PAL
by Project Playdate
Client Project | iOS App
REIMAGINED PLAYDATES BY EXPERT CAREGIVERS
“We were blown away by how exceptionally intuitive she was to the goals of our business and needs of our users. This combined professionalism with an indisputable mastery of user experience design resulted in a phenomenal outcome for our business. We are so very grateful for her work and couldn't recommend her more highly.”
— Amanda Raposo, CEO of PAL
TEAM
Danielle François
Melissa Frank
Natasha Jahchan
MY ROLE
Project Manager
UX Researcher
UI/UX Designer
Content Strategy
TIMEFRAME
2.5 Weeks
TOOLS
Sketch
InVision
ABOUT
PAL is pioneering social child care. Social care is a curated child care experience for two or more children facilitated by professional caregivers. Social care promises to always be safe, social, and stimulating without breaking the bank.
OPPORTUNITY
PAL’s CEO asked us to design a mobile app for the playdate marketplace that will enhance user experience and promote early success of the social care platform.
SOLUTION
An iOS mobile app that is equipped with the necessary features to facilitate easy scheduling and communication, as well as bring delightfulness to the customarily tedious task of organizing child care.
Research
Heuristic Analysis
Competitive Feature Analysis
User Interviews
Used the Abby Method to analyze the PAL website. Ensure it met our standards in categories such as desirability, accessibility, clarity, and usefulness.
Compared features of mobile apps with similar functions and business models such as Urbansitter, Care.com, Rover, and Wag.
We interviewed 9 people (4 caregivers and 5 parents) to get a well-rounded understanding of user needs & pain points.
INSIGHTS & SYNTHESIS
The synthesis of our research led us to define three insight categories to focus on during the design phase:
Designing for Trust
Communication
Scheduling
Parents need to trust caregivers will provide enriching & engaging experiences for their children.
Parents communicate with caregivers before, during, and after child care. They use multiple methods including email, text, and phone calls.
Scheduling childcare is the most stressful part of parents’ experience with caregivers; from finding a caregiver to keeping child care consistent.
We then developed the following persona for the PAL app design:
DEFINING THE PROBLEM
Jen has trouble scheduling child care with someone who she trusts to enrich her children’s development.
How can we help her feel confident scheduling child care with someone she trusts to engage her children in activities they enjoy?
The Design
Before using Sketch, we took to the drawing board to determine which features we wanted to include in the MVP. We sketched on paper until we reached a consensus on the design, then used Sketch to create a mid-fidelity and later a mockup version of the app.
ITERATIONS FROM USABILITY TESTING
We conducted usability testing, which helped us identify areas for improvement within our design. The following are some of the key changes we made to the explore page based on user feedback:
1
Segmented control function is more distinct and in compliance with iOS Human Interface Guidelines.
2
To additionally design for trust, we reorganized the playdate information hierarchy. This included displaying the lead specialist's photo and reviews.
3
To improve accessibility, we increased the font size in the playdate information box.
V1
1
V2
1
V3
2
3
V2
2
3
V3
5
Ease of Use
“I've never seen anything like it, and it seems like it would be a good way to find out about fun things for my daughter to do.”
5
Likelihood to use this app again
(Average user scores on a scale of 1 to 5)
USER FLOW
The Future
Moving forward we want to conduct additional usability testing on the prototype’s latest version. We also hope to focus on the secondary user - the caregivers. We want to design for their needs, including creating and posting new playdates.
For inquiries about the specifications document please contact me.