2025
I served as both lead product designer and co-researcher on this project, owning the full design process from participatory research through wireframes, iterative prototypes, and final UI concepts for a culturally grounded perinatal health platform.
Through literature review, focus groups, comparative analysis of 53 apps, a participatory design workshop, and three design sprints, our research reshaped product direction and expanded scope to include Black fathers as active participants.
Role: Product Designer Lead & Co-Researcher
Collaborators: Thesis partner, advisors, HCI experts, public health researchers
Master’s Thesis | 2024–2025
Why This Matters
Research Framing
We began with three questions:
How do perinatal Black moms experience support?
Where do digital tools fall short?
What would culturally grounded support look like?
Grounded in maternal health research and participatory design, we examined how systems, platforms, and culture intersect.
The Problem
"I’m doing everything alone. It’s exhausting." — Focus Group Participant
Black mothers face higher pregnancy-related risks and often lack support that reflects their lived realities. To understand where support breaks down, I mapped stress, isolation, and unmet needs across the perinatal journey.
What Changed
Listening to Moms
We piloted our protocol, then conducted six 90-minute focus groups with 29 Black perinatal moms.
Using thematic analysis in ATLAS.ti and a shared codebook, we synthesized insights across conversations and a comparative analysis of 53 maternal health apps.
What Emerged
Three system-level gaps surfaced:
• Emotional labor without relational support
• Tools centered on babies, not mothers
• Community features that lacked depth
One emerging pattern led us to expand the research to include Black fathers as active participants.
Key Decisions
Three Design Sprints
I designed and facilitated a participatory design workshop followed by three research-driven design sprints to translate insights into testable concepts.
Each sprint surfaced new constraints and shifted direction:
• Prioritized social connection over static resources
• Expanded scope to include fathers
• Removed cost barriers to reduce access friction
Each sprint validated decisions through structured user feedback.
The Outcome
Research-Informed Direction
Research-informed features included:
• Voice-first interaction
• Father-inclusive community events
• Shared childcare coordination
Takeaways
• Prioritize effort reduction over feature expansion
• Design with cultural specificity
• Let research redirect the work
