This project was particularly challenging due to the emotional subject. I was humbled by participants’ vulnerability in sharing their stories. Given a glimpse into the difficulty of caring for a loved one with dementia, it's clear there’s a need for products to help.
Solutions
I learned that tools to help someone know what to expect are key to product-market fit.
crowd-sourced timeline
Data from key points in the experience help people plan for what’s ahead.
budgeting tool to anticipate care costs
By helping anticipate care costs, we help reduce the financial unknown, a key pain point.
I also defined personas, created journey maps, and made additional recommendations to inform business strategy.
MY ROLE: Lead researcher and designer—solely responsible for all content
PROJECT TIMELINE: 2 months
CLIENT: Ruby, a B2C startup
Background
Ruby was struggling to find product-market fit for their flagship tool that helps families manage finances and important documents. They identified a promising segment: families caring for loved ones with dementia, because as cognitive decline increases, so does the risk of financial mistakes and scams.
Challenge
The goal was to understand the key needs of this target audience to determine potential product/market fit and feature recommendations. A primary challenge is how to connect this group with Ruby at the right time.
RESEARCH + DISCOVERY
Process + deliverables
Research plan | Evaluation plan | Stakeholder interviews | SME interviews | SME-informed journey map | Quantitative research | Qualitative research | Product assessment
Quantitative research
Qualitative research
pain points
Role reversal: This experience brings the challenge of shifting from partner or child to caregiver, especially with financial role reversal.
The financial unknown: Uncertainty around budgeting adds significant stress to the situation.
“We had it budgeted out but we don’t have a crystal ball to know how long he’s going to live so the financial side is just a constant worry.”
Newfound responsibility: Providing transportation, managing medications, and handling hygiene, meals, and home care drastically change people's lives.
A series of individual battles: Participants shared that new issues and decisions arose piecemeal, adding to their frustration during an already stressful time.
“Everything was one problem at a time as they came up. Boy, would that have been nice if everything had been all laid out at once.”
SYNTHESIS + DEFINING
Affinity mapping
Defining insights
Personas
Journey maps
SOLUTIONS
I learned that Ruby is most valuable to those who haven't planned yet and are waiting for a trigger. Specific, situation-based information motivates action. Tools that outline what to expect can reduce stress and serve as a bridge to connect users to our product.
CRowdsourced TIMELINE
Data from key points in a dementia diagnosis are collected and displayed on a timeline, helping individuals anticipate and plan for what’s ahead.
budgeting tool to anticipate care costs
The tool helps users anticipate care costs, providing estimates for local facilities and highlighting overlooked expenses.
Additional recommendations
Help start the conversation: Offer guidance on navigating difficult conversations about shifting financial roles due to dementia through blog posts, mailed materials, or access to specialists.
Help simplify the complicated: A key pain point was navigating legal, medical, insurance, and tax issues. Providing clear guidance, like a checklist of actions, would be highly valuable.
Provide paper statements: Because of the age demographic, many individuals with dementia expect paper financial statements. Offering this option helps build trust and ease the transition.
Provide customizability: As the disease progresses, roles shift. Allow family members to customize access and set limits for the person with dementia to ease the transition.