Growth Strategy for a New Famtech App
Problem
Client
A health and wellness tech start-up that has filed 8 patents for their technology and raised $6M of funding, aims to release a new app and accompanying product in spring 2021.*
Request
Design wireframes and a high-fidelity prototype targeting new parents with babies 0-6 months old
Timeframe
Nov. 23, 2020-Dec. 22, 2020
*Many details of this project are intentionally vague because of the non-disclosure agreement that I signed.
My Role
I led UX research for this project. My team consisted of 3 UX Designers and me.
Explored New Parents’ Needs, Fears & Wants
Secondary Research
In week one, my team and I researched topics such as the market size for new parent products, how parents monitor newborns while sleeping, where and how babies sleep, and how much babies typically sleep in the U.S. We kept this research brief as our client wanted us to begin prototyping and usability testing with potential users as soon as possible.
Primary Research
My team and I conducted 5 interviews with moms and 5 interviews with dads to better understand parents’ concerns about newborns sleep, how they monitored their baby while sleeping, and what data they might want to track during nap and nighttime sleep. I pre-tested our interview guide before the start of the interviews to see if any questions needed to be modified. We made some slight modifications as a result of this pre-test.
Key Findings from User Interviews
Anxiety Tapers Off as Baby Gets Older
"Initially we checked on our baby to make sure she was breathing but after a while, we weren't worried about that."
— S.B. (mom)
Exhaustion sometimes prevents parents from choosing the safest sleep option
"Safe sleep feels like a minefield of challenges. We're doing what feels easiest. Heard a [National Public Radio] NPR story where the writer co-slept and felt shamed by her pediatrician but it was the only thing that worked, and research said co-sleeping was very safe as long as you don't drink, do drugs, etc."
— M.A. (dad)
Parents Must Adapt to Babies Who Are Constantly Changing
"I'm continually reading about ways to monitor and adjust baby's sleep with an open mind ('cry it out' vs. respond to baby, let baby sleep in bed)..."
— G.L. (mom)
SIDS was initially a big concern but became less of a concern as parents become more sleep-deprived
"Is she sleeping is a bigger concern than her safety."
— N.F. (mom)
Many parents track a variety of metrics using pen and paper or apps on their mobile phone.
“I’m currently using four different apps for different needs.”
— N.F. (mom)
Parents want to know/are concerned about what is normal for their babies.
“This Huckleberry app has been really helpful to get at the scientific data to show what should be happening. It gives you a baseline against which you can parent. It's beyond sensors and the monitor but the smarts about what kid should be doing beyond age."
— A.S. (dad)
Monitor use is almost ubiquitous.
New Parents’ Needs, Frustrations & Goals
Needs
Be able to hear baby crying/in distress while sleeping
Help during transitions (e.g., sleep regressions, etc.)
More sleep
More support with how to help baby fall asleep
How to make safe sleep a reality
No false alerts with any products/devices that are supposed to help me with newborn
Reassurance that my baby’s sleep patterns & vitals are normal
Minimal recording/calculations for any product for sleep-deprived parents
Ability to monitor temperature of baby’s room
Ability to use product when I’m in my backyard
Affordable product
Frustrations
Don’t know how much baby needs to drink, sleep, etc. and if she/he is getting enough milk, sleep, etc.
I understand safe sleep but I’m so exhausted from picking my baby up throughout the night that I just let her sleep in my bed
Frustrated that I was doing things that were harming my baby when I was just trying to help (e.g, overfeeding that led to baby vomiting)
Too many false alerts on my monitor caused anxiety
Some products are too expensive (e.g., $200 was too much for our budget)
One of the apps I used woke the baby up when we got alerted
One of the products I used had to attach to parents but didn’t work when baby was just swaddled and not wearing pants
Difficulty putting on sock for Owlet
Motion detector on one of the apps would detect when my husband or I moved (and it would alert us)
Goals
To have more time to myself and more time with my partner
To put baby down to sleep without rocking or holding her/him
To feel confident that my baby is ok while she/he is sleeping
To move baby into his/her own room
To have a better understanding of what technology, clothing, etc. is helpful vs. what is a marketing ploy
To spend less time researching babies & sleep
An all-in-one app so I don’t have to download 4 different apps
Defining the Problem
Based on user interviews, we developed several How Might We statements to guide our work.
