Project Vision
ParentEase strives to create a simple-to-understand and inclusive environment where parents can learn everything they need to know to be a good parent, commune with other parents about various topics, and save any information they might want to reference in the future, all in one convenient space.
Challenges
1) Allow users to find accurate information when they need it and have the path to it be easy to navigate
2) Offer a space for future and current parent-to-be’s to commune and find a support system through pregnancy and parenthood
3) Provide a way to easily save and store information for future reference
Meet the Users
Thomas
PRIMARY PERSONA
Age: 26
Occupation: Physical Therapist
Thomas is a 26-year-old physical therapist living in Brooklyn, NY with his parents and his pregnant older sister who is newly divorced. Thomas has always dreamed of becoming a father someday and has already started doing research out of various books his mom has lying around the house. A few of Thomas’ PT clients are pregnant and he wants to do research in order to better assist them with their therapy, and Thomas’ older sister, Branlyn is pregnant. He’d like to be there for her throughout it and assist her with his niece when the time comes.
Julietta
SECONDARY PERSONA
Age: 29
Occupation: High School English Teacher
Julietta is a high school English teacher at a local high school in her town and a soon-to-be-parent. She immigrated to the US a year ago where she met her husband, and outside of her coworkers, has struggled to connect with people her own age as Julietta is autistic. Her parents still live in Calgary, and she knows very few people in her area that are also expecting, so she doesn’t have a great support system. Julietta’s deepest desire is to be a great parent, but much of the parenting information out there is convoluted and contrasting one another which makes learning accurate information difficult for her.
Thomas’ Journey
I constructed a basic version of what Thomas’ journey might look like through ParentEase. This helped me understand ways in which users might interact with the product and allowed me to see potential navigational methods through the app.
Competitive Analysis
I looked at a handful of potential competing companies and while none of them directly competed with the offerings of ParentEase, the potential for infringement is there in the user preference. ParentEase has the unique opportunity to capitalize on all of the features of these apps and websites and bring them to one convenient location.
Two of the primary feature differences I noticed were:
- Exclusivity
- Scope of information included
Initial Sketching
The same method of brainstorming was used for each screen across the product and it’s versions. I started with a round of Crazy Eights, then I did 4 thumbnails per screen that were quickly sketched in a set time of 2 minutes. After all thumbnails were created, I went back through and chose the elements of each that I wanted to include in the final wireframe design.
Wireframing
After some initial pen and paper sketching, I reviewed each sketch to decide what was necessary to include throughout the product. I looked from two perspectives: at the app as a whole and at a more detailed, per-page view. I spent the bulk of my time on this project in the wireframing stage as I wanted to ensure it flowed well and worked for my users before moving onto visuals.
Ideation
Once the wireframes were finalized, I began preparing questions and tasks for my usability studies. I asked 5 different people to run through my prototypes in hopes of garnering enough feedback to use in future design iterations.
The findings for each study are below:
Mobile App
a. Labeled icons
b. Users want a way to engage with other soon-to-be parents
c. Users want an easy way to remove bookmarks from their collection
Website
a. Labeled icons
b. Users want to be able to view more information on the homepage
c. Users want to see what a community page would look like
Challenge 1
ALLOW USERS TO FIND ACCURATE INFORMATION WHEN THEY NEED IT AND HAVE THE PATH TO IT BE EASY TO NAVIGATE
ParentEase has a built-in search feature and many filters to assist users in finding exactly what they’re looking for. It also has a bookmarking feature to save your favorite things and find them again with ease.
Challenge 2
OFFER A SPACE FOR FUTURE AND CURRENT PARENT-TO-BE’S TO COMMUNE AND FIND A SUPPORT SYSTEM THROUGH PREGNANCY AND PARENTHOOD
ParentEase includes a community feature in the app and on the website where users can connect to others online or locally.
Challenge 3
PROVIDE A WAY TO EASILY SAVE AND STORE INFORMATION FOR FUTURE REFERENCE
ParentEase’s Notebook feature allows users to save highlights, bookmarks, and take their own notes whenever the moment strikes or they find that perfect quote they just have to save.
Style Guide
The colors chosen for Muse perfectly express everything that ParentEase is about: simple, clean, and fun. The fonts also encompass the modern, yet childish feeling ParentEase emits throughout its screens.
Takeaways
This was honestly challenging - creating for social good. I really enjoyed the experience as a whole. Coming up with the idea was surprisingly harder than I thought it would be. I had to really dig deep and utilize Sharpen to give me some inspiration. While I’m not a parent yet, it was incredibly fun to dip my toes into the world of pregnancy and babies if even for a little bit of time. Picking the colors for this was probably my favorite part.
My biggest takeaway however, is how little I seem to think about the world around me when it comes to my design ideas. It opened my eyes and broadened my horizons - for lack of a better phrase - to dream bigger and be more empathetic with the things I choose to design. All in all, I had a lot of fun with this project.
Be sure to check out the process for ParentEase’s creation below!