Phase 1:
CONCEPT + DISCOVERY
To kickstart the discovery phase, I tapped into our internal resources to broaden my knowledge of Evernow and the menopause landscape. Conducting stakeholder interviews with product owners, managers, clinicians, and subject matter experts accelerated my understanding of the he business, clinical, and user perspectives. This process clarified core business goals, project requirements, constraints, and expectations, which, combined with key insights from user research, guided the design ideation stage.
Project priorities were derived from overlapping business and user goals.
Capturing Her Journey
To uncover deep insights about Evernow’s target audience, we partnered with external consultancies to gather and analyze qualitative and quantitative data. Digesting and synthesizing this data enabled me to empathize with the needs and challenges faced by women experiencing perimenopause and menopause. These primary sources included an online survey of 2,000 women and focus group discussions and 1-on-1 interviews with 22 women aged 40-60 experiencing menopause symptoms.
As participants shared their powerful personal stories, I was able to fully empathize and hone in on the key insights that would guide each step of my design process moving forward.
Here are themes we kept hearing “in her words”:
“I feel alone.”
“What’s happening to my body?”
“Are my symptoms normal?”
“I don’t know what to expect.”
“I can’t find info I can trust.”
The empathy map below captures some of the key findings I extracted from the user journey research.
From Synthesis to Solutions
Our team presented these findings to stakeholders and organized a cross-functional brainstorming session virtually using FigJam, involving the marketing, medical, and product teams.
We utilized "How Might We" questions as prompts to generate potential solutions that addressed our users' most pressing needs:
● How might we normalize her menopause experience? (feel less alone, feel that she is normal)
● How might we help her understand the physical and emotional symptoms of menopause?
● How might we help her know what to expect during each stage of the menopause transition?
● How might we help her find information she can trust?
The outcomes of this ideation process helped us clarify and validate our focus areas, as well as our design and development priorities.
Prioritizing User Point of View
We connected the findings from user research to our product priorities, identifying specific features of the app such as a symptom tracker and provider messaging, among others that would empower the user to better understand menopause and effectively manage her symptoms using our platform.
Putting Pen to Paper
Armed with the insights gathered from user journeys, I sketched ideas and laid the foundation for these key features and functionality that would address here needs. I also integrated common UI patterns and design best practices of popular health and fitness apps. Early concept testing allowed us to gather crucial user feedback and minimize the risk of developing features that didn't meet user expectations.
Early sketches incorporated features such as a symptom tracker, personalized insights, and recommended content by experts, that would address her uncertainty about symptoms and desire for trustworthy information.
Concept Testing
To ensure the success of our early prototypes, I engaged in concept validation with 10 users from our target audience through Usertesting.com. Testing enabled me to swiftly validate our assumptions and implement essential refinements before delving into intricate design aspects. Beyond validating features and functions, this early testing phase also enabled me to confirm that the user flows I had mapped out were intuitive and would provide a frictionless experience while navigating the site.
Cross-functional Collaboration
At this stage we were ready to share product requirements and user stories and bring engineers into the conversation as we forged ahead with designing a beta version of the app. This collaborative approach enabled us to lay a strong foundation across our functional teams, combining the creative vision with technical feasibility and constraints from the developers’ perspectives. By bridging the gap between design and engineering, we ensured a comprehensive and well-rounded development process that ultimately resulted in a high-quality product.