BabyFeedingCF
Mobile decision aid

App designed for new mothers with Cystic Fibrosis, providing essential information on factors that influence their health and the health of their infants.

Class project with real doctors, in collaboration with CONVERGE Center for Innovative Research on Gender Health Equity.

Overview

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a fairly new adult disease. Due to the success of medications, people with CF are increasingly reaching reproductive & family planning ages. This means there are more people who want to understand how having children might impact or be impacted by their disease.

How might an app for these prospective moms aid in deciding amongst a variety of factors in both personal and infant health?

This app is designed for new or expecting mothers making the decision of how to feed their baby – whether through breastfeeding, formula feeding, bottle feeding, using a milk bank, or using a combination of methods. Our primary goals for this tool are to educate and inform, using three keys of the Ottawa Decision Making framework: knowledge, values, and support. In addition, the app was designed to reduce the mental load and pressures of discussions with care team members.

This is not a complete app—this project’s focus was to uncover user needs and the potential structure. In time, I think this could be built into something beautiful.

Team

Design partners with Kathy Xiaotong Yu. Facilitated by professors Ashley Deal and Raelynn O’Leary, this class project was in collaboration with CONVERGE Center for Innovative Research on Gender Health Equity, and involved interviews with CF medical professionals and patients with CF.

Research

Interviews with medical experts and patients

We used a content-forward approach and synthesized research, direct subject matter expert perspectives, and target user interviews to inform the app’s structure.

During the design process, we:

interviewed CF researchers and new moms with CF
familiarized ourselves with the basics of CF and parental care
ran wireframe tests with people in our target user base
synthesized feedback from critiques and class pin-ups

Planning the Architecture

Mix of linear and exploratory navigation

Within each module, we wanted to bring forth all aspects of that topic, particularly when it came to knowing what options are available. Providing required knowledge is a key pillar in decision-making. We explored a few possible iterations, and landed on the structure below:

UX Writing

Defining language and tone

There are a lot of external pressures to use one approach or another when it comes to feeding a baby. Regardless of whether a new parent has CF or not, different methods may not be feasible for each individual. We want to make sure that the app reassures the user that it is ultimately their choice whether they breastfeed, bottle feed, formula feed, or use another method or combination of methods.

We purposefully aimed to combat the assumption that the reader is without internal stigma; through our conversations, we found that the mothers had been affected by external words such as “breast is best,” and though they felt secure in their past choices, this messaging had a lingering emotional effect. We aimed for a tone that is trustworthy, reassuring, and informational through clear, concise messaging with person-first reinforcement.