The comprehensive version covering the entire research and design process
CuteTalk
What’s CuteTalk?
Motivated to improve and save new mothers’ lives, I designed an App with an AI-based baby behavior translator to reduce their frustration.
Role
Solo UX designer
Tools
Figma, Protopie
Timeline
June 2022 to Dec 2022
What motivated me?
New mothers’ frustration surprised me…
Originally, I thought motherhood equaled happiness and was filled with love and joy. To my surprise, nearly every one of my novice-mother friends has complained about feeling overwhelmed and lonely while caring for their babies.
Up to 85% of new mothers suffer from baby blue
More and more studies indicate that depression and loneliness are common problems for new mothers. One study suggests that up to 85% of new mothers suffer from the postpartum blues (Johns Hopkins Medicine, 2022). 90% of mums over 2000 mothers reported feeling lonely since having children and 54% of mothers felt friendless (Packham, 2017).
Talking to 5 new mothers…
Goals and analysis methods:
To Refine my understanding of the challenges new mothers face and gain insights into the underlying causes of these challenges, I conducted 5 in-depth interviews (45-60 minutes) with new mothers virtually.
Further, I utilized the thematic analysis method and affinity mapping to figure out the research insights.
One of my new-mother participantsSelected Quotes from new mothers
Feel tired and valueless
“I’m so exhausted and I feel like a milk machine… “
Regret to have the baby
“The baby is screaming for the 100 times now, I really want to throw her out the window…”
Feel lonely and ignored
“Even my own mother is only concerned about the baby... I still remembered the day after I just had a cesarean operation, my mother came and urged me to breastfeed the baby. I’m so aggrieved and wondered if she knows that my wound was still in pain…”
Lack of support from loved ones
“Normally, when my husband comes back home from work and I finally get a chance to ask him to hold the baby for just one second, I often find him engrossed with his phone before I even make the request…”
Empathize with my users with the persona, Linda
By delving deeper into the experiences of some of my potential users, I gained a greater understanding of the challenges that new mothers encounter daily.
Further, to truly empathize with their needs and concerns, I created my user persona, Linda Woods, a new mom with a newly born baby, which would serve as a helpful guide throughout the project.
Understand Linda’s user journey
To better understand how to assist Linda, I put myself into Linda’s shoes to imagine the entire psychological and behavioral process she goes through when she just lays down but hears her child crying.
From this, I identified several design opportunities that occur during Linda's emotional lows:
After a tiring day, when Linda finally lies down, she is afraid to fall into a deep sleep because she doesn't want to miss hearing her child cry.
Just as she starts to doze off, she is awakened by the sound of crying. Linda wonders why her child is crying again and why there isn't anyone to help her.
When she has no choice but to get up and comfort the child, she questions why it always falls on her to soothe the child and wonders where her spouse is.
If Linda has tried every method and still can't calm the child, she begins to think that she has done her best and wonders why the child is still crying.
Put everything together & clarify the pain points
After interviewing 5 new mothers, and creating a persona and user journey to empathize with their experiences, I went forth to conduct a few rounds of ideations. Finally, I distilled 3 concrete pain points that can inspire me efficient solutions to help my persona, Linda.
Inexperienced in taking care of a baby
“As Linda, I need an effective method that can inform me of the baby's needs because I experience difficulty to soothe the crying baby so that I can win more time to rest.”
Not having a reliable baby-tracking tool
“As Linda, I need to have a reliable tool to track my baby's daily living pattern because I always feel nervous about the baby’s hunger and sleep so that I can reduce my anxiety and provide better care for my child.”
Absence of support physically and emotionally
“As Linda, I need a way that can encourage my family members or other caregivers to actively take care of the baby without my request, because I feel exhausted and torn down, so I will feel emotionally and physically supported and empowered.“
How might we help Linda?
In order to generate as many ideas as possible, I first conducted five 8-minute Crazy Eight sessions. During each session, I sketched and wrote eight ideas on a single A4 sheet of paper. This resulted in 40 ideas after 40 minutes.
Then, I conducted a working session with my mentor and on-demand mentor to vote, in order to select the strongest ideas.
Finally, I decided to focus design a product that can address the three following issues:
Identify baby status immediately
Track baby's living pattern with ease
Encourage the family to get involved more
Imagine the perfect product
We envision a smart device that can help mothers get more sleep by monitoring the baby's actions and sending notifications to the mother or other family members. This device can also take actions to soothe the baby, such as patting or swinging. This can help mothers feel more supported and have more time to rest.
Deciding the MVP
An MVP is a product with just enough features to be considered "working." For my project, the most critical step is baby needs identification, as this is the foundation for all subsequent functionalities.
After analyzing the requirements, I narrowed down my focus to a smart camera that can identify the baby's needs and emotions through its behavior. The camera will then send notifications to caregivers accordingly.
This functionality can not only address the pain point of parents being ignorant of their baby's needs, but also reduce their mothers' worry and anxiety. Additionally, it is the foundation of the future perfect product.
