From Concept To MVP

Designing for Emotional Support in Caregiving Journeys

TEAM

1 Graphist - 1 Developer

1 Graphist - 1 Developer

DURATION

Feb 2023- Present

Feb 2023- Present

Overview

42% of partners reported feelings of isolation and anxiety. How might we support SCI partners through digital tools?

ROLE

UX Design- Ownership - Visual Design

UX Design- Ownership - Visual Design

OBJECTIVES

Feelinks is envisioned as a supportive digital hub to foster connections, shared experiences, and emotional support among the partners of people with a spinal cord injury (SCI).

IMPACT

  • Breaking isolation for an estimated 2.5 million+ SCI caregivers worldwide who often experience 3× higher rates of depression than the general population.

  • Centralizing critical knowledge that reduces the average 7.5 hours weekly that caregivers spend searching for information across 12+ fragmented online sources

  • Building community resilience through peer-to-peer support, potentially reducing the 40% of SCI partners who report feeling severely isolated

  • Enhancing caregiving quality by addressing the needs of partners who provide an average of 11.3 hours of daily care, valued at $120,000+ annually per caregiver

mETHODES

  • Field Study

  • Explorative Interview

  • Stakeholder Map

  • Persona

  • Empathy Map

  • Wireframing

  • Paper Prototyping

  • MVP

  • Figma

  • Jotform

  • Miro

  • Meet

INDUSTRY

E-Health

DURATION

Feb 2023- Present

TEAM

1 Graphist - 1 Developer

Introduction

When a spinal cord injury changes everything, who supports the supporters?

Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) are life-altering events that extend their impact beyond the affected individuals to their close relatives, especially partners. This traumatic life event brings significant changes for partners, resulting in mental and physical burdens and putting them at risk of burnout. Each question and each challenge underscore the multifaceted nature of the issues.

social activists

Insurance companies

Rehab Centers

Hospitals

Suppliers

Media

Scholars

Indirect stakeholders

Doctors

Municipalities

The government

SCI Families

SCI patients

direct stakeholders

SCI Partners & Caregivers

core Stakeholders

The problem

As 42% of SCI partners reported feelings of isolation and anxiety, more attention and support are essential to alleviating their challenges.

As an insider, I got to know I am not the only person with feelings of isolation and depression after the accident that happened to my partner.
Based on my literature research, there are

"The partner had to cope with the shock, support the injured partner during the institutionalized rehabilitation, and struggle to make their relationship and life together function again."

"They were struck by the brutal fact that their partner had been seriously injured, and their own needs faded into the background."

"The partners experienced much distress and appreciated the support they got but felt that they were mainly left to manage the difficult process on their own."

(Johnson et al.)

"The partner had to cope with the shock, support the injured partner during the institutionalized rehabilitation, and struggle to make their relationship and life together function again."

"They were struck by the brutal fact that their partner had been seriously injured, and their own needs faded into the background."

"The partners experienced much distress and appreciated the support they got but felt that they were mainly left to manage the difficult process on their own."

(Johnson et al.)

INTERVIEW INSIGHTS

The interviews validated the fact that there is room for improvement of the platform they currently use. (the Facebook group).

The interviews validated the fact that there is room for improvement of the platform they currently use. (the Facebook group).
The suggestions helped me map all the needs and pain points and translate them to design solutions.

The insights helped me map all the needs and pain points and translate them to design solutions.

Discovery

I found a Facebook group of 2000+ international women with their partners in a wheelchair.

That was the best place to validate the insights from literature using the research canvas method.
Reaching out to them, I managed to plan several interviews to gather insights in a detailed way.

Discovery

Data Driven Persona

Using the data gathered from the user interviews helped me draw a more realistic picture of the users.

Sarah and Debbie represent two caregiver archetypes: The Empathic Caregiver, reflecting the majority who seek emotional support, and The Resourceful Partner, who actively looks for tools and community to manage care. While Sarah feels emotionally overwhelmed and isolated, Debbie focuses on solutions and balance. Together, they highlight the emotional and practical needs in SCI caregiving.

The insights helped me map all the needs and pain points and translate them to design solutions.

Identifiying UX violations

I identified 65+ violations of heuristics all over the screens and prototype.

The insights helped me map all the needs and pain points and translate them to design solutions.

Intuitive Process

Users find it difficult to locate key features like "Add Money" or Send/Request due to complex navigation. Users seem to find their prone due to confusing category errors and unclear information architecture.

Open

Intuitive Process

Users find it difficult to locate key features like "Add Money" or Send/Request due to complex navigation. Users seem to find their prone due to confusing category errors and unclear information architecture.

Open

Fee Transparency

Users face confusion and frustrations with unclear and excessive transaction fees and conversion rates. Which shows lack of transparency around fees.

Open

Fee Transparency

Users face confusion and frustrations with unclear and excessive transaction fees and conversion rates. Which shows lack of transparency around fees.

Open

Payment Scheduling

Users need more flexibility and control over their payments, specifically the ability to schedule future transactions.

Open

Payment Scheduling

Users need more flexibility and control over their payments, specifically the ability to schedule future transactions.

