Miscarriage Corner
an app designed to improve the accessibility and usability for immigrant women after a miscarriage.
01
About the project
Miscarriage is the most common pregnancy complication affecting one in four pregnancies. The loss of a baby can seriously impact a woman's physical and mental health, leading to anxiety, depression, anger, self-blame, and self-harm. Women who receive support after their miscarriage are more likely to manage their mental health well. Despite this, research shows that many women do not have access to the support they need after a miscarriage. Immigrant women have more difficulties accessing support due to communication barriers, cultural barriers, differences in their religion compared to their host country, and living far from family and support networks. The objective of this study is to:
1. Understand the current process in which women receive physical and emotional support after a miscarriage.
2. Identify the areas that lack support for women experiencing a miscarriage.
3. Design a digital health solution/digital information platform to provide further support for women who experience a miscarriage.
Research
User Centered Design Approach
Existing Miscarriage Application Analysis
User Personas
Storyboards
Co-design Session with Experts
User Testing
To better understand my user’s needs, experiences, behaviours, and goals, I developed three personas. The personas were created based on the data extracted from the interviews with obstetricians/gynecologists, psychologists, and grief counsellors. They represent different potential users of the application, outlining their needs, goals, experiences, and frustrations.
Personas
I employed the literature review and data analysis from the interviews to create a set of storyboards. A storyboard puts a human face on analytic data and lets the designer walk in the user’s shoes. Through the storyboard, I was able to better understand the background and story of my primary user and how the user interacts with the application.
Storyboards
Co-Design Session with Experts
A participatory approach was chosen to bring healthcare professionals and stakeholders from different fields with a vested interest in miscarriage together to create a digital health solution for immigrant women who have experienced a miscarriage.
02
Visual Identity
Through the visual identity of the application, I aimed to evoke feelings of safety and support for women. A study conducted by Bonnardel et al. shows green, blue, purple and pink are the most popular colours among women. The study highlights the similarity of choices in different cultures, with differences in warm and shade colours of purple and pink.
Typography
Colors
Qualitative Analysis
Semi-structured Interviews with Experts
Obstetricians/Gynecologists, Psychologists and Grief Counselers
03
The app experience
Before entering the application, users will be asked a few questions. This information will be used to tailor the experience to each user's unique needs.
Semi-structured Interviews with Experts
User Experience Designers Specialized in Healthcare
Creating a customized experience
Homepage
Data analysis from interviews and co-design sessions with experts highlights the importance of reassuring women that miscarriage is not their fault and offering both physical and emotional support. Presenting this crucial information on the homepage ensures users receive the most vital content during their initial interaction with the application.
A daily log is a tool to assist women in documenting the physical symptoms of a miscarriage such as bleeding, pain, vaginal health, water intake, emotional state, sleeping habits, exercise and supplements taken. This tool can also help as a reminder for women to take care of themselves and monitor their progress. In addition, all information from this section can be exported and sent through email to healthcare providers.
Daily Log
Physical Screener
The Physical Screener helps women determine the stage of their miscarriage, potentially reducing the need for emergency room visits. By answering questions about fever, pain, bleeding, and pregnancy symptoms, users can assess whether they have physically passed their miscarriage successfully.
Emotional Screener
The Emotional Screener is a straightforward tool designed to identify signs of anxiety, depression, OCD, and other emotional challenges based on users' responses to a few questions. It utilizes an algorithm developed by Kristina Aanderson, a psychologist with extensive experience in grief, loss, and miscarriage. Based on the results, the screener can recommend grief counseling groups or psychologists for further support if needed.
The Support section is designed to help users find the physical and emotional assistance they need. It provides access to a range of resources, including:
Physical Health
Emotional Health
Finding Support
Emergency Contacts
Communication Tips for Partners
Guidance for Family and Friends
These resources aim to offer comprehensive support during the recovery process.
Support: Comprehensive Resources for Well-being
Self-Care: Resources for Healing
Research indicates that many women face anxiety, stress, and depression following a miscarriage. The Self-Care section offers a variety of resources to support emotional and physical healing. These include access to meditation apps, relaxation materials, podcasts, TED Talks, and more.
Safe Space: A Community for Healing and Support
The Safe Space feature is a chat platform designed with multiple rooms, such as "Your Story" and "Bond with Your Baby," offering a secure environment for women to share their experiences and support each other. Here, women can express their feelings, ask questions, and discuss their journeys with others who understand what they're going through.
Research shows that seeing others who are further along in their recovery can be incredibly encouraging. It provides hope and reduces feelings of isolation, making the healing process a little easier. This section also fosters a strong sense of community within the application, helping women connect and grow together.
04
Usability
Five immigrant women from the Philippines, India and Iran participated in the study to evaluate the usability of the apps. Faulkner (2003) expresses that even a small number of participants are able to reveal a great number of problems and errors in tests and just five participants can help researchers find 99% of the problems. Participants that reviewed the app were between 18 to 44 years old, have had a miscarriage in the last five years, and could communicate in English. A combination of qualitative and quantitative usability testing methods was employed to identify the problems and issues of the designed prototype. In addition to qualitative analysis, a quantitative analysis was conducted to evaluate the design’s effectiveness and efficiency.
“I like the overall look of the app. I think it looks like it is fairly easy to navigate. There are not too many buttons. Like I said, I like the colours. This is really silly but I like that the icons here are with different colour women, not just the blond hair blue eye person, because I notice that kind of stuff and it feels more inclusive. Overall, it seems quite simple to navigate.—Participant B”
“And once the storm is over you won't remember how you made it through. How you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what the storm is about.”
Haruki Murakami