Role:
UX/UI Designer,
Design Team Lead
Year:
2023
Platform:
Mobile
Providing care for carers
Consoul is an early-stage startup focused on providing resources and support to everyday people caring for ill or disabled loved ones. Currently a team of three plus a dev team, my four-person team was brought in to create a comprehensive design system and the five main pages to establish the look and feel of the Consoul web app. The ultimate goal was to create a solid jumping-off point for the Consoul team to create an MVP that would be ready in three months.
As design team lead, I managed the team-client relationship and ensured all deliverables were on time and met the needs of our client. In addition, I took point on the initial UX synthesis and planning and worked with my three team members to create Consoul’s new UI.
Research & Planning
My team and I began by reviewing Consoul’s past user research. We established a four-week timeline to produce a design system and mockups of the web-app’s five main screens: login, home, learn, shop, and chat.
To complete our work within the tight deadline, my team worked together to create each week’s deliverables and finished a day before the actual delivery to give ourselves ample time to discuss, iterate, and improve our designs.
Week 1
Research Synthesis
Week 2
Ideation and Sketches
Week 3
Wireframes and Preliminary Design System
Week 4
Final Mockups and Design System
Synthesis & Sketching
Our first and second weeks focused on synthesizing Consoul’s prior research and sketching out our designs. I looked over the research to form and discuss conclusions which were then be used in creating sketches. I used our group synthesis to create a persona to be the team’s central focus.
To accommodate the remote nature of our team, each team member created sketches of the five screens. We then shared our designs and discussed which elements, features, and layouts most met our client’s needs. These ideas were combined into one set of five screens.
The prior research indicated that most carers are young to middle-aged women. Common issues among participants included financial stress difficulty finding and organizing outside support and resources, and communicating with extended family and friends.
Login includes options for social media logins.
The sketch of the Home screen included the daily question, a calendar, and a wellness assessment.
The first iteration of the shop page features only a shareable wishlist and suggestions; later versions will allow in-app shopping.
The Learn section combines videos, photos, and articles.
Communities will allow users to create 'circles' to easily share information with specific groups.
Wireframes
Our quick turnaround time necessitated that everyone work together to create the wireframes and final mockups. We established a basic wireframe design system to ensure consistent design despite working asynchronously.
I communicated with the dev team to determine a reasonable project scope given their three-month timeline. Several features were made from the preliminary sketches. On the homepage, the agenda and nine-point wellness checker were deemed unfeasible for an MVP, so more emphasis was placed on the check-in question and feed. The shop page, which will become an in-app shop, is now limited to a shareable wishlist. A central social feature, called a ‘care circle,’ would require extensive designing and programming, so I informed our team we would limit ourselves to a straightforward chat page.
Final Mockup and Design System
Together my design team pulled together and organized a thorough design system that the Consoul dev team and future designers could use to easily add and iterate screens. The final iteration of the five pages provided a standardized, easy-to-augment design for Consoul to add to and alter as their platform grows and changes. Consoul’s developers used the screens and system as a starting point to create the necessary flows for the product launch.
At our final meeting with Consoul, my team and I suggested potential additional features, including reintroducing the agenda and nine-point wellness checker, as well as potential design points for later user flows.
