Empowering women to make reproductive choices that work for them
Helping women take control of their family planning journey.
TIMELINE
1 week
ROLE
Product Designer
TEAM
Solo project
TOOLS
Figma
FigJam
SKILLS
Interaction Design
Visual Design
User Research
CONTEXT
As part of my UX Design course, I was tasked with designing a healthcare digital solution that places people and patients at the centre of healthcare by more deeply understanding patient needs and experiences, while improving patient outcomes.
CHALLENGE
How might we provide emotional support and fertility information to women who are navigating their family planning journey so that they feel empowered to make reproductive choices they are happy with?
Focus
The task was very open-ended: we could explore any area of healthcare. I have recently been having a lot of conversations with women in their 30s about family planning, fertility, egg freezing, and balancing it all with career and personal goals. It became clear to me that the decision about becoming a parent or when to have kids is almost always a stressful one, so I decided to explore some solutions that could help women on this journey.
Outcome
I designed a prototype for a tool that helps women and people who can get pregnant plan their fertility journey in a stress-free and encouraging way.
I conducted interviews with three women who are open to or actively want to have children, but have postponed it so far. I asked them a total of 24 questions about their experiences with family planning, expectations of life as a parent, as well as their general goals, motivations, and concerns. Here’s what I learned:
Uncertainty
Women between 25 and 35 years old experience uncertainty about having children. Some feel like they haven’t figured their own lives yet and are unsure about taking on the responsibility of children, especially as they expect parenthood to be a major life change.
Concerns About Fertility
Overall, the women I interviewed are concerned about their fertility and getting too old to have children. They also feel like the amount of information about fertility and treatment options is overwhelming, and they wish they had more help navigating it and becoming more aware of their own fertility. While they are aware of and open to fertility treatment such as egg freezing and IVF, they are worried about the cost and the emotional toll.
Emotional Support
Women feel like the amount of information regarding fertility and family planning is overwhelming, and they are left on their own to figure it out. Sometimes they wish they had access to some kind of handholding/coaching support to navigate the emotional parts of their family planning journey, not just the medical treatments. They also feel like they were not aware of some important information about their own fertility until later in life.
Biggest Insight
My interviews showed that no matter where they were in their family planning journey, the women I interviewed felt like the decision was overwhelming and getting all the information they needed was a struggle. This made me decide to focus on two main challenges: providing women with information about their own fertility and offering emotional support.
How might we?
How might we provide emotional support and fertility information to women who are navigating their family planning journey so that they feel empowered to make reproductive choices they are happy with?
Period Tracking and Insights
Women can track their period and get personalized fertility predictions based on their cycle.
Family planning and parenting guides
Help people make an informed decision by educating them about what parenting could look like.
Journaling and Daily Prompts
Helping women navigate their fertility and planning journey by providing a space to reflect, with daily prompts.