Bloom | INST406: Cross-Disciplinary Communication Class Project
Addressing the crisis of limited reproductive health access through a community-centered mobile app
ROLE
Product Designer
Project Manager
DURATION
Jan 2024 - May 2024
TEAM
Roshida Herelle
Omena Aboagye
Queenie Ma
The TLDR;
CONTEXT
Reproductive health resources are currently at risk within the United States.
In 2022, Roe v. Wade was reversed in a Supreme Court decision that affected the state of abortion and contraceptives nationwide. Access has regressed in red-line states, with many lawmakers trying to criminalize those who seek these resources.
PROBLEM
Miseducation and lack of adequate resources will further complicate the process of seeking proper care, leading to health complications and even death in special circumstances.
Controlling the decisions that people make over their bodies is a violation of human rights. When we bar people from accessing life-saving reproductive health care, we do the opposite of protecting life. Expanding and maintaining this access is crucial.
The Big "?"
How might we prevent people from losing access to life-saving reproductive health resources?
SOLUTION
A community-centered reproductive health app that provides resources to those with reproductive needs.
Bloom is a place where people can come to discuss, learn, and make the best decisions for their individual self without restrictions.
Protecting users data through PINs, moderators and a strong privacy policy
Send encrypted messages to coordinate discreetly
Access resources and discussion forums using your PIN
MY ROLE
Juggling the role of product designer and project manager.
As a product designer, I created the initial sketches that would be the foundation of our platform. I also created a way to track our design system, structured primary flows like onboarding, and solidified our brand identity.
As project manager, I spearheaded the direction for our timeline, scheduled check-in meetings, and ensured we were meeting project objectives for our class.
SO WHAT?
This project not only sharpened our communication and presentation skills, but it allowed us to tackle a real world problem and create an impactful social initiative.
As someone who is passionate about using design for social impact, I got to experience working alongside a team of passionate individuals who are driven by our abilities to connect with others and promote equity. While Bloom is not a real app, it's a testimony to the power behind collaboration and uniting against inequitable systems to expand access to those who need it.
BUT WAIT! LET'S BACKTRACK
How did we get to the final designs?
Discovery
Understanding the climate of a post Roe v. Wade reversal
Our team conducted generative research to understand how the Roe v. Wade reversal impacts people today.
FINDINGS
People are being prosecuted for seeking reproductive health resources.
Popular period tracking apps have gone under fire for misleading their users on the security of their data. For example, in Canada, a user filed a class action lawsuit after Flo shared sensitive information with Facebook and other third-party platforms regarding their menstrual cycle [1]. This is particularly troublesome as Flo is widely used by people in the United States.
With the current wave of anti-abortion and contraceptive laws in red-line states, law enforcement could gain the right to contact these apps and gather information that can be used in court. So how do people in the United States feel about this breach of privacy?
UNDERSTANDING OUR AUDIENCE
Gathering real-world opinions through online forums helped us uncover the main concerns people have.
After browsing through forums like Reddit and talking to other students, we found that many people critiqued the Roe v. Wade reversal. A majority of people were concerned over losing more of their rights and how accessing resources like abortion or contraceptives can become more difficult.
Based off of our research, we created user personas that capture the core needs of people with reproductive health concerns.
Major concerns were around accessing providers that could provide abortions in medically-dire situations, managing reproductive health and not being knowledgeable on the rules and regulations within their state.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
Setting ourselves apart by looking at the reproductive health app market.
Seeing that people want to be proactive in managing their reproductive health, we decided to create a period tracking app that would be in competition with other brands like Flo and Clue. We did a competitive analysis to find opportunities in the market.
Bloom can separate itself by competitors by providing secured access and privacy protection and forum/discussion boards for people seeking abortion care, transportation, and other needs.
Develop
Brainstorming ideas to address user pain points
Taking what we gathered from research, we identified 3 core features our app should have.
FEATURES
Focusing on 3 features keeps us grounded in our mission of expanding reproductive health access to those who need it.
With our main goals being to improve security and foster discussion among others, we developed the following core features:
I drew out concept sketches and brought them to my team to discuss key features. We selected the screens that fit within our priority matrix and moved forward with them in mid fidelity.
To ensure we were prioritizing our user’s needs, we plotted out the important flows for our users and tested them with participants. Below are the flows I designed.
WIREFRAMING
I designed 2 of our main user flows: onboarding and accessing the news feed. Afterwards, I created mid fidelity wireframes that would later be tested with users.
Why were these user flows important? Well, our findings showed two things:
FINDING #1
Many people are worried about censorship and misinformation.
Creating a news section that posts fact-checked articles in relation to the user’s geographical location can address this concern.
FINDING #2
Users fear their private reproductive health information may be compromised.
We decided to create a referral code and pin system that users can use during onboarding. Once they input that code, they receive access to the abortion and contraceptive resources of our app. Creating a pin makes it so whenever they want to view those parts of the app, they can do so securely.
Creating the following user stories helped us focus on these key objectives and concerns that we uncovered in research.
As a user, I want to set up an account that won’t reveal my exact identity.
As a user, I want to read articles about reproductive health rights in my state.
BRANDING
We created concept pieces for our logo and brand to guide our design system and overall interface.
In the early stages, we were deciding between the name Blossom or Bloom. When exploring our brand identity, we wanted to create a logo that would resonate with our mission of helping people grow into making the best decisions for them.
My teammate Omena created three logo explorations. After consulting with the group we decided on the first logo.
After selecting the first logo, we decided to move on with the name Bloom. Then, we did color iterations to explore our brand identity further.
I experimented with different color palette options to explore how we can brand ourselves.
We moved forward with the second color scheme as it was the most accessible for those with visual impairments.
USER TESTING
We tested our screens with 3 users who fit within our user personas to iterate on our designs and prioritize user needs.
We learned that we could expand our resources to be more inclusive, have users manually select their area to protect their exact location, and create a messaging feature for more discreet communication.
I altered our user stories to accommodate these new user needs and orient our design iteration process.
As a user, I want to set up an account that won’t reveal my exact identity.
During onboarding, users can select their state manually rather than using geographic location. This ensures that we can’t track down the user’s exact location.
As a user, I want to have a private conversation with another Bloom user so that I know my information isn’t being exposed to a wider audience.
I designed the message flow and did user testing to ensure that the interaction was seamless.
Deliver
The system that drives the Bloom experience
After collaborating with the team on our design system and component usage, we compiled everything to ensure consistency. I took on the task of solidifying our brand colors and determining our text hierarchy.
I created a section with our backgrounds and commonly used components so they were easy to find.
FINAL DESIGNS
Using our design system, we created the following high fidelity screens:
Takeaways
By collaborating, we can make a difference
Working on this project taught us how social impact initiatives need to be embedded using a systems approach. With each of us being passionate about Bloom's mission, we brought internal and external perspectives that melded together into a platform that can help others. We had to consider a lot of edge cases in a short time frame, such as how to host our app and what kind of privacy precautions to take. In the future, we would love to talk with more with our audience, confirm any assumptions we made, and dive more into the legality of our app in the instance that access to reproductive health becomes even more restricted.