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Project - Personal Project (stemmed from my cultural probes exercise, which was to understand how Indian homemakers deal with mental health problem)
Duration - 1 month
Role - UX Researcher, UX Designer, UI Designer​
Tools - Figma
A self-care app for Indian homemakers that supports their well-being, by understanding their unique needs and challenges.
Understanding the Problem space
Many Indian homemakers face significant challenges, including stress, loneliness, and burnout due to the demanding nature of their responsibilities. However, there are lack of easily accessible and tailored resources that integrate seamlessly into their busy routines to effectively manage these issues.
Data about the well-being of homemakers
Exploring the context in-depth
Numerous studies have documented that household chores and responsibilities are one of the main determinants of homemaker’s stress.
The psychological well-being of homemakers is also affected by (M.Durak et al., 2022):
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Social isolation
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Codependency
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Repetitive and demanding tasks
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Lack of financial independence
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Lack of personal fulfillment
Capturing User Needs: A Survey to Gather Diverse Insights
The survey was designed to understand homemakers daily routines and stressors, self-care practices, awareness of wellness, and willingness to embrace technology to support their well-being. I got 15 responses from homemakers aged from 24-56.
How often do you find time for yourself and your own well-being?
What are some of the biggest stressors you encounter as a homemaker?
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Many homemakers lacked dedicated time for Rest.
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Self-care ranked low on their list of priorities.
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80% of them lacked resources and understanding regarding their well-being.
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Meditation and Yoga were popular practices among them.
Listening to Homemakers: A Deep Dive into Their Needs
It was important to understand the experience of homemakers firsthand. I conducted 4 interviews with homemakers from India, of 25-35 years of age. Key takeaways from the interviews:
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Struggle to find time for rest, exercise, or personal interests.
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Difficulty balancing homemaking duties with personal self-care.
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Desire for guilt-free self-care without compromising family needs.
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Lack of support networks or safe spaces for emotional expression.
Identifying Strengths and Gaps in the Market
I identified some of the best rated apps for mental health and did a comprehensive analysis. This analysis dives into four popular apps – Calm, Headspace, Sanvello, and Happify – by understanding their strengths, weaknesses, target audiences, and unique features.
While many wellness and mental health apps cover essential features, they often overlook addressing the specific challenges faced by homemakers, such as the significant issue of rest deprivation among Indian homemakers.
Generating Ideas from Insights
Ideation
Through research and thorough analysis, I identified opportunities to design features that directly target pain points (stress, burnout, loneliness and lack of rest), ensuring an intuitive and user-friendly experience for homemakers. ​
Home page
Rest page
Self Care page
Community Page
Vlogs page
Proposed Solution
After the initial sketches, I transitioned to creating mid-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes. The idea was to facilitate more accurate user testing and feedback collection. All the features of the app are targeted towards the pain points of homemakers.
How can I address 'Lack of Rest' among homemakers?
Inspired by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith's insightful book on the topic, which outlines seven distinct types of rest, I came up with a feature which can help the users to prioritize rest as an integral aspect of their well-being.
Rest - Helps with lack of rest
This is the novel feature of the app.
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Users can select what kind of rest they would like to do.
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There are some cultural specific self care activities based on time.
7 types of Rest
Activities based on the type of rest
Homemakers can also add their own activity for rest
Daily Journal - Helps with mental well being
Dedicated space for reflection and self-expression through their thoughts and experiences can lead to stress reduction.
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Users can write and save journal entries with the option of adding images, or recording audio entries.
Community - Helps with lack of support
It facilitates a supportive space where homemakers can connect with others facing similar experiences, enabling them to share insights, advice, and challenges.
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Discussion forums and chat groups for users to connect with others.
Anonymous sharing options for users who do not want to reveal their identity.
Mindfulness and Meditation - Helps with stress and burnout
Through guided sessions, breathing exercises, and relaxation techniques, users can reduce stress, and improve focus, fostering a sense of calm and balance in their daily lives.
Vlogs - Helps with awareness
The vlogs cover a wide range of topics, including tips for homemaking, self-care routines, organizational strategies, and inspirational stories, providing users with valuable insights and motivation to thrive in their daily lives.
Reflection - Helps keeping track of emotions
Reflection enables users to track and analyze their mood changes throughout the day.
They can also see their mood trends over a fixed time interval, revealing the most dominant mood throughout the week during that period.
User Testing
Objectives:
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Test the ease of navigation.
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Test whether the main features of the app are intuitive to use or not.
Findings:
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Users found the basic flow and experience of the app to be straightforward and intuitive.
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One of the user pointed the need for more detailed information about the meditation practices.
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Users requested that the time of the vlogs be prominently displayed on their respective cards for easier reference.
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The community feature was well-received by users, as they found it similar to Facebook groups, which provided a sense of connection within the community.
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Users expressed confusion with the weekly reflection feature, and asked for clearer instructions.
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Currently, users' rest activities are not tracked within the app. I asked the users if they'd prefer to have their activities tracked. Some users expressed interest in a feature that would allow them to submit this information, which can promote accountability and awareness of their rest habits.
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Learnings from the Project
I'm very happy with the rest feature as it was thoughtfully designed to align with Indian cultural norms and preferences by adding tasks which are more relevant to Indian homemakers.
One of the pain point that homemakers have is lack of recognition, but due to limitations I could not address that. I also discovered early implementation of a design system would have streamlined the UI design process for me.
I also encountered challenges with copywriting, as you have to convey information concisely to users. But despite these hurdles, the project has been immensely rewarding.
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