Austin Childcare Connection.
Brief.
How we proved that trust, communication, and transparency can foster connection. For our client, we created a parent-focused journey that gives families the ability to view Austin Childcare Connections diverse offerings, signup seamlessly, and customize their preferences to find the perfect caregiver, tailored to their unique needs.
A iOS mobile app for parents and caregivers to come together to learn, ask questions and gain insight in the childcare industry.Key Skills.
Figma
UI/UX Design
User Research
User Testing
Concept & Objective.
Austin Childcare Connection: An iOS app connecting parents with trusted caregivers through an intuitive, inclusive platform designed to build confidence and foster long-term engagement.
Information.
Role: Product Manager
Duration: Three weeks
Category: UX Design, UI Design, Prototype
The Challenge.
Finding skilled childcare is not a quick and easy task. It can be hard for parents to find the right caregiver who hold real experience and are reliable. Trust is vital in this industry. This is why:
Parents trusting the company to find and recommend reliable and trustworthy caretakers for their children.
Offering company transparency.
Finding care that fits your specific and unique family needs.
Creating a mobile caretaking application for parents of all orientations.
The Solution.
This is how we addressed key user pain points:
Speak to both mothers and fathers to discuss their unique needs for themselves and their families.
Allowing users discover and explore the app before any commitments.
Users can pick and choose their specific needs to find a caregiver that best matches with their needs.
Conducted user research, analyzed industry best practices, synthesized insights, and performed accessibility/heuristic evaluations to deliver high-fidelity prototypes and interactive mockups.
Caregiver’s profile page and child criteria pages.
Discover.
Finding Industry Leading Standards.
Task Analysis.
Conducted a task analysis across six leading companies to identify industry-standard features and elements that are concise and cohesive along with the signup process and app exploration phase.
Real People, Real Answers.
User Interviews.
We interviewed 6 users that consisted of fathers, mothers, and queer parents who utilize child caregiving on a daily bases.
Users ages ranged between 35 and 40 years old and were based in California, Colorado, and Texas.
We wanted to understand what their needs, pain points, and preferences surrounding childcare and overall online experiences.
What We Asked.
How often do you use childcare?
What caregiving skills and services do you want your caregiver to have?
Have you ever faced challenges when searching for childcare services?
What makes your favorite app/website memorable and welcoming for you?
Here are some of the responses we received:
““Language is important for me because if my son cannot speak in Italian, he won’t have the opportunity to communicate with my parents unless I’m translating.””
““I prefer a nanny who has a lot of child care experience. I don’t want to get a first time nanny.””
““I have faced challenges of finding available caregivers for the specific times I need them to be available.””
“Be clear and upfront about what I’m committing to when signing up to a membership.”
Interview Insights and Findings.
We had found that users wanted caregivers to have a good amount of caregiving experience. They wanted people to be reliable and know what to do if an emergency came up.
Another trend was about availability. Users found it important to find care full time, part time, and also on a quick notice.
Safety was a concern for our users. They expressed wanting caregivers to have a background check and are CPR certified.
Reviews and referrals are important to users. They want to know as much as they can about a caregiver before hire.
Being able to trust someone with their children and know what to do in an emergency.
And lastly, personality. Users mentioned they want someone their kid and the family can get a long with.
Awareness and Safety Is For Everyone.
After interviewing with queer users, they made it clear that their families needed to know that they would be safe when finding care. They wanted to be sure that they could get caretakers who are aware of their family orientation and/or were also within the queer community.
The solution to what we had learned after the interviews, was to create an option for parents to select “LGBTQ” under “Other Preferences.” The selection is optional but can help users feel more secure and confident when finding new caretakers.
Define.
Someone to Relate With. Monica.
Persona.
Giving users the ability to select more custom options when finding care.
Monica’s Needs.
Needs a caregiver that has real childcare experience
Monica wants to conduct background checks on each caregiver and know their driving history
It’s important that the caregiver can speak other languages
Needs to be able to share specific details, such as medical issues and schedules, about her children with a secondary parent or caregivers
Monica’s Goals.
To find caregivers who are CPR certified and can bring real childhood educational skills
To find a caregiver who is dependable and capable of providing a secure environment for her children
To enrich her child by having them learn and speak her native language
To ensure the caregiver is well-prepared and understands all aspects of the children's needs
Users can select specific requirements they want their caregiver to possess.
Giving the user the ability to list out medical issues their child might have.
Collaboration, Brainstorming, and Creation.
Design Studio.
Creative minds build best together. After thorough discussion and analysis, the team conducted a design studio to quickly brainstorm, ideate, and plan. With ideas and sketches ready, the team was ready to move forward.
Problem Statement.
Monica is a working mother who is frustrated when trying to find a caregiver who can best match with both her and her daughter’s criteria. She needs to find an ethical and transparent platform along with a caregiver who is experienced in childcare, prioritizes safety and is reliable.
HMW prioritize and address child safety concerns during the parent registration process?
How might we ensure caregivers have verified and sufficient childcare experience?
How Might We.
HMW match parents with caregivers who have verified childcare experience?
