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My PCOS Journey
OVERVIEW
An online community for people with PCOS to receive support and access credible wellness resources
This is a group project done as part of the course on Online communities during my masters’ degree at University of Michigan. This course taught about social and cultural impact found in online communities and it’s members.
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This project sought to design an online community for people with PCOS that uncovers and addresses their needs to receive help and support in their journey with PCOS. Few highlights of this project was to analyze and observe an online community, brainstorm and design workshops for designing a software product.
TIMELINE
Feb 2023 to Apr 2023
10 weeks
MY ROLE
Team project
One of 5 UX Designers
MY RESPONSIBILITIES
Online community study
Observation study
Comparative analysis
Product design
Wireframing
Hi-fi designing
PROBLEM
What is PCOS and why is it worth the attention?
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a complex hormonal disorder affecting women and people assigned female at birth (AFAB) of reproductive age. It is characterized by a range of symptoms, including irregular periods, multiple cysts on the ovaries, and high levels of androgens. Women and AFAB with PCOS may also experience weight gain, acne, and excessive hair growth, among other symptoms.
Affecting 1 in 10 individuals worldwide, PCOS has no cure where women have to focus on lifestyle changes.
PROBLEM
Motivation
As a team of female designers, we aspire to enhance women's and AFAB’s physical comfort through our designs.
PCOS can have a significant impact on women and AFAB's quality of life and fertility, and it is important for people involved in receiving and providing care for PCOS to have a thorough understanding of the condition in order to provide/ receive effective treatment and support.
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My team and I strive to strengthen their understanding and communication about PCOS, fostering greater awareness and care towards their bodies.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
How might we help people with PCOS find support through a community in their journey with PCOS?
SOLUTION
01 Online Community and Resources
An online community for people with PCOS that provides credible wellness articles written by experts
SOLUTION
02 Experts 1:1 Consultation
Finding experts, booking consultation and chatting with experts can be done in the same platform
SOLUTION
03 User Profile
User can use the app as a pseudo-user or anonymously along with using symptom trackers.
SOLUTION
04 Community Moderation
Community moderation is achieved by multiple moderators, clearly formed rules and guidelines of engagement.
APPROACH
Duration: 2 weeks
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Problem Framing
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Initial research
Duration: 4 weeks
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Research analysis
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Observation study
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User interviews
Duration: 2 weeks
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Design workshop
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Feature brainstorming
Duration: 2 weeks
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Lo-fi prototype
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Hi-fi prototype
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Product pitch report
APPROACH
Design goals
Sharing and Organization
Since the community is information heavy, the design should allow users to share and organize information as per their needs.
Trust and Credibility
Users feel lost and confused about PCOS and this product caters to this problem. Hence, providing true and credible information will make the users feel safe.
Content Moderation
With community heavily relying on its members for engagement, moderating tools and moderator role is of utmost importance.
User Privacy
PCOS being a health topic, users' health data needs to protected along with users' identity. This will make user feel safe to share their experiences in this product.
APPROACH
User research questions
01
What kind of support?
Would women and AFAB individuals with PCOS need the most?
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Healthcare experts?
How can the platform help connect users to healthcare providers who can provide appropriate treatment and support?
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What kind of features?
What kinds of features would be most helpful for our users?
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How to encourage engagement?
How can we encourage active participation and engagement on the platform to ensure that users feel supported and connected to others who share similar experiences?
APPROACH
User research methodologies
Observation study
Observing activity of Reddit community r/AskWomen for 5 hours
User Interviews
2 virtual user interviews with women with PCOS
Competitor Analysis
Selected 6 competitors that are direct, and indirect competitors
APPROACH
Online community analysis
This was an observation study where we analyzed an online community, This was done in terms of principles of Amy Jo Kim's “Nine Principles for Community Design”.
Study analysis
After observing an online community like r/AskWomen, we learned;
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Community engagement methods
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Importance of a moderator in an online community
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Advantage of pseudonymous identity (use of random usernames) for community members
APPROACH
User interview insights
Being new to PCOS, it is challenging to research and understand it by themselves
Participants go through ineffective treatments and coping strategies
Participants struggle with social pressure, emotional challenges and lack of empathy from their friends and family
Participants are concerned with possibility of misinformation in the community
APPROACH
User persona
Julia: Community observer
I'm so frustrated with how little information is out there about PCOS.
About: Julia is a college student who was diagnosed with PCOS during high school
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Goals:
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Find reliable and credible resources to manage specific PCOS symptoms
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To get to know more about PCOS and how to resolve it
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Find emotional support to improve mental health
Kat: Community contributor
I want to support women with PCOS and contribute my experience by sharing my journey.
About: Kat is a woman with PCOS and in her first pregnancy
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Goals:
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Learn about other pregnancy journeys of women with PCOS
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Learn about the opinions on medications were/ are prescribed to her during her pregnancy
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Assist other individuals who may have similar concerns or symptoms as her
APPROACH
Competitor analysis
APPROACH
Sketches
APPROACH
High Fidelity Designs
IMPACT
Final thoughts and next steps
Factors like medical insurance and having PCOS experts as involved stakeholders require more legal fine-tuning. Thus, for this MVP, the team considered them as our current limitations and tasks for future work.
Tracking periods is a secondary feature of this application as their occurrences are less frequent in people with PCOS. Thus, another task for future work would be having accurate period predictions for this customer base as there are for people with regular menstrual cycles.
IMPACT
Reflection
My first Observation study
This project enabled me to use observation study as one of the research methods. Being an observer of an online community for 5 hours helped me understand different aspects of online communities. Some of these aspects include member engagement, content and community moderation, and how real world concepts of a community is translated into online communities. This helped me grow as a designer and as a member of various online communities.
Teamwork is dream work
This project was only possible because of my teammates and they are the best team I have worked with. What made this teamwork a dreamwork was our clarity on each other’s goals, commitments and skills. This made us respect each other and helped make team decisions smoothly.