Seek the advice of computer vision experts
I consulted with 3 computer vision scientists and 2 senior developers to assess the feasibility of my MVP. I learned that the motion sensing technology available today meets the requirements for detecting the baby's movements. This gave me the confidence to move forward with my project.
“As a computer vision researcher with over 10 years of experience, I certified that the current motion sensory technique, thanks to the advancement in deep learning and low light sensing, definitely reaches the bar to reliably detect a baby’s versatile movement required in the App.”
Dr. C. Wan, Research Scientist at Reality Labs, Meta
Working session with Dr. Wan
Building the information architecture
Based on the core function of the MVP, I figured out the Information Architecture for my product which includes 5 major features.
Live video: This is the major feature of this App that allows mothers to watch their babies and know their state, and receive timely notifications about their new state.
Video history: This feature will offer mothers to easily access past video clips of the baby.
Baby log: This feature will help mothers to add a baby logo and see the summary generated by the APP which shows the baby's living pattern.
Learning center: This feature aims to provide systematic guidance for mothers to learn about baby behaviors.
Family: The feature offers the opportunity to add other family members to view the baby. This feature aims to encourage family members to take more responsibility for taking care of the baby.
Heuristic analysis
Before I jumped into the design process, I conducted a heuristic research session to get a better understanding of the current most advanced, and popular products. This allowed me to learn about the competitive landscape and identify areas where my product could improve.
Specifically, I focused on three key areas during my research and here are some of my key takeaways from analyzing the three most popular smart baby monitors on Amazon:
Visibility of system status: The visibility of system states could be improved. For example, all important data related to the baby and the system should be clearly displayed to users. Every button should be intuitive, the diagram of the baby's data should be simple and neat, and all the text should be legible.
Match between the system and the real world: The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases, and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms.
Recognition rather than recall: The interface should be easy to use so that users can reduce cognitive load and can avoid remembering a lot of complex information by using this app.
Mapping the to-be user journey
Sketch important screens & Conduct the 1st round of testing
Based on the user flows created in the last step, I sketched the critical screens in the flows, which include the screens for:
The live video feature
The video history feature
The baby log feature
The family profile feature
The baby library feature
After finishing the user flow diagram, I created sketches for each screen and made them into a low-fidelity prototype. After testing the prototype with 5 users, I gained valuable sights from them and refined the user flow before developing them into wireframe flows.
Creating wire flows for red routes
Based on the feedback gained from the first round of user testing with the low-fidelity prototype with sketches, I refined the screen designs and created three wire flows.
Communicating a feeling
CuteTalk has a personality of caring, nobility, enlightenment, wisdom, empowering, and refreshing, which can be presented by purple:
Purple is associated with caring, empowerment, and refreshing. It is often seen as a calming and soothing color, which reflects CuteTalk's focus on providing a positive and supportive user experience.
Purple is also the color of enlightenment and wisdom. It is often associated with spirituality and creativity. This reflects CuteTalk's mission to help mothers learn and grow with the product and its commitment to providing innovative and user-friendly AI solutions.
Purple is the color of royalty and nobility. It is associated with power, luxury, and sophistication. This reflects CuteTalk's commitment to providing high-quality service and its status as a leading AI baby care platform.
Therefore, I finally choose purple as the main color for this App.
Creating a style
Logo
To make the logo more playful and engaging, I used the Comfortaa font to create the logo. This font is both cute and modern, which is a good fit for the app's target audience. The revised letter that I have designed looks like a baby face. This is a way to emphasize the app's focus on babies and their thoughts.
Font
I designed the logo with the font of Comfortaa. This font is both cute and modern, which is a good fit for the app's target audience. I used Figtree in the other places of the app because it is also a sans-serif font, which is easy to read on small screens. Additionally, Figtree is a playful and engaging font, which is a good fit for the app's overall tone.
Palette
Purple was chosen as the primary color since it is a calming and refreshing color that is associated with relaxation and comfort. It is also associated with empowerment, which reflects the app's goal of helping mothers be more confident in taking care of their babies. Bright colors are chosen as secondary colors because they are associated with fun and playfulness, which can create a more engaging and appealing user interface.
Feature 1: Help mothers understand their baby’s status and need effortlessly
This flow allows users to check the baby’s state via the live video.
Live video stream: This will allow users to see their baby in real-time, which can be helpful for monitoring their real-time states.
Baby states: The app will use a variety of algorithms to calculate the data from the camera. It will then show or notify users how their baby is feeling. This information can help users to respond appropriately.
Find out why: By clicking this button, users will see how the system is tracking their baby's facial expressions, body movements, and sounds in an immersive screen. This information can be helpful for understanding their baby's development and for identifying any potential problems.
How did I get there?
Iterating the product based on the 2nd round of usability testing
After creating wireframes, I created the first version of a high-fidelity prototype. I then conducted the 2nd round of usability testing with 5 users to identify usability problems. After receiving feedback, I revised the prototype and further developed the second version.
Insights from the 2nd round of usability testing:
Users need a more immersive screen to view their baby.
