Finding relief through preparation of grief
As humans, the idea of death may seem daunting and uncomfortable. However, by approaching it with a positive and proactive mindset, we can find peace in the knowledge that we are prepared, and overcome the obstacles that come with it.
's goal is to support and ease the burden of these tasks by allowing individuals to focus on healing and finding peace during their grieving."
Project Duration: 10 weeks
June 22 - Aug 22
Design Tools Used:
1. User browses articles and decides to start a task
2. Users can explore personalized task subjects.
3. Interactive subtasks can be explored in detail.
4. Step-by-step guide provided for completing subtask.
Now, let's examine the design process and methodology used in developing !
UX Design Process
I Followed a UX design process that helped me remain user-centered and as unbiased as possible, putting aside all assumptions and beliefs surrounding challenges people face when grieving a loss.
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Empathize
Understanding the idea..
The motivation behind the project was to create something useful for an individual experiencing grief, an idea that originated from the passing of my grandfather in 2020.
Grieving is a vulnerable moment where people might be at their weakest, if there were something that could make the experience a little easier, I wanted to explore that possibility and so it became necessary to understand people's frame of mind during their own grieving period.
This led me to do some online research.
A surprising statistic
The Impact of grief
Grief causes prolonged changes to the body and brain such as depression, fatigue, and brain fog, decreasing cognitive function and decision-making ability as well as negatively affecting memory, behavior, sleep and body function.
And as described by neurologist, Dr. Lisa M Shulman, in her book Before and After loss;
"grief is a process that is an evolutionary adaptation to promote survival in the face of emotional trauma".
Define
The Challenge & Goal
I needed to identify where within the grieving process there was an opportunity to create a solution that could help and benefit others who are grieving the loss of a loved one. The goal of the project began as to provide assistance and relief.
I sought out people who had experienced loss of a loved one over the last 10 years. Finding individuals who were comfortable about speaking about their grieving experience was an unexpected challenge but by being transparent about how I wanted to understand and find solutions, they became willing to help.
Demographics
When identifying my participant criteria for my user interviews, I sought out people who had experienced loss of a significant loved one over the last 10 years.
Metrics
Hypothesis
By understanding the bigger purpose my solution would help users with, allowed me to remain focused.
By creating an application that helps people cope with their loss throughout their time of grievance, this will ease their pain and allow them to heal and move on with their lives faster. If I receive positive interactions during my user testing that reinforce the app's utility and usability, then I will know this is a product that could really assist individuals.
User interviews
I prepared an interview guide with open-ended, thoughtful questions that gave each of the 3 interviewees the space to elaborate about their grieving experience.
During my user interviews, I was hoping to uncover all their behaviors, motivations, and pain-points.
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Once the interviews were done,
I went back to the recorded transcripts and began inspecting statement by statement, placing them into an affinity map on Fig-jam where I could better visualize and understand each response. In the end, I chose one Theme, one Insight and one How might We statement.
Persona development
From there, I created two user personas that reflected my three interviewees the best and encompassed what a potential user for my solution would look like as they represent the larger market audience.
The overwhelmed young professional
The busy Head of family
Experience mapping
To better understand where throughout a person's grieving journey is the best opportunity to offer a solution. I created a story-line for my first persona Amelia in this experience map, as if she were present before, during and after her mother's death.
The experience map helped me identify the ideal time the solution could provide grief support, ideally before the passing of Amelia's mother. But there's also an opportunity after the initial grieving period, when Amelia may need support to manage her mother's responsibilities.
Chosen Epic and user story
I created an Epic followed by a User story to better specify what the application design would help the user with and what action they would be trying to complete.
Competitive Analysis
In order to gain some insight of products that already existed in the same space of helping with grieving, I conducted some competitive analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of current designs, and identify areas for improvement and differentiation.
Competitive Analysis
Summary
Afternote
targets customers to set up their own will and final wishes, not specifically for grieving individuals.
Lantern
offers a DIY checklist and consultation but at a high cost and lacks phone app capability.
Empathy
focuses on mental health and self-care during the grieving process but lacks options for those wanting to prepare beforehand.
Solution proposal
Based off of the competitive research, I decided to focus on a mobile app solution that would provide step by step tasks within a bigger task that allows the user to prepare for the planning of a death or after a death.
The app provides articles on coping with grief and helps users stay organized with their tasks. It's designed to complete tasks efficiently, minimizing the emotional impact of grief. There's also a separate feature for accessing emotional and mental health therapy options.
Task flow
Now that I had narrowed down the user case, and I knew how to differ from the competition. I created a specific task flow in which I would have the user begin and complete a specific task involving the death of their loved one.
Ideate & Design
Sketching
In order to begin visualizing how each of the six screens could look like, I began sketching out rough layouts integrating some components and layouts from a UI inspiration board. I drew out rough exploratory sketches of three variations for each of the six screens within the task flow. By sketching different designs, I explored different ideas and tested the feasibility before committing to a final design.
