Inclusive fertility support for LGBTQI+ parents-to-be, from concept to clickable prototype.

This case study explores how I designed a mobile app from concept to prototype to offer reproductive health and wellness support to the LGBTQI+ community.

Role

UX Researcher, UX Designer

Industry

Health & Wellness

Timeline

225 hours over 10 months

Stack

Adobe Xd, Adobe Illustrator, Miro, Optimal Sort

Contribution

Competitive Analysis, User Research, User Personas, Tasks Flows, Journey Maps, Information Architecture, Wireframes, Prototypes, Usability Testing, Feedback Implementation, Accessibility Evaluation, Mockups, Design Documentation

The Problem

Prospective LGBTQI+ parents face significant challenges navigating fertility care:

Lack of inclusive services – most fertility resources are heteronormative and exclude LGBTQI+ experiences.
Difficulty finding queer-friendly specialists – leaving many anxious and unsupported.
Complex journeys – multiple appointments, tests, and procedures that are hard to track.
Mental health needs – little tailored support for the emotional toll of fertility treatment, particularly for trans and gender-diverse people.

The Problem

Prospective LGBTQI+ parents face significant challenges navigating fertility care:

Lack of inclusive services – most fertility resources are heteronormative and exclude LGBTQI+ experiences.
Difficulty finding queer-friendly specialists – leaving many anxious and unsupported.
Complex journeys – multiple appointments, tests, and procedures that are hard to track.
Mental health needs – little tailored support for the emotional toll of fertility treatment, particularly for trans and gender-diverse people.

The Solution

I designed Kin, an inclusive mobile app concept that:

Offers medically verified, LGBTQI+-specific fertility and wellness resources.
Provides a calendar to track appointments, symptoms, test results, and procedure outcomes.
Connects users with queer-friendly doctors and specialists.
Includes a supportive community forum to reduce isolation and share lived experiences.

This project was an opportunity to tackle a complex, underserved problem space and create something that could genuinely improve the experience of queer parents-to-be.

Research & Discovery

I began with a competitive analysis, reviewing fertility tracking and mental wellness apps. While some excelled at usability and data tracking, none addressed LGBTQI+ needs holistically. This gap confirmed that Kin could offer real market value.

I conducted three in-depth user interviews, aiming to understand:

Knowledge gaps and challenges in navigating fertility care.
Pain points with existing services and apps.
Desired features, support, and content types.

I synthesised findings into an affinity map and uncovered three key insight areas:

Information & Resources: Users felt overwhelmed and unprepared, wasting time on conflicting research.
Healthcare Interactions: Experiences with providers were often negative, with frequent miscommunication and discrimination.
Community Support: Users craved connection, representation, and reassurance that queer families thrive.

Research & Discovery

I conducted three in-depth user interviews, aiming to understand:

Knowledge gaps and challenges in navigating fertility care.
Pain points with existing services and apps.
Desired features, support, and content types.

I synthesised findings into an affinity map and uncovered three key insight areas:

Information & Resources: Users felt overwhelmed and unprepared, wasting time on conflicting research.
Healthcare Interactions: Experiences with providers were often negative, with frequent miscommunication and discrimination.
Community Support: Users craved connection, representation, and reassurance that queer families thrive.

Defining Users & Journeys

From these insights, I created two primary personas:

Aubrey – a 38-year-old lesbian seeking trustworthy fertility information and a way to connect with supportive specialists and peers.
Elliot – a 34-year-old trans man navigating IVF while managing gender dysphoria, requiring cycle tracking, mental health support, and streamlined communication with healthcare providers.

Mapping user journeys for each persona helped me identify emotional highs and lows and ensure Kin’s features directly addressed real pain points.

Defining Users & Journeys

From these insights, I created two primary personas:

Aubrey – a 38-year-old lesbian seeking trustworthy fertility information and a way to connect with supportive specialists and peers.
Elliot – a 34-year-old trans man navigating IVF while managing gender dysphoria, requiring cycle tracking, mental health support, and streamlined communication with healthcare providers.

Mapping user journeys for each persona helped me identify emotional highs and lows and ensure Kin’s features directly addressed real pain points.

Ideation & Information Architecture

Using my research as a foundation, I:

Built a sitemap balancing flat and hierarchical structures to keep navigation intuitive.
Ran a digital card sort via OptimalSort to validate grouping and terminology, refining page labels and structures based on participant mental models.
Created user stories and task flows for each persona, ensuring their goals — from finding resources to logging symptoms — could be achieved in the fewest, clearest steps possible.

I also trimmed the original scope, removing the AI Health Assistant Chat feature when early discussions revealed low user interest and time constraints. This was a key moment where I learned the importance of prioritising feasibility and focus over feature creep.

Ideation & Information Architecture

Using my research as a foundation, I:

Built a sitemap balancing flat and hierarchical structures to keep navigation intuitive.
Ran a digital card sort via OptimalSort to validate grouping and terminology, refining page labels and structures based on participant mental models.
Created user stories and task flows for each persona, ensuring their goals — from finding resources to logging symptoms — could be achieved in the fewest, clearest steps possible.