Open

What users say

Conducting 5 usability tests, we discovered the painpoints of the users that validated some of the issues found in the Heuristics Evaluation.

The insights helped me map all the needs and pain points and translate them to design solutions.

Number of participants: 5

Age range: 60 to 75 years old

Average age: ~67 years

Gender : 3 Female, 2 Male

Demographics

Task 1: Set 2 goals in the application.
Task 2: Tell me your plans for 3 days from now.
Task 3: Change one of the goals you have.

Task 4: Find where you can see the reports.
Task 5: Log out of your account, please.

  • How was your experience using this application?

  • Have you ever used an application to build new habits regarding your diet or physical activity? Name them.

  • How do you think an application can help you build new habits?

  • Do you have any suggestions that might help us improve this application?

Tasks

Results

Identifiying UX violations

I identified 65+ violations of heuristics all over the screens and prototype.

The insights helped me map all the needs and pain points and translate them to design solutions.

Intuitive Process

Users find it difficult to locate key features like "Add Money" or Send/Request due to complex navigation. Users seem to find their prone due to confusing category errors and unclear information architecture.

Open

Intuitive Process

Users find it difficult to locate key features like "Add Money" or Send/Request due to complex navigation. Users seem to find their prone due to confusing category errors and unclear information architecture.

Open

FEE TRANSPARENCY

Users face confusion and frustrations with unclear and excessive transaction fees and conversion rates. Which shows lack of transparency around fees.

Open

FEE TRANSPARENCY

Users face confusion and frustrations with unclear and excessive transaction fees and conversion rates. Which shows lack of transparency around fees.

Open

Payment Scheduling

Users need more flexibility and control over their payments, specifically the ability to schedule future transactions.

Open

Payment Scheduling

Users need more flexibility and control over their payments, specifically the ability to schedule future transactions.

Open

What users say

Conducting 5 usability tests, we discovered the painpoints of the users that validated some of the issues found in the Heuristics Evaluation.

The insights helped me map all the needs and pain points and translate them to design solutions.

Intuitive Process

Users find it difficult to locate key features like "Add Money" or Send/Request due to complex navigation. Users seem to find their prone due to confusing category errors and unclear information architecture.

Open

Intuitive Process

Users find it difficult to locate key features like "Add Money" or Send/Request due to complex navigation. Users seem to find their prone due to confusing category errors and unclear information architecture.

Open

FEE TRANSPARENCY

Users face confusion and frustrations with unclear and excessive transaction fees and conversion rates. Which shows lack of transparency around fees.

Open

FEE TRANSPARENCY

Users face confusion and frustrations with unclear and excessive transaction fees and conversion rates. Which shows lack of transparency around fees.

Open

Payment Scheduling

Users need more flexibility and control over their payments, specifically the ability to schedule future transactions.

Open

Payment Scheduling

Users need more flexibility and control over their payments, specifically the ability to schedule future transactions.

Open

Demographics

Number of participants: 5

Number of participants: 5

Age range: 60 to 75 years old

Age range: 60 to 75 years old

Average age: ~67 years

Average age: ~67 years

Gender : 3 Female, 2 Male

Gender : 3 Female, 2 Male

Tasks

Task 1: Set 2 goals in the application.
Task 2: Tell me your plans for 3 days from now.
Task 3: Change one of the goals you have.

Task 4: Find where you can see the reports.
Task 5: Log out of your account, please.

Task 1: Set 2 goals in the application.
Task 2: Tell me your plans for 3 days from now.
Task 3: Change one of the goals you have.

Task 4: Find where you can see the reports.
Task 5: Log out of your account, please.

  • How was your experience using this application?

  • Have you ever used an application to build new habits regarding your diet or physical activity? Name them.

  • How do you think an application can help you build new habits?

  • Do you have any suggestions that might help us improve this application?

  • How was your experience using this application?

  • Have you ever used an application to build new habits regarding your diet or physical activity? Name them.

  • How do you think an application can help you build new habits?

  • Do you have any suggestions that might help us improve this application?

Results

Results

Intuitive Process

Users find it difficult to locate key features like "Add Money" or Send/Request due to complex navigation. Users seem to find their prone due to confusing category errors and unclear information architecture.

Open

Intuitive Process

Users find it difficult to locate key features like "Add Money" or Send/Request due to complex navigation. Users seem to find their prone due to confusing category errors and unclear information architecture.

Open

FEE TRANSPARENCY

Users face confusion and frustrations with unclear and excessive transaction fees and conversion rates. Which shows lack of transparency around fees.

Open

FEE TRANSPARENCY

Users face confusion and frustrations with unclear and excessive transaction fees and conversion rates. Which shows lack of transparency around fees.

Open

Payment Scheduling

Users need more flexibility and control over their payments, specifically the ability to schedule future transactions.

Open

Payment Scheduling

Users need more flexibility and control over their payments, specifically the ability to schedule future transactions.

Open

Data Driven Persona

Using the data gathered from the user interviews helped me draw a more realistic picture of the users.

Sarah and Debbie represent two caregiver archetypes: The Empathic Caregiver, reflecting the majority who seek emotional support, and The Resourceful Partner, who actively looks for tools and community to manage care. While Sarah feels emotionally overwhelmed and isolated, Debbie focuses on solutions and balance. Together, they highlight the emotional and practical needs in SCI caregiving.