To move on to wire-framing, I selected 1 final sketch for each screen that I felt best suited the task flow.
Below are the 6 selected screens.
Prototype
Grayscale Wireframes
Following the chosen task flow of (Beginning and completing a task for the death of a loved one), I began designing and prototyping my solution sketches on Figma.
The wireframe prototype remains with no color here so that I could account for accessibility of all people with eye-color disabilities and have the hierarchy guide my design rather than the colors.
The screens above became the first iteration of my minimum viable product (MVP) that I used during my first round of user testing; a simplified version with just enough features that met the needs of navigating through the task.
TEST, EVALUATE & ITERATE
Usability testing
1st round
The 1st round of user testing had three users go through the MVP prototype in person, where I only helped them if they were absolutely stuck on an action. The users had to attempt beginning and completing the subtask of 'Transfer of Home insurance' a death related task.
Prioritization matrix
From observing my user's actions as they navigated through the task, I made a prioritization matrix based on my notes that helped me prioritize what I should fix that had the most impact on the design while also having the least amount of effort.
Using this prioritization matrix, I was able to see what made the most sense to fix, making the design more usable.
After iterating on the v1 prototype, I ended up with Version 2 below.
V1 Side by Side V2 Iteration Comparison
2nd Round of User testing
After making the initial iterations, I took v2 of the prototype back for more user testing with 3 more people, and found that this practice was extremely useful, as it demonstrated the need of actual user feedback in order to spot potential drawbacks of the current design. If something within this task did not work for them, it needed to be changed to something easier to understand.
Again, by placing the feedback made by my users onto a second prioritization matrix, I was then able to make those changes that made the most sense to fix within a reasonable amount of time while making the design even more usable.
V2 Side by Side V3 Iteration Comparison
Due to time constraints, I wasn't able to do a third round of testing, however from these two rounds I was still able to see that the practice of using my user's feedback as the driving force of the design returned a much better product that they could now use. All the changes I had made, had a reason or (data) to back it up.
Everything came to life with color!
Injecting color
After coming up with a few variations of injecting the chosen colors onto the task screens, I decided to go with the fourth variation below, as it reflects the calm and peace I was aiming towards with the nyanza green (#ebf9dc) and cambridge teal (#a3c8b1) while also having the dark Jet black(#383838) represent a 'grounded outlook' for the user.
High-Fidelity prototype
Visual Design
Visual inspiration that tied it all together
Below highlights the UI development of Enlight , where I developed the brand, Icon and word-mark. I integrated accessibility and finally how I used the atomic design methodology when making my UI library system.
Moodboard
A gathering of inspiration, for the feeling I wanted the app to evoke and make the user feel.
Described into words
I then began to mount a list of around 30 adjectives and keywords of how the moodboard could be described and what I wanted it to resemble more of; rather than.
Color extraction
Color was extracted out from the mood board, pulling out colors that evoked the feeling of calmness and hope with a darker grounded color for contrast and an accent of yellow to insert happiness and positivity.
Accessibility
When considering colors, the accessibility of how the chosen brand colors would be viewed by users with visual disabilities was an important aspect I made sure to check, as I wanted the app to be inclusive and be able to be used by all types of people.
WordMark exploration
Enlight to me, evokes the feelings of ( hope, uplifting, a path forward and an enlightened perspective) that I ultimately wanted the user to feel after using the app.
UI Library
Atomic Design Methodology
I used the atomic design methodology to construct a design system that creates a cohesive user experience. By breaking down the design process into smaller components it becomes easier to maintain a consistent design across different platforms and devices which results in a better experience for the users.
Foundations
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I then organized the Enlight UI library into atomic design categories by dividing my elements into groups that delineated each element better.
Reflection
Throughout this case study, I was able to see the importance of addressing the problem by remaining focused on what will help the user rather than what looks nice.
I also learned to begin the process of ideation without thinking of a solution to be able to depend on the user research's qualitative data. However, conducting a light competitive analysis in the very beginning would help identify where there is more opportunity to explore for a more original solution.
Working on this case study also shined light on how iterative the UX process is. And how testing and retesting the designs using the user feedback to ensured meeting the user's needs.
Thank you for taking time to view this case study!
If you want to see how I design a solution to a problem that microbiology analysts face, check out Minumeri
CHECK OUT MY OTHER WORK
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/grief/coping-with-grief-and-loss.htm
https://www.eterneva.com/resources/coping-with-loss
https://www.apa.org/topics/families/grief
https://www.griefloss.org
https://bereavementcenter.org
https://www.amazon.com/Before-After-Loss-Neurologists-Perspective/dp/1421426951
Icons throughout the case study were utilized from the sources below
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