Prototyping

I started with rapid low-fidelity wireframes, iterating quickly to explore layouts for key screens: onboarding, dashboard, profile, tracker, resource library, and reminders.

I then moved into mid-fidelity wireframes in Adobe XD and built a clickable prototype. This allowed me to test navigation patterns, content hierarchy, and interactivity before committing to visual design.

Prototyping

I started with rapid low-fidelity wireframes, iterating quickly to explore layouts for key screens: onboarding, dashboard, profile, tracker, resource library, and reminders.

Usability Testing

I conducted remote moderated usability tests with four participants from my target audience. The goal was to evaluate:

Ease of onboarding and sign-in.
Ability to log symptoms and view appointments.
Success in finding and using educational resources.

I created a test plan, script, and rainbow spreadsheet to categorise results by severity. This helped prioritise the top five issues for redesign, including:

Confusing labels for the resource library (renamed to “Resources”).
Difficulty seeing upcoming appointments (added clear homepage link).
Navigation challenges (reordered bottom menu and improved icons).
Trouble saving symptoms (added explicit save button and clearer search).
Ambiguous category icons (relabelled and redesigned as list items).

Usability Testing

I conducted remote moderated usability tests with four participants from my target audience. The goal was to evaluate:

Ease of onboarding and sign-in.
Ability to log symptoms and view appointments.
Success in finding and using educational resources.

I created a test plan, script, and rainbow spreadsheet to categorise results by severity. This helped prioritise the top five issues for redesign, including:

Confusing labels for the resource library (renamed to “Resources”).
Difficulty seeing upcoming appointments (added clear homepage link).
Navigation challenges (reordered bottom menu and improved icons).
Trouble saving symptoms (added explicit save button and clearer search).
Ambiguous category icons (relabelled and redesigned as list items).

Iteration & Preference Testing

I incorporated solutions into high-fidelity wireframes and ran preference tests to determine the most effective UI patterns. Combining qualitative and quantitative data allowed me to refine designs in a way that balanced user preference with usability heuristics.

I also conducted a peer review with fellow designers via CareerFoundry Slack. Their feedback helped me identify final UX/UI refinements before moving to design documentation.

Iteration & Preference Testing

I also conducted a peer review with fellow designers via CareerFoundry Slack. Their feedback helped me identify final UX/UI refinements before moving to design documentation.

Accessibility Improvements

Accessibility was a priority throughout. I audited the designs against WCAG guidelines, making improvements including:

Increased text size, touch targets, and contrast for legibility.
Clear placeholder text and error messaging with symbols for universal comprehension.
Text-to-speech support for content and subtitles for media.
Refined navigation and legends to reduce cognitive load.

This process deepened my understanding of accessible design — an area I want to continue specialising in.

Accessibility Improvements

Accessibility was a priority throughout. I audited the designs against WCAG guidelines, making improvements including:

Increased text size, touch targets, and contrast for legibility.
Clear placeholder text and error messaging with symbols for universal comprehension.
Text-to-speech support for content and subtitles for media.
Refined navigation and legends to reduce cognitive load.

This process deepened my understanding of accessible design — an area I want to continue specialising in.

Design Documentation

Finally, I prepared a design system and documentation package for handoff, ensuring developers and future designers could maintain consistency. Files were organised, clearly labelled, and supported with just-enough documentation to streamline the next phase of development.

Design Documentation

Key Learnings

This project taught me several powerful lessons:

Focus is essential: Trying to serve every user with every feature is unsustainable. Narrowing scope to a smaller, more defined audience led to a stronger product.
Prototype early: The fastest way to validate an idea is to put it in front of users, even if imperfect.
Stay curious: What seems intuitive to a designer might not be to a user. Regular feedback loops revealed critical improvements.
Embrace feedback: Taking critique with openness led to better solutions and reinforced my collaborative mindset.

Key Learnings

This project taught me several powerful lessons:

Focus is essential: Trying to serve every user with every feature is unsustainable. Narrowing scope to a smaller, more defined audience led to a stronger product.
Prototype early: The fastest way to validate an idea is to put it in front of users, even if imperfect.
Stay curious: What seems intuitive to a designer might not be to a user. Regular feedback loops revealed critical improvements.
Embrace feedback: Taking critique with openness led to better solutions and reinforced my collaborative mindset.

Outcomes

Delivered a fully prototyped, user-tested app concept that addressed major pain points for LGBTQI+ parents-to-be.
Created a clear information architecture and task flow that simplified complex fertility journeys.
Improved usability through multiple design iterations, reducing confusion and friction.
Produced developer-ready design documentation for future handoff.

If I were to continue, I would expand usability testing with a broader, more diverse pool of LGBTQI+ users and fertility specialists, fully prototype missing user flows, and build the appointment booking and community forum features to create a more complete end-to-end experience.

Outcomes

Delivered a fully prototyped, user-tested app concept that addressed major pain points for LGBTQI+ parents-to-be.
Created a clear information architecture and task flow that simplified complex fertility journeys.
Improved usability through multiple design iterations, reducing confusion and friction.
Produced developer-ready design documentation for future handoff.