Care Circle (Mobile)

Care Circle

Independent Project 2024 | Design Manager, Collaborated with one UX Designer, Investor | Tools: Figma, Figjam

Key Idea

Create a group of people (mini-community) that will take care of a person which requires additional attention (elderly person, patient recovering from surgery, and so on)
Determine the quality of life criteria to be monitored
Determine response measures in case of problems, as well as ways to respond in the event of dangerous situations and / or a threat to the life of the ward

What can I do to accomplish this?

Creating a feeling of constant, invisible presence for the loved one. Getting rid of the feeling that a loved one at some point can be left alone and in case of a problem there will be no one to help him.

The proposal should be as simple and intuitive as possible. Do not contain complex settings and have simple intuitive navigation. It is worth considering the age and characteristics of users who will interact with this application (For example, if the application is designed to take care of an elderly mother who is about 75, this means that the caring person will be 55-45 years old).

Features to take into Account

Lack of ambiguous iconography
Good text readability
Easy navigation
Unambiguous color coding
Minimization of manual user settings
Simple Wording
Iintuitiveness instead of memorization approach

User Types

For this application, we can distinguish three main user groups

CREATOR

A user who is the initiator of the introduction of this application into the life of his loved one. This user does the most "big work". It depends on this user whether this application will be used or not. Accordingly, all basic settings should be simplified as much as possible, and all non-mandatory requests should be relegated to the background.

CIRCLES

These users will be added to the application after the basic settings have been created. Their role is to "promptly respond" to problematic situations. They are not responsible for setting up and updating the data about the ward user, however, they may be the closest circle of people who will respond to problem situations.

LOVED ONE

This user is the final consumer of this product. The success of using the application also depends on the opinion of this user. If the application becomes a daily part of "everyday life" - then the rest of the user groups will also use it.

A "we'll do it all for you" approach should be created for this user group.

Key Principles

HUMANITY
Our service is built on the principle of people caring for people, and we must maintain this approach when organizing interface elements and content in order to make them as useful as possible for our users.

SIMPLICITY
We must strive to ensure that our application is a way to solve problems, and not an obstacle to solving. While working with our product - the user should be focused on his tasks, and not on finding a way to interact with the application.

ACCESSIBILITY
We must keep accessibility in mind. Our user base can be very diverse, but we must understand that the main focus will be on people who, due to their age, may have a number of specific requirements we must satisfy.

CONSISTENCY
Needs to be designed for intuitiveness instead of memorization. Visualization instead of guesswork. Simplicity instead of fashion trends. Integrity instead of heterogeneity and chaos.

Ideation of the User Flows

The application has two distinct user flows that need to be flushed out. The first is the Creator user flow. This needs to be ideated before we can consider the other user type and their respective flow.

Creator Flow

"Loved One" Flow

VIEW THE USER FLOWS IN FIGJAM

Basic Mobile Elements for Design System

The first step in the design process for the Care Circle mobile application was to create the basic design system elements in Figma, focusing on enabling reuse and ensuring simplicity. The goal was to establish a consistent visual language that could be easily adapted across various screens and user flows, making the design process more efficient and maintaining a unified user experience.
Key elements included:

Color Palette: A limited, accessible color scheme ensuring high contrast for readability, with distinct colors for primary actions, alerts, and background elements.
Typography: A selection of legible fonts with varying weights for headers, body text, and buttons, ensuring clarity and hierarchy across different device sizes.
Buttons & Controls: Standardized button sizes, shapes, and states (active, disabled, hover) to ensure consistency in interactions throughout the app.
Icons: A set of intuitive icons for core features like notifications, settings, health metrics, and emergency alerts, designed to be easily recognizable and minimalistic.
Spacing & Layout Grid: Defined margin and padding standards, as well as a consistent layout grid to guide screen composition and ensure responsive design across different screen sizes.
Form Elements: Input fields, checkboxes, and sliders that would be used throughout the app, designed for accessibility and ease of use for the elderly user.

Once these core elements were defined, they were organized into reusable components in Figma, which made it easier to iterate on designs, maintain consistency across screens, and speed up the design process while reducing the chances of design inconsistencies. This foundational system provided a scalable approach to the app’s design, supporting future updates and adjustments.

Designing the Screens and Flow in FIGMA

The next step in the design process was to ideate different versions of the app in Figma, incorporating direct feedback from the team. Using Figma's collaborative features, I created multiple design variations for each key screen, such as the onboarding process, home dashboard, and emergency alert system, to explore different approaches for user flows and interactions. After presenting these initial concepts to the team, I gathered direct comments and suggestions through Figma's comment system. This allowed for real-time feedback and quick iterations, ensuring that the designs met the specific needs of each persona while also addressing any usability concerns. Each iteration focused on improving the user experience for the Creator, Circles, and Loved One, with particular attention to simplicity, accessibility, and ease of use. The team’s continuous feedback helped refine the visual design, layout, and interaction patterns, ultimately leading to a more cohesive and user-friendly product.

VIEW IN FIGMA

VIEW PROTOTYPE

Outcome

Care Circle has successfully moved from concept to prototype and was presented to our investor group, receiving positive feedback. The initial testing phase demonstrated strong potential, particularly with venture capitalists, who recognized the app's ability to significantly impact elderly care. This early validation has strengthened our commitment to the project, and we are now focused on further refining the product.

Lessons Learned

Through this process, we learned the importance of aligning user needs with technical capabilities. Initial user testing provided valuable insights into the balance between simplicity and functionality, especially in ensuring that the app caters to a wide range of users, including elderly individuals and caregivers. Feedback from investors highlighted the need for seamless integration with external health devices, which has become a core part of the product's future direction.

Next Steps

Building on the momentum from the prototype phase, we are continuing to develop Care Circle with plans to integrate it with external health devices to enhance its functionality. Our goal is to launch the full version of the app, complete with device integration, in late 2025. As we move forward, we will continue to gather user feedback to refine the product, ensuring that it meets the needs of both caregivers and elderly users.