HMW instill trust in parents while they sign up for our service?
Each sketch illustrates how might we design specific pages i.e. landing page, membership info, etc.
Design.
Following The Parent’s Journey.
User Flow.
The happy path will follow the parent’s journey. It starts with opening the launch page, to the onboarding where they can find out what the company can offer and what the app is capable of. The users will then be able to specify if you are a parent or a caregiver. Once “parent” is selected, you will promoted with on boarding questions asking about your caregiving preferences. The users will then be shown potential caregivers. But in order to proceed, users will have to select and purchase a membership. When a membership has been purchased, the happy path is completed by finding a caregiver that best matches with the parent’s needs.
Bringing Everything To The Test.
Usability Testing.
Conducted 4 usability tests with users who were our previous user interviewees.
Users consisted of mothers and queer parents who utilize child caregiving on a daily basis.
Usability Tasks.
Task 1: Can you show me how you would learn about the platform and move on to creating a job to hire a caregiver. There are various criteria to select from. Select as many criteria that meet your preferences. End the task when you see a list of generated caregivers.
Task 2: Can you walk me through what you would do next when you see the list of caregivers that was generated for you.
100% of the users wanted to select the “profile” button on the profile card which led to a dead end.
100% of the users wanted to have the option to add another child sooner rather than later.
There was confusion and uncertainty about what to do with the information on the membership overlay page. 67% of the users didn’t understand what the page was meant for.
Design Iterations.
After conducting the usability tests, we had found that the errors included: users felt uncertain where or how to change caretaking preferences and and were also confused on page layouts. Our hopes were for our users to be able to find caretaking easily and with zero confusion. The solution was to simplify the UI design, add more descriptions in text fields, and to add “other” as an option to allow users to be able to find a caretaker that best fits their needs.
Visually simplified progress indicator.
Added descriptors in the fillable text boxes.
Added “other” buttons to let users add criteria that may not be listed.
Other Iterations.
Changed CTA locations to increase user confidence.
Allowed users to select multiple age ranges to increase the amount of potential matched caregivers.
Changed the layout of the caretaker profile cards.
Separated criteria on different pages to prevent users becoming overwhelmed by the amount of steps to create a profile.
Organization Is Key.
Design System.
Color:
Color choices were selected while keeping the business core beliefs in mind. Through UI, we wanted to communicate trustworthiness and transparency to both the parents and caregivers. We selected colors that would instill trust and kindness without losing the face of professionalism.
Typeface:
Nunito was chosen to emulate softness and playfulness of child-like personalities.
Spacing:
Our spacing legend was created to ensure consistent spacing for in between elements throughout the design.
A/B Testing.
As we continued into our design, figuring out what kind of imagery was a challenge. We deliberated on what kind of images to use. Either photos of real people or illustrations.
We decided to conduct an A/B test to help finalize our decision. We asked 10 users to answer two questions.
We structured our questions so users could look at one of the images and click on either positive or negative words that resinated with them such as "engaging", "off-putting", or "comforting."
Results.
Our results had showed us that the majority of positive words were picked for the image with real people. The tops words were "engaging" and "friendly.”
For the illustration, there were more negative words such as "generic", "distracting" and "inauthentic."
With the results in, we decided on using the images of real people.
Delivery.
High Fidelity Mobile Mockup.
We delivered 25 high fidelity mobile frames to our client which consisted of an exploration phase, signup phase, membership purchase, to the final caregiver selection phase.
Landing Page.
Explore Page.
Explore Page.
Scheduling Page.
Caregiver’s Profiles.
Criteria Options.
Key Takeaways.
Next Steps.
We wanted to create individual profiles for each child so that parents could share a single profile to a caregiver when necessary.
We want to offer the ability for both caregivers and parents to go through a background check so that safety is always ensured.
A homepage so users can access their profiles, job postings, and educational material to help them get further in their caregiving career.
And finally, reiterate hi-fidelity design, making sure it follows the iOS design system.
Thank you!
Thank you for taking the time to view my work. Interested in what I’m doing? Let’s chat!
Please reach out at kira.lazickas@icloud.com
Testimonials.
Rachel Wardlaw - Digital Product Design Leader
“I am delighted to write this recommendation for Kira, who served as the Project Manager for a comprehensive UX project at Austin Childcare Connection. From start to finish she displayed exceptional leadership, organizational skills, and a keen understanding of user experience principles.
Throughout the project, Kira managed the full lifecycle of this project with remarkable efficiency. She coordinated team efforts, ensured clear communication among stakeholders, and maintained a focus on delivering high-quality results. Her ability to balance multiple tasks while keeping the project on track was truly impressive.
Kira also demonstrated a deep commitment to understanding our users' needs, conducting thorough research and usability testing to inform our design decisions. Her insights were invaluable in creating a user-friendly and engaging platform for our community.
It has been a pleasure working with Kira and I am confident she will excel in any future endeavors.
Kira have proven to be a dedicated and skilled professional, and I highly recommend them for any role in project management or UX design.”
Hannah Moore - UX Designer