Context
This project marks the culmination of a rigorous and comprehensive journey through the Master of Product Design & Development Management (mpd²) program at Northwestern University. Over nine months, top industry professionals from various fields team up to design and pitch a disruptive product to a panel of judges and VC investors (think Shark Tank). The outcome is a testament to critical thinking, innovative design, strategic planning, cross-functional collaboration, and persuasive communication—all skills essential for success in today's competitive marketplace.
Meet Elliot
“I can’t breathe...” Elliot reached for his babysitter as he grasped for air.
A peaceful Sunday afternoon quickly turned into a panic fest. Elliot is a young boy with a severe peanut allergy. When he was four, Elliot had his first brush with death after a babysitter unintentionally gave him a Butterfinger, causing his airway to lock up. To make matters worse, his babysitter failed to administer an EpiPen on his way to the emergency room in a state of panic.
Luckily, Elliot arrived at the hospital just in time, and he’s now a bright 8-year-old boy.
That day forever changed Elliot and his parents' perspective on childcare. They never want to repeat the scariest day of their lives. Now, they feel overly anxious and stressed whenever they inevitably have to entrust their child to someone else's care while they're away for work.
Problem
Current Solution
This is how parents are currently communicating their children’s healthcare needs to temporary caretakers (babysitters, in-laws, relatives, friends, etc):
Printed instructions (Unorganized Information)
Printed instructions are often overwhelming, and most importantly, not accessible enough in a time of emergency.
Digital documents (Medium & Communication Gap)
While digitalized instructions are slightly more accessible, caretakers have a hard time diligently obliging because of their passive and unintuitive nature.
Anxiety-driven communication (State of panic)
This anxiety-driven approach is often perceived as micro-managing, harming the long-term relationship between the permanent and temporary caretaker.
Pain Points
Opportunity
Following extensive user research, interviews, and competitive analysis, we pinpointed a critical need for a streamlined and intuitive solution that not only brings peace of mind to parents of children with special healthcare needs, but also bridges the communication gap between parents, providers, and caretakers. KidSync ensures seamless coordination and support, allowing families to protect their loved ones even in their absence.
— How it Works —
All-in-one Customizable Profile with Essential Care Information
First, parents create a comprehensive profile for their child, containing all crucial care information, including any medical conditions, medication instructions, medical documents, emergency contacts, primary care tips, and more. Authorized caretakers can access this profile, giving them everything they need at a glance — from general care tips to life-saving emergency instructions and eliminating the frantic search for correct instructions, documents, paperwork, or contacts.
Customizable Medication Administration Guides
Imagine how horrified Elliot’s babysitter was when she saw Elliot gasping for air. Through media support, parents can upload clear, easy-to-follow instructions for medication administration, allowing caretakers to access them quickly, even in a state of panic.
Instant Medical Document & Insurance Card Access
Similarly, instant access to medical documents like medical history, insurance or vaccination cards is crucial during time-sensitive emergencies. Moreover, it eliminates the stress of finding the right documents or forgetting to bring them.
Interactive Checklist with Calendar Integration
An interactive checklist with calendar integration allows the caretaker to check off completed tasks and send confirmation to parents in real time, bridging any anxiety-induced communication gaps that the parents might be struggling with.
Household Matching & Community Building
Last but not least, Kidsync matches households with children of similar healthcare needs, enabling parents to form a trusted network for support and even babysitting arrangements. Kidsync's mission is to help parents stay connected, stay informed, and stay in control.
User Feedback
— Design Process —
Navigating Ambiguity
Narrowing down problem space
Our team started with a simple prompt: Find a problem to solve. As the team's designer, I employed various Design Thinking strategies and steered us through the vast sea of possibilities, ultimately identifying a genuine problem area with trending market relevance and the potential for impactful solutions. This was achieved by asking the right questions and a blend of brainstorming, problem analysis, preliminary research, insight mapping, "How Might Wes", and the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework.
From endless uncertainties to a razor-sharp focus—we initially agreed on "helping kids with food allergies," then pivoted to specifically address the challenges parents face in seamlessly transitioning their unique childcare routines to temporary caretakers when their children are out of their direct care. This insight map captures the "Aha!" moment that laid the foundation for our idea.
