Melody
A mobile app health companion for women to seamlessly track health symptoms and share data with trusted healthcare professionals
80 hours
Duration
Figma, Whimsical, Mural
Tools
Role
Product Design Lead (UX/UI)
Apps designed to track women’s health issues are powerful tools for promoting overall well-being and empowering women with the knowledge to make informed healthcare decisions. It's important to note that though the effectiveness of an app can vary based on individual needs and preferences, many existing products have limited customization options and a one-size-fits-all approach.
Introduction
Melody is a groundbreaking health companion that not only empowers women to meticulously track their health symptoms and directly share their tracked data with trusted health professionals but also ensures personalized care and informed decisions at every step of their health journey.
Solution
Research
User Interviews
I interviewed primarily women for this project to understand their diverse needs and preferences when it comes to health tracking, particularly those dealing with specific women's health issues such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Women’s health covers a broad spectrum including menstrual health, mental health, reproductive health and more. It was important to identify the specific features and functionalities that are most relevant and beneficial to women. Key insights include the ability to customize tracked symptoms and analyzing how symptoms change over time against other factors, such as a menstrual cycle or new medications started.
“I have to remember all of my symptoms when I spoke to doctors so they could understand my condition and I really struggled to articulate when my symptoms started.”
“Since I changed medications often, it would be helpful for the app to feature timelines where you can introduce new medications.”
“Many people would feel relieved to have control of their health data and some sense of control in this tracking process when you’re feeling out of control is key.”
Competitive Analysis
Performing a competitive analysis is a crucial step when developing a product to understand market trends and learn from competitors’ successes and mistakes. I performed a SWOT analysis of Symple, Apple HealthKit and Endo App.
Symple
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User-friendly interface
Comprehensive list of symptoms to track
Personalized symptom tracking
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Features limited to premium subscriptions
Limited health education resources
Symptoms are not tailored to specific medical conditions
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Integration with healthcare providers
Improved education resources
Community features to create a supportive environment
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Competition from other applications for specified conditions
Evolving healthcare regulations
User engagement lost over time
Apple HealthKit
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Integration with healthcare providers - users can connect to their health system and download health records
Option to share data with research studies
Comprehensive health data tracking
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Healthkit is limited to Apple devices
Accuracy and reliability is dependent on data input from third-party applications
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Expansion to other non-Apple platforms
International expansion to a global audience / adapting to different healthcare systems
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Competition from other health platforms
Dependent on third-party user engagement
Endo App
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Comprehensive symptom tracking
User-friendly interface
Educational resources
Customized health plans for endometriosis
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Limited platform compatibility
Dependency on self-reporting
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Integration with wearable devices
Community engagement features
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Competition from other health platforms
User engagement retention
Empathy Map
By empathizing with the target users—women seeking a seamless and comprehensive health-tracking solution—we can better understand their needs, emotions, and pain points. Insights from an empathy map will guide the creation of intuitive interfaces, personalized features, and a supportive environment, enhancing the app's effectiveness in helping women manage their health while fostering a sense of trust when sharing data with healthcare professionals.
User Personas
Project Details
The site map for Melody begins with a login page, ensuring a secured and personalized experiences for each user. Upon logging in, the user is directed to “My Symptoms” and “Medication Log” on the homepage to document and track their health data. Users can then navigate to the “Analyze” page, which provides visualizations of the tracked data to provide a deeper understanding of trends. The “Share” page allows users to share their tracked data with trusted healthcare providers and the “Learn” page provides insightful blogs and resources relevant to the user’s health profile.
Site Map
The user flow for Melody begins with a seamless onboarding process, guiding users to either create an account or log into an existing profile. Users can personalize their profiles by inputting specific health conditions or goals to track throughout their health journey. Once logged in, users are directed to “My Symptoms” and “Medication Log” to input their health data. From there, users can easily navigate to the “Analyze” page for personalized insights on their data, the “Learn” page for a hub of educational resources, or the “Share” page to connect to a health system and share tracked data with a healthcare provider.
User Flow
The product roadmap for Melody involves a three-phased approach. In Phase 1, the focus is on implementing a feature to track symptoms as well as a feature to synthesize tracked data and share with healthcare professionals. Phase 2 shifts towards informational enrichment by providing education resources, direct users to relevant clinical trials and consensually share tracked data with women’s health research studies. Lastly, Phase 3 focuses on product expansion, with plans to partner with Apple HealthKit and expand to a global audience.
Product Roadmap
Visual Design & Branding
The visual identity of Melody is a harmonious blend of modernity and warmth. A soft and inviting color palette of muted purples reflects empathy and care, while clean and intuitive design elements appeal to the product’s user-friendly nature. Melody’s brand messaging revolves around the concepts of empowerment, connectivity, and personalized care and the logo embodies the idea of taking charge of one’s health.
Color Palette
Typography
Logo
UI Component Set
Wireframes
When designing the lo-fidelity wireframes, I took a phased approach and left room for a lot of future growth. For example, a product like Melody would greatly benefit from AI models, which could make symptom predictions based on learned health patterns. I focused on creating screens that allow users to customize which health symptoms to track and analyze over time.
Lo-fi Wireframes
My main goal when creating hi-fidelity wireframes was to create a seamless experience for women to track their specific health symptoms and conditions. As this is a phased approach, the next phases would include implementing AI models, potential partnerships with Fitbit or Apple HealthKit, and connecting users to clinical trials and research studies.
Hi-fi Wireframes
Usability Testing
I recruited participants for usability testing to determine common pain points, usability rating, and suggestions for improvement.
Results
Users desired a toast message or positive feedback message after logging symptoms.
Users suggested adding help text to the comment section to demonstrate how to use this feature.
When adding new medications, users prefer a search option to pull from a pre-populated library of medications.
Priority Revisions
In response to user feedback, I incorporated a feature for users to receive a positive feedback message each time they log their health symptoms. This revision aims to imbue a sense of motivation and positivity throughout the user journey, reinforcing Melody’s commitment to holistic well-being.
Original
Revision #1
Another revision was to enhance the comment sections throughout Melody, providing clear and concise help text to guide users on effectively using this feature. This revision serves to enhance user understanding, ensuring a seamless experience in articulating health symptoms. Melody is committed to user-centric design and this feature aims to empower women to navigate the app confidently for a more informed health journey.
Original
Revision #2
Final Prototype
Melody paves the way for a transformative shift in women’s healthcare that goes beyond the conventional tracking apps. If I were to continue building out this product, I would expand to include fertility tracking, connect users with relevant clinical trials and consensually share data with women’s health research studies. Melody distinguishes itself from competitors by providing a user-centric approach tailored to the diverse health needs of women and offering a comprehensive platform based on insights gathered from in-depth interviews with women facing various health challenges.
Next Steps
Reflecting on this project, this journey involved an understanding of the significance of personalized health solutions for women. The existing limitations of one-size-fits-all approaches became evident, calling out the need for customization in women's health apps. The key lesson learned was the transformative impact of tailoring health tools to individual needs, ensuring that women are equipped with the knowledge to make informed health decisions. Effective design in healthcare technology necessitates a thoughtful balance between customization and accessibility.