They didn't want to view the analysis every time.
They wanted to see the analysis texts integrate more with the baby's video.
Iteration in version 2:
Provide a more immersive screen for users to view the baby.
Only when users press the button "Find out why" can they open the analysis of data visualization.
Make the analysis more integrated with the baby's video.
Iteration of key screens
Feature 2: Help mothers track baby’s events & living patterns with ease
In this flow, users can add events to the baby log, such as feedings, diapering, etc. The system will then generate a baby log for users to reference. The system will also make a summary with diagrams to help users better understand the baby's living patterns.
Events: Events are any activities that are important to track for the baby. This could include feedings, diaper changes, naps, bath time, playtime, and any other activities that are important to the baby's development.
Baby log: The baby log is a record of all of the events that are added to the system. This log can be used to track the baby's development, identify any potential problems, and to better understand the baby's living pattern.
A better way to minimize user friction: I created an "Add to log" feature for users to only log important and correct events. This will allow users to focus on the right and necessary information, while the AI-generated results will be kept in the video history session for reference.
How did I get there?
Refining the product based on users’ needs
Insights from the 2nd round of usability testing:
Users are confused about the meaning of “Add a routine”. Most users think of routine as a recurrent event and something that happen in the future.
Some users cannot find a place to add a note.
Some users are confused about what is a “current recommendation” and why this information showed in the routine panel.
The information panels in the baby log screen appear non-clickable.
It seems hard to find a place to edit the notes.
Iteration of key screens
Insights from the 2nd round of usability testing:
Updated the button title from "Add a routine" to "Add a log event" for clearer instructions and note-taking capability.
Improved the button's background for better text legibility and overall usability.
Standardized button sizes using a refined design system for visual consistency.
Adjusted the background text container to fit dark mode, enhancing its aesthetic and readability.
Added an arrow ">" to the panel, indicating clickable functionality for accessing more details.
Included a pencil icon button for users to easily edit activity messages.
Iteration of key screens
Feature 3: Enable mothers to refer back to previous videos
This flow allows users to review a video clip for a past event generated by the system. The system will also tell users about the state of the baby, so users can see the details of the video to learn about related baby clues while watching that video.
The flow allows users to review a video clip for a past event that was generated by the system. The system will also tell users about the state of the baby at the time of the event. This information can be helpful for users to learn about related baby clues.
The details of the video can be helpful for users to learn about related baby clues. For example, if the video shows the baby is hungery, users can look for other clues in the video, such as the baby's body language or facial expressions, to help them determine how to tell a hungry baby.
How did I get there?
Iteration of key screens
Feature 4: Allow mothers to invite other family or caregivers to join
This flow shows how mothers can invite other caregivers to join.
Add a family member or add a professional caregiver: Mothers can add other caregivers to the app by providing their email addresses. The app will then send an invitation to the caregivers. If they accept, they can also view the baby from the App.
Visit times: The visit times of the caregivers can be seen on the list. The visit times of the caregivers can serve as a reminder for family members to notice the mother's input, so that they may share more duties for mothers, provide more emotional support for mothers, or help mothers feel less overwhelmed.
How did I get there?
Iteration of key screens
What will my users think?
8/10 & 7.75/10
Satisfaction & Recommendation
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
8/10 & 7.5/10
Usefulness in better understanding the baby
The efficacy in helping new mothers better understand their babies’ behavior and living patterns has received a rating of 8 out of 10 and 7.5 out of 10 respectively.
From 6.5/10 to 7.5/10
The enhancement of user trust through design
Users have rated their level of trust in AI at 6.5 out of 10. However, the data visualization design of the infant motion capture feature in this app has been rated 7.5 out of 10 in improving user trust.
What have I learned?
How to deliver a UX product from scratch
In this project, I experienced the complete process of developing a UX product from scratch. Throughout this journey, I identified problems in my daily life, conducted thorough research, analyzed user feedback, and created personas. I generated innovative solutions, sought expert feedback, defined the project scope, mapped user flows, and sketched interfaces. I developed both low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes and conducted three rounds of usability testing. Ultimately, I delivered a satisfying product that resonated with users. I am proud of my achievements in this project.
The benefits of putting users first
Acknowledging and embracing the perspectives of our users is crucial. By dedicating time to truly listen to their thoughts and observe their behaviors, we can gain valuable insights. Whether it's during user research to understand the problem space or usability testing to assess user satisfaction, users provide invaluable contributions. Their input has played a significant role in my continuously improving this product, and I am sincerely grateful for their involvement in my research.
The importance of the attention to detail
Through several rounds of design iterations, I have gained a deeper understanding of how attention to detail can enhance overall product design. For example, I have learned how to: maintain a unified design language while ensuring a clear visual hierarchy, design a typography design system that achieves a distinct hierarchy without becoming overly complex, highlight important information, and provide necessary textual cues through design, design interfaces in a dark mode that maintain visual consistency and ensure legibility of text. I truly experienced the importance of attention to detail in enhancing overall product design.