Intuitive Process

Users find it difficult to locate key features like "Add Money" or Send/Request due to complex navigation. Users seem to find their prone due to confusing category errors and unclear information architecture.

Fee Transparency

Users face confusion and frustrations with unclear and excessive transaction fees and conversion rates. Which shows lack of transparency around fees.

Flexible Payment Scheduling

Users need more flexibility and control over their payments, specifically the ability to schedule future transactions.

STANDARDISATION

Displaying data with the medical industry’s current visual standards and conventions.

ACCESSIBILITY

Designing with an understanding of cognitive load, and glance-based legibility.

CO-EXISTENCE

Designing a system to co-exist with the current process in place to complement rather than replace.

Data Driven Persona

Using the data gathered from the user interviews helped me draw a more realistic picture of the users.

Sarah and Debbie represent two caregiver archetypes: The Empathic Caregiver, reflecting the majority who seek emotional support, and The Resourceful Partner, who actively looks for tools and community to manage care. While Sarah feels emotionally overwhelmed and isolated, Debbie focuses on solutions and balance. Together, they highlight the emotional and practical needs in SCI caregiving.

The insights helped me map all the needs and pain points and translate them to design solutions.

Technicalities

Technicalities

Font size, colors, and text spacing have a significant effect on the rate of accuracy of a visual search and the reaction time during each search period.

Font size, colors, and text spacing have a significant effect on the rate of accuracy of a visual search and the reaction time during each search period.

When designing the information, on-glance legibility was an important thing to consider, as the surgeons, doctors, and nurses would use the screen as a fast means of retrieving information. Their attention is limited, so the cognitive load had to be minimal. High contrast was used to display quantitative physiology data such as HR and SpO₂ numbers.

The dark background is scientifically proven to have better results when paired with high-contrast colored numbers. Each physiology indicator was assigned a color based on conventions observed through patient monitoring systems. A proper font and size balance was also achieved by using a bold Helvetica weight commonly used with modern patient monitoring systems.

When designing the information, on-glance legibility was an important thing to consider, as the surgeons, doctors, and nurses would use the screen as a fast means of retrieving information. Their attention is limited, so the cognitive load had to be minimal. High contrast was used to display quantitative physiology data such as HR and SpO₂ numbers.

The dark background is scientifically proven to have better results when paired with high-contrast colored numbers. Each physiology indicator was assigned a color based on conventions observed through patient monitoring systems. A proper font and size balance was also achieved by using a bold Helvetica weight commonly used with modern patient monitoring systems.

JOBS TO BE DONE

JOBS TO BE DONE

From 11 user interviews, I've identified two main categories of tasks that need to be accomplished:
1. Establishing Connection
2. Gaining Knowledge

Each of the categories have been again categorized into two subcategories to make specific characteristic for the content.

Each of the categories have been again categorized into two subcategories to make specific characteristic for the content.

✨

Connect to Content

Add layers or components to swipe between.

✨

Connect to Content

Add layers or components to swipe between.

✨

Connect to Content

Add layers or components to swipe between.

User perception

The role of human and clinical judgment in our AI feature was heavily criticized.

The role of human and clinical judgment in our AI feature was heavily criticized.

User testing revealed how our product was perceived positively by medical personnel. Most claimed to understand what it does, and what it aims to solve. However, the AI prediction concept was underdeveloped, as many did not understand the need for it, let alone how it worked.

The interface

hOW IS THE NEW EXPERIENCE?

Conducting another round of user tests with a similar scenario as before, helped me gather insights on our first designed version, leading to iterations on it.

After preparing the figma prototype, I had it tested with more users and gathered insights and feedback.

The interface

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Still working on the rest of the case study …

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Technicalities

Font size, colors, and text spacing have a significant effect on the rate of accuracy of a visual search and the reaction time during each search period.

When designing the information, on-glance legibility was an important thing to consider, as the surgeons, doctors, and nurses would use the screen as a fast means of retrieving information. Their attention is limited, so the cognitive load had to be minimal. High contrast was used to display quantitative physiology data such as HR and SpO₂ numbers.

The dark background is scientifically proven to have better results when paired with high-contrast colored numbers. Each physiology indicator was assigned a color based on conventions observed through patient monitoring systems. A proper font and size balance was also achieved by using a bold Helvetica weight commonly used with modern patient monitoring systems.

Technicalities

Font size, colors, and text spacing have a significant effect on the rate of accuracy of a visual search and the reaction time during each search period.

When designing the information, on-glance legibility was an important thing to consider, as the surgeons, doctors, and nurses would use the screen as a fast means of retrieving information. Their attention is limited, so the cognitive load had to be minimal. High contrast was used to display quantitative physiology data such as HR and SpO₂ numbers.

The dark background is scientifically proven to have better results when paired with high-contrast colored numbers. Each physiology indicator was assigned a color based on conventions observed through patient monitoring systems. A proper font and size balance was also achieved by using a bold Helvetica weight commonly used with modern patient monitoring systems.