Research
User Identification
Designers often make the mistake of cherrypicking personas that fit their agenda. To avoid this, I approached user research with a mix of consumer segmentation, user personas, and user journeys to ensure that our product addresses the correct issues for the right people and market.
Preliminary Interview
After dissecting the problem and target users, I defined research objectives, scripted the interview guide, led user interviews via Dscout, and synthesized insights to:
1. Understand user needs & validate or challenge our assumptions
2. Conduct product walkthroughs to identify frictions and obtain feedback
3. Gauge general interest and willingness to pay
2. Conduct product walkthroughs to identify frictions and obtain feedback
3. Gauge general interest and willingness to pay
Key Themes:
⭐️ Proactive Measures
⭐️ Peace of Mind
⭐️ Effective communication
Key Moments to Solve:
🔑 When parents need to entrust their children to someone else for a period of time.
🔑 When an emergency happens but parents can’t make it back in time.
🔑 When there are specific events or routines that needs to be executed.
Dscout Interview Matrix
Market Research
With clear objectives in mind, the team brainstormed a variety of product ideas, ranging from hardware to software and from incremental steps to significant leaps. Eventually, we identified a sweet spot with outstanding S.E.T. factors (Social, Economic, Technology), leading to our final concept, Kidsync.
Opportunity Map
Key functionalities of Kidsync can be broken down into 3 categories: Real-time Interactivity, Shared Access, and Profile Management. Some apps on the market are more narrowly focused on aspects like food allergies or co-parenting and may fit into 1 or 2 of these buckets. Kidsync filled the unique market gap and is the first platform to integrate all 3 categories seamlessly.
Extensive Competitive Market Research & Feature Analysis ensured that Kidsync is a comprehensive solution that fills a unique gap in the market.
Development
My product development process begins with orchestrating storyboarding sessions, where I lead my team to explore every conceivable use case and scenario. I then transform these discussions into a master flow chart and collaborate with the engineering team to prioritize essential use cases and features for development. From there, I craft a low-fidelity prototype and conduct walkthroughs and usability testing with users to gather insights and refine our approach. Finally, I create a high-fidelity prototype, incorporating the feedback to ensure the final product is polished and user-centered.
My product development process begins with orchestrating storyboarding sessions, where I lead my team to explore every conceivable use case and scenario. I then transform these discussions into a master flow chart and collaborate with the engineering team to prioritize essential use cases and features for development. From there, I craft a low-fidelity prototype and conduct walkthroughs and usability testing with users to gather insights and refine our approach. Finally, I create a high-fidelity prototype, incorporating the feedback to ensure the final product is polished and user-centered.
Storyboard example #1: Co-parenting scenarios
User Flow Chart
Wireframe
User Stories Backlog
Design Challenge #1: Refining Information Hierarchy
Initially, the profile structure began with the child's demographic information and education, followed by general care instructions, medical documents, and emergency contacts. However, we learned that general care information is the most important piece of information for babysitters. Therefore, we reorganized the information hierarchy and enhanced it by adding media support for medication photos and administration guidelines, offering immediate access to the most critical and life-saving care instructions.
Design Challenge #2: Prioritizing Mobile Accessibility
We originally envisioned Kidsync as a web app due to its complex user flow. However, user feedback highlighted that a web app wasn't convenient or immediate enough for many of the use cases. As a result, we pivoted towards a mobile-first strategy to ensure on-the-go accessibility. This way, vital care information is readily available at all times, meeting the needs of both caretakers and parents seamlessly and maximizes protection for the kid.
Design Challenge #3: Enhancing Data Security
Some parents expressed worry that sitters might retain access to their child's information even after their caregiving duties had ended. Therefore, we implemented precise controls over profile sharing for parents to dictate the scope and duration of access, ensuring children's information is protected and boosting confidence in our platform's safety measures.
Next Steps
Our immediate focus is on launching, scaling, and expanding Kidsync's reach. After securing a solid B2C user base and brand recognition, we aim to diversify into pet care and elderly care markets, leveraging our platform's versatility. The ultimate goal is to transition into the B2B sector, forging partnerships with leading care facilities, schools, and hospitals to establish Kidsync as the market's most comprehensive care management platform.
Feel free to also ask me about the PRD, KPIs, Marketing Strategy, Business Plan, and Financial Projection too!