CoCare
Transforming Caregiving into a Shared Responsibility
PLATFORM
Mobile (App)
Web
ROLE
End-to-end
EXPERTISE
Product Design
Qual. Research
System Design
UX/UI
TIMELINE
2 years
Project Description
A cross-platform solution—available on mobile and web—that empowers family caregivers to proactively receive help without feeling indebted. By connecting with both personal networks and institutional resources, it redefines caregiving as a shared responsibility rather than a solitary burden.
TIMELINE
1 year of literature review and qualitative research methods
1 year of prototyping, user testing, and final design development
BACKGROUND
Family caregivers are often thrust into their role at a loved one’s diagnosis, balancing care with their own lives. Despite available resources and willing helpers, guilt and a lack of proactive outreach leave available support untapped.
Part 1: How do caregivers navigate their journey and interact with available resources?
Part 2: What design opportunities exist for technology design, tailored to family caregivers in chronic illness care?
Solution
Merely providing more resources are not the solution. CoCare leverages current resources through adaptive tools that integrate smoothly into caregivers’ lives and existing hospital system.
SHARING CAREGIVING DUTIES WITH OTHERS
A shared task list enables family and friends to coordinate support, breaking the assumption that caregiving is a sole responsibility and helping distribute the load effectively. The platform also improves access to existing institutional resources by simplifying and automating the application process.
REINFORCING POSITIVE EMOTIONS
The platform acknowledges caregiving milestones, normalizes dedicated self-care time, and offers practical strategies to promote caregiver well-being.
ACCESSING THE RIGHT TOOLS AT THE RIGHT TIME
Tailored contents and recommendations that adapt to different caregiving phase, providing proactive, relevant support when it’s needed most.
Details
Design choices are informed by healthcare system integration, human factors and UX best practices, visual design standards, and user feedback.
1.
Literature review
Reviewed publications to understand the current landscape and potential interventions.
Market benchmarking
Analyzed available solutions to understand contextual challenges and to identify gaps and opportunities.
Interviews with clinicians (expert)
Spoke with 8 clinicians—including nurses, physician assistants, and social workers—to understand caregiving challenges and resource availability from clinical and support perspectives.
Design probes & interviews with family caregivers (primary users)
Conducted 2-week design probe activities followed by interviews with 10 family caregivers to capture daily, in-situ experiences and nuances.
Background: Who are family caregivers? What challenges are they facing? How do existing academic studies offer solutions?
In this study, family caregivers are defined as unpaid family members who provide care for loved ones with chronic health conditions. While much of the research and design in healthcare has traditionally focused on the needs of patients, there is a growing recognition of the unique challenges faced by caregivers. This shift has sparked increased interest in designing solutions that support caregivers’ well-being.
Although various technologies and resources exist to assist caregivers, they are often underutilized. The abundance of available tools can lead to information overload, contributing to emotional strain and caregiver burnout.
Market benchmarking: What do the market and trend tell us?
To systematically compare across available solutions, I dissected each item in terms of: price, revenue model, modalities, product category (if mobile app), main features, and user set-up requirements.
User research: What do clinicians say about working with family caregivers? What resources are available? How do caregivers feel? What are their strategies?
The goal is to hear perspectives from caregivers (primary users) and experts (clinicians)—to identify design needs for the next phase of ideating technology-based interventions. In this study, the clinicians and families involved are in the context of Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation (HCT), an intensive condition requiring 24/7 family caregiver support.
Methodology: 8 interviews with clinicians, 10 design probes & interviews with family caregivers, and using thematic analysis for synthesizing the collected data.
2.
Design criteria
Defined design criteria as success metrics based on the collected insights.
3.
Sketching and prototyping
Used the defined design criteria as success metrics and ideated across physical, digital, and service design concepts.
Concept testing
Conducted concept testing with former participants to gather feedback and refine the solution accordingly.
Ideation: exploring ideas across mediums—physical products, digital realms, and service designs…
Using the design criteria as my guiding principles, I engaged in an ideation process to generate product solutions, exploring both physical and digital realms and service designs, without imposing limitations. This approach aimed to foster creative ideas during the early stages and prevent the dismissal of innovative concepts.
Prototyping & Concept testing: Actualizing concepts through wireframes
From ideation, I categorized insights, sought peer feedback, and developed prototypes to test the concepts. Through careful alignment with the design criteria and goals, I ultimately decided to pursue digital product as the optimal feasible solution, and began crafting the preliminary concept.
In the prototypes, I intentionally omitted colors and disregarded font variations. This deliberate approach ensured that insights obtained from this early testing focused on the product's concept, rather than being influenced by the visual aesthetics and UI element.
Using these prototypes, I conducted product testing to assess the product usability and gain feedback on the concept. To ensure data consistency and validity, I developed a product testing protocol that I followed while interacting with the users.
4.
Design system and features development
Established the product’s design system consisting of reusable components. Selected features based on user feedback and technical feasibility.
Final product
Applied the design system to create a high-fidelity interactive prototype. Incorporated insights from healthcare system integration, human factors and UX best practices, and user feedback.
Viability assessment
Evaluated outcomes and scalability potential, including analysis of market feasibility, industry fit, marketing strategy, and financial viability.
Operational flow of the app
Through an iterative process, I defined the information architecture of the app, and the operational task flow for the involvement of various stakeholders. The goal is to understand the connection between pages, and the feasibility of the app integration to existing contexts and flows.
Viability assessment and financial strategy
To ensure translatability of the product to market, I assessed the viability of the app, exploring the target market feasibility, industry growth, marketing strategies, and financial feasibility. I also crafted the financial sheet of the app, with the assumptions of several yearly revenue streams and operating costs strategies.