How Might We…
help new parents feel more confident about their baby’s well-being while they’re sleeping?
help new parents sleep more soundly when their babies are sleeping?
help new parents track critical information?
In addition, we also considered how this app might offer a unique value proposition.
This app is best at reducing new parents’ anxiety related to their baby’s sleep and helping new parents sleep more soundly.
Identified User Flows, Developed Wireframes & Conducted Two Rounds of Usability Testing
User Stories led to User Flows which resulted in the creation of wireframes.
I supported my team in developing wireframes but had a smaller role in this part of the project.
*To prevent competitors from benefitting from this UX research, I intentionally excluded some user stories.
Round One Usability Test Tasks & Results
For our first round of usability testing, we asked users to a) review the home page and tell us what the app will do, b) complete several tasks related to three metrics that our client’s product will track, and c) ask users how to improve navigation. We also asked participants: what is the most important thing for you to track related to your baby’s sleep in the first year of your baby’s life?
After a pilot round and five usability tests, the critical issues that emerged were related to confusion around one of the key terms on the home page, users wanted to toggle between the three main metrics that our client’s product will track, and users felt confused about the timeframe of the data presented on the home page.
Round 2 Usability Test Results
My team used the wireframes to create a high-fidelity prototype. We incorporated findings from usability testing and some feedback from our client.
I then developed two new usability test tasks and modified two initial tasks slightly based on some changes we made to the prototype, recruited users, and a teammate and I piloted the second round of usability tests tasks. We did not alter any of the tasks after this pre-test with one mom. We conducted usability tests with five additional people.
Although no critical issues emerged in this round of testing, I shared several serious usability issues that emerged:
Home screen felt congested and bland (users wanted more color)
On the home screen, one of the charts and the position of some of the text was unclear
Users want to be able to turn off alerts
The second usability test report that I compiled includes recommendations for these serious issues as well as recommendations to improve the UX for some minor usability issues.
Limitations
Convenience sampling due to time constraints.
Time constraints meant that my team and I had one week to conduct interviews with new parents. This meant that we primary used my network of friends who are also parents. At least one friend, a dad, tailored his responses once he realized the intention of this app.
Spoke with more moms than dads and most had had older babies than our target audience.
This short timeframe also meant that we spoke primarily with moms whose babies were older than 0-6 months, the desired age of newborns for this app. Recall bias likely affected the interviewees’ responses.
No incentives for usability testing; only offered testing on weekends.
A lack of incentives and our ability to only conduct tests on weekends made finding participants more difficult than we anticipated it would be.
Reflections & Lessons Learned
Always be prepared to be a UX Research evangelist.
One of the co-founders asked why we needed to do all of these interviews and how it might inform the usability of their product. I responded that we wanted to ensure the product is meeting a need, and to make sure we fully understood the challenges that new parents face. In hindsight, I wish that I had tailored my response based on his interest in the app’s usability.
If there is more than one company invested in developing a product, advocate to collaborate with both companies.
Another company commissioned my client to develop prototypes and test the usability of this app. I think the founder of the second company would have been very interested in user research, and might have given us more feedback on our interview guides, findings, personas, etc. In the future, I would aim to work with stakeholders from both companies involved in this project.
Remind participants that I want to know what they think, not what they think I want to hear.
Reflecting back on user interviews, one new dad, a good friend of mine, realized which topic was most important to us, and then tailored his answers. Looking back, I now wished that I had reminded him that I want to know what he thinks, not what he thinks I want to know.
Understand what is most important to different stakeholders as early as possible.
The person responsible for marketing at our client’s company was interested in the affinity map, what people said during interviews, etc. while one of the co-founders was most interested in reviewing our wireframes and high-fidelity prototypes. When working with future clients, I plan to better understand each stakeholders’ interests to ensure that I am as responsive as I can be to their needs.
Next Steps
Iterate & conduct usability testing with target audience.
I recommended that our client update their prototype, conduct additional usability usability testing with a more even split between moms and dads, and target parents who have babies 0-6 months.
Explore opportunity to create an all-in-one product.
This product has the potential to address new parents’ concerns, and could incorporate aspects of a newborn’s life that parents typically track. This would reduce the number of sleep-related monitoring devices new parents buy and could reduce the number of apps that parents download.