Meadow App (Capstone)
A postpartum wellness app promoting holistic health through culturally grounded, community-based support.
Timeline
Sep 2024 - Apr 2025, 8 months
Role
Product Designer — UX Research, UI Design, User Testing
Team
Margot Lin (Product Designer), Swathi Ram (Researcher), Leesan Sun (Researcher)
01 / Problem Space
Postpartum mothers in marginalized communities face serious wellness challenges—but existing systems often fail to listen and provide culturally connected care.
Research Question
How might we better support the wellness needs of postpartum mothers in socioeconomically vulnerable groups?
02 / Motivation & Background
Why this problem matters
Prevalence & Impact of PPD
~1 in 7 women experience postpartum depression (PPD), a condition that can adversely affect both the mother and child.
Socioeconomic Barriers to Care
Mothers from low-income backgrounds face higher risks of postpartum depression and poor health outcomes. For many, care is fragmented and hard to access, with structural barriers such as limited providers, transportation issues, and reliance on Medicaid creating gaps in support.
Disparities in Maternal Health Outcomes
Black mothers experience additional challenges shaped by systemic barriers and cultural disconnects in care. Their concerns are more likely to be dismissed or misunderstood, resulting in critical gaps in trust and treatment.
03 / Information Gathering
Literature Review
Qualitative Data Analysis
To gain insight into the lived experiences of postpartum mothers beyond academic literature, we analyzed both primary and secondary accounts shared on Reddit. Using an inductive coding approach, we identified the recurring themes:
Importance of a Doula
Willingness to Ask for Support
Need for Self-Advocacy
Personal Advice
Competitive Analysis
Expert Interviews
For our last research method, we conducted 2 semi-structured interviews with 3 subject matter experts to bridge our research findings with expert knowledge. These interviews helped us better understand how to design effective behavioral health interventions, conduct informed and inclusive user research, and identify effective features and engagement opportunities for our solution.
We spoke with two clinician-researchers at a major Atlanta hospital, and a psychologist who leads a digital health startup focused on pediatric mental health in low-SES populations. Our goal was to understand how technology can be leveraged to support mental and physical wellness, and how to design for vulnerable populations while accounting for cultural nuance, medical mistrust, and practical constraints. We gained several critical insights:
Findings & Insights
Overview
Sensory-sensitive individuals demonstrate heightened responses to stimuli, and often struggle at public events not designed with their needs in mind. This sensitivity can hinder their participation, causing them to miss out on valuable experiences and community engagement.
01 / Problem Space
Designing a seamless user experience for AI-Powered job matching platform
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02 / Problem Statement
How can we better support the wellness needs of postpartum mothers in socioeconomically vulnerable groups?
