilities

  • seeks for a community among other fathers that encourages and celebrates this kind of engagement

05 Customer experience journey map

05 Customer experience journey map

We worked on customer experience journey map to identify challenges and emotions faced by customers when seeking baby-friendly places, activities, or communities through traditional methods.

We worked on customer experience journey map to identify challenges and emotions faced by customers when seeking baby-friendly places, activities, or communities through traditional methods.

We worked on customer experience journey map to identify challenges and emotions faced by customers when seeking baby-friendly places, activities, or communities through traditional methods.

Here I want to show Sara’s experience journey map, a potential user striving to balance her love for sports with parenthood, how she tries solve it and how can we help her.

06 Top competitors

We collected and organized data on 30 competitors and inspirations. We looked at both their mistakes and their successes; below are the most relevant competitors:

We collected and organized data on 30 competitors and inspirations. We looked at both their mistakes and their successes; below are the most relevant competitors:

We collected and organized data on 30 competitors and inspirations. We looked at both their mistakes and their successes; below are the most relevant competitors:

Preglife connect

Preglife
connect

Description

Preglife Connect" is a mobile app supporting expectant mothers with features and resources for each stage of pregnancy. It fosters community connections among moms-to-be, providing a comprehensive and informative platform.

In what field we may compeed

  • community

  • knowledge

  • forum (interactions among users)

  • tags

What can inspire us?

What can inspire us?

  • join discussion groups that are relevant to you

  • ask anonymous questions regarding your motherhood

  • like and comment on posts

  • reply to each comment individually

  • search nearby parent friends

  • adjust your search with location

  • join discussion groups that are relevant to you

  • like and comment on posts

  • reply to each comment individually

  • search nearby parent friends

  • adjust your search with location

  • join discussion groups that are relevant to you

  • ask anonymous questions regarding your motherhood

  • like and comment on posts

  • reply to each comment individually

  • search nearby parent friends

  • adjust your search with location

Wioski kobiet

Wioski
kobiet

Description

Agnieszka Konefał initiated 'Woman Villages' ('Wioski Kobiet') on Telegram, creating safe online spaces for women in Poland. Modeled after the supportive spirit of traditional villages, it serves as city-specific forums for women to seek help and support from one another..

In what field we may compeed

In what field we may compeed

  • community

  • knowledge

  • community

  • knowledge

  • community

  • knowledge

What can inspire us?

What can inspire us?

  • the concept of the “village approach” - strong community

Facebook

Description

Facebook, a widely used social media app, connects millions worldwide. Users create personal profiles, connect with friends, join groups, follow pages, and engage in conversations through comments and likes..

In what field we may compeed

In what field we may compeed

  • community

  • direct messages

  • groups


  • community

  • direct messages

  • groups


  • community

  • direct messages

  • groups


What can inspire us?

What can inspire us?

  • creating events and meetups

07 Conclusion and Final idea

After using all of those tools we concluded that almost all of the new parents problem come down to one thing: Community.

After using all of those tools we concluded that almost all of the new parents problem come down to one thing: Community.

After using all of those tools we concluded that almost all of the new parents problem come down to one thing: Community.

Our final idea was to design an app with recommendations created by parents for parents based on a templates which can be displayed on the map with pins. There is no such solution available on the market and our research showed that new parents could deeply benefit from it. We also wanted to provide ability to connect with others within app as there is such a big need for community in this target group.

COMMUNITY:

  1. Parents' Circle

connections

groups

II. Mutual recommendations

  • acitvities

  • places

  • knowledge sources

  • specialists

  • products

  • other users

08 Development plan - MVP

The MVP helped us establish priorities for the future development of our application, both from a business perspective and in terms of meeting user needs. Research showed that the most crucial focus should be on the first phase, where we concentrate on key areas that deliver the highest value. This enables us to plan the application's growth more effectively.

The MVP helped us establish priorities for the future development of our application, both from a business perspective and in terms of meeting user needs. Research showed that the most crucial focus should be on the first phase, where we concentrate on key areas that deliver the highest value. This enables us to plan the application's growth more effectively.

The MVP helped us establish priorities for the future development of our application, both from a business perspective and in terms of meeting user needs. Research showed that the most crucial focus should be on the first phase, where we concentrate on key areas that deliver the highest value. This enables us to plan the application's growth more effectively.

Phase 01 - we are here

  1. Minimum Viable Product

  • Polish market

  • Android app

II. Community:

∙ Connecting with others [online]

∙ Meetups [offline]

∙ Ensuring security

III. Recommendations / adding

∙ Places

∙ Activities

Phase 02 - further development

of features

  1. Community

  • Groups

II. Recommendations:

∙ Specialist

∙ Knowledge

∙ Products

Phase 03- hitting the final stage

  1. Foreign markets

  • iOS app

II. Recommendations feature

Managing activities within the app

09 Wireflows

At this stage I have mainly focused on adding new place and creating a meetup user flow but also actively participated in creating others.

At this stage I have mainly focused on adding new place and creating a meetup user flow but also actively participated in creating others.

At this stage I have mainly focused on adding new place and creating a meetup user flow but also actively participated in creating others.

Goal:

Sara wants to share her positive experience of discovering a baby-friendly café with other parents through the Parents Up app.
Motivation:

Willing to help other parents who may face similar challenges, such as finding a suitable place with access for a parent with a baby.

10 Wireframes

We have created 5 paper wireframe flows to each wireflow.

At this stage I have mainly focused on "adding new place" and "creating a meetup" user flow but also actively participated in creating others.

11 Prototype - MidFidelity

After modifications and brainstorming sessions, we finally created the first clickable prototype version of the ParentsUp! application, which correspond to our previously developed assumptions.

