BeFree
Overview:
An app that helps young females in gaining knowledge regarding gynaecological conditions and hygiene practices. While being able to post questions in a safe space anonymously and finding the nearest gynaecological clinic for help.
This is one of my final deliverables from my Final Year Project motivated by my personal experience. As a young female in Singapore, the school did not teach gender-specific conditions or hygiene tips. I was never provided with the information until she encountered gynaecological issues and only got to learn more about it after consulting health professionals.
Role:
Conceptualisation, UI/UX Design, User Research, Visual Design
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Details:
Year : 2021
Medium : Illustrator, Figma
Deliverables : IPad App
Actual Prototype Link:
Background
Topics surrounding the female vagina can cause embarrassment and discomfort for many young women. As a result, discussions and awareness of gynaecological issues can be challenging for them. It was also found that gynaecology wellness is not addressed in Singapore’s school curriculum. There is generally an insufficient open educational platform for young women to equip themselves with knowledge to take charge of their gynaecological health.
This project thus aims to design an educational app for Singapore’s young females to raise awareness of symptoms, detection and prevention methods of various intimate female hygiene and gynaecological issues. The project hopes to promote open conversations about female-specific medical conditions in Singapore and provide accessible resources.
Understanding The Problem
News and research studies have reported that women felt vaginal related topics are private and embarrassing to talk openly about. It was also found through surveys that many women suffer from vaginal health problems and have inadequate knowledge in regards to how to care for their vagina. Most women do not know what are the various symptoms to look out for for vaginal conditions.
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After much literature research, conducting of survey and interviewing gynaecologist, here are the gaps found:
a) Insufficient gynaecological wellness knowledge
b) Misconceptions of gynaecological wellness
c) Gynaecological topics not covered in Singapore education system
d) Reliance on digital platforms for knowledge
Defining User Persona
Primary Audience
The primary audience for this project is targeted at Singapore’s young females of age 13-25 years old. During this age group, young females start to experience puberty, understanding more about their own body and may begin sexually active at a young age. It was also supported by experts on the importance of education at a young age as it helps in early prevention and detection.
Secondary Audience
The secondary audience for this project is targeted at females of all ages in the general public. In general, there is a lack of open conversations in regards to gynaecological topics be it around friends, family or society as a whole.
Defining Needs
A quick summary on the app's objective and solution:
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1. Knowledge – The app has to include gynaecological knowledge for basic understanding
2. Prevention – The app needs to have available help for prevention.
3. Detection – The app has to provide sufficient tips for spotting symptoms.
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UI/UX and Visual Design Prototype
Style Visual Directions:
After looking into gynaecological wellness education and defining my own interpretation towards the topic. It is decided that the style should be fluid, curvy, calm and organic looking. This portrays a softer, gentler and feminine look. The character design should look simple yet approachable so that it is easily understandable and resonates better with the younger targeted female audiences. While the colour scheme is positive and vibrant. This helps to lift up the tone, portraying a more fun and positive outlook to it so as to better engage younger female target audiences as the project is touching on a serious, sensitive topic.
Prototype:
Landing Page
The app’s main objective is to allow targeted users to learn and gain knowledge regarding gynaecological conditions and hygiene practices. Covering three main purposes of gaining knowledge to help in prevention and detection. The content is mainly broken down into five parts–Information, Diagram, Community chat room, Symptoms checklist and Seeking help.
Home Page
Upon pressing “get started”, users will be brought to the home page which consists of some quick link tabs that allow them to have immediate access to useful information. The first quick link would be the Common symptoms tab where it allows users to quickly find out more about possible conditions that are related to the common symptoms they are experiencing.
Wellness Tips Page
The information segment consists of gynaecological wellness information for users to gain knowledge.
Diagram Learning Page
Diagram matching segments helps in teaching the anatomy and function of both the internal and external parts of the reproductive systems.
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*For full app experience, please click here*
Takeaways
Designing an app not only requires attention to the flow of interfaces. Putting user needs as a priority and considering the visual languages are also equally important. In this project, I have also learned to analyse competitor's apps to better identify gaps that are lacking in the market.