12 UI design

We chose blue as the main colour for our product, because it conveys a sense of calmness and trust, aligning with the reassuring and supportive environment the app aims to create for users navigating the challenges of parenthood.
We chose the Inter font - we believe its clean and legible design improves the user experience, providing clear communication and a modern look

We chose blue as the main colour for our product, because it conveys a sense of calmness and trust, aligning with the reassuring and supportive environment the app aims to create for users navigating the challenges of parenthood.
We chose the Inter font - we believe its clean and legible design improves the user experience, providing clear communication and a modern look

We chose blue as the main colour for our product, because it conveys a sense of calmness and trust, aligning with the reassuring and supportive environment the app aims to create for users navigating the challenges of parenthood.
We chose the Inter font - we believe its clean and legible design improves the user experience, providing clear communication and a modern look

Aa

Inter

Font - Inter

Title

Parents Up!

Body

Parents Up!

Body strong

Parents Up!

Overline

Parents Up!

Caption

Parents Up!

Typography

01.

#F1F4F9

02.

#AFC3E5

03.

#7291C5

04.

#1B2438

Primary colors

05.

#3478F5

06.

#1FC2CC

07.

#18BD1E

08.

#FFAB33

Secondary colors

Notification pop-up

Animated logo

Popup notification

9:41

Search for all

Type a district, city or postcode

Set date/time

All

Activities

Places

Meetup

Search bar

Chips

13 Key Features - High fidelity mockups

Finding / adding activities

Where parents can attend with their babies and ensuring these places are baby-friendly, including e.g. ramps for prams, or corner

for change a diaper

Finding / adding places

Where parents can go with their baby to keep balance between personal interests and parenthood.

Connecting with other parents

To share similar interests and discovering their recommendations

to save time and creating meetups to connect and share time with others fellow parents.

14 Usability testing

The main aim of usability testing was the first verification of the created prototype by potential users and, as a result, to prepare recommendations of how to solve problems encountered by respondents.

  1. The tasks included looking for a baby friendly place and a baby friendly activity, showing interest in taking part in an activity, adding a place, looking for another parent and messaging them and adding a meetup.


  1. After usability tests we created affinity diagram to organize big amount of feedback and come up with solutions.

10

users

🤖

Android users

🏡

Living in Poland

  1. Critical:

  • too many similar elements on the homepage

  • confusion between “meetup” and “activity”

  • information about place taken from Google Maps was not intuitive

  • inviting users to a meetup was confusing

  • template for meetup was not intuitive

  • there was no confirmation after adding a place/meetup/activity

  • “I am interested” button in a meetup needs to be clearer what is it for

II. Relevant:

  • there is a confusion between “connect”, “wave” and “message” in user profiles

  • there was pointed the need for safety by having a “report user” option if necessary

  • “confirm” button while choosing correct place from Google Maps was confusing for users as they thought that it is the end of the flow

III. Low impact:

  • confusion caused by the absence of a "step navigation bar" that would typically provide clear guidance on their current position within a process.

  • adding tags in meetup was not intuitive

15 Result of design

After many hours of working on the prototype we managed improve it substantively and visually!

Onboarding process

ParentsUp! provides such features as:

discover baby-friendly activities, places in parents’ surroundings 

joining to meetups

share  experiences with other fellow parents 

Security

Safety for parents by:

  • blurring faces of parents for not sign up users

parents are not displayed on the map

  • badges

  • report system

  • verification system

"Add" feature

Parent can add a recommendations such as:

  • activity

  • place

  • meetup.

To prevent a cognitive load during “add”, we simplified this process as much is possible by:

  • quick adding

  • templates

  • tags (to help to find users what they are looking for quicker)

  • supported by google maps

"User profile"

Parent has everything in one place:

  • connections

  • saved places

  • meetups

  • private calendar (can be connected with Google Calendar)

On the user's profile we can check which badges the user has and thus verify the safety of the user.

"Smart recommedations"

Our homepage provides:

  • personalised recommendations 

  • based on parent’s interests

  • based on location

  • shows e.g. trending activity in parents’ surrounding

"Searching"

In our application, searching is simplified into five category:

  • all

  • activity

  • places

  • meetup

  • parent

Each category has advanced filters for more convenient searching. You can browse through the list or use the map feature where pins are placed based on location for easy navigation.
In addition, you can check what events are in another city.

17 Learnings

  1. Designing this app showed me how important is user research and conducting IDI’s session - we may think that we know what users want but actually not really. Making it with such with attention to detail later brought many ideas how we can help our target group.

  1. Making this project in a group was really challenging (as it was created fully remotely) but also (and maybe the most important) showed me how to communicate my ideas, defend them, find a common ground and divide our work as equally as it was possible.

  1. The customer experience journey map and value proposition canvas process provided a comprehensive view of the user's experience, enabling us to identify touchpoints and potential areas for improvement - helped me think holistically during project.

  1. Research revealed the numerous challenges that new parents face, prompting us to rethink our approach. Our ambitious project scope was narrowed thanks to MVP, teaching us how to prioritize product features in a business context, focusing on what's most important at the start and what can wait for the future.

18 Next steps

  1. Collaboration with Development Team

    • Hold a kickoff meeting to discuss design specifications with developers.

    • Establish communication and set up a project management tool for tracking.

  1. Official Launch and Monitoring

    • Release the app on the Play Store and monitor reviews, ratings, and performance.

    • Respond to feedback and provide regular update

Copyright © 2024

ma•chey

Copyright © 2024

ma•chey

Copyright © 2024

ma•chey