In this project, I spearheaded a user-centered redesign initiative for The Mighty, a health startup fostering healthier lives through social connections. This comprehensive effort spanned across The Mighty's mobile app, website, and App Store presence.
I focused on establishing a cohesive design language that unified the user experience across all platforms. This included creating a streamlined workflow for content creation and community engagement, ensuring a seamless and intuitive user journey, regardless of the access point. The user experience revamp yielded significant results, translating to demonstrably improved user engagement metrics.
The Mighty is a Series B startup where the world's largest health community with 3.5M+ members (patients, caregivers, and providers) find support, information, and guidance from others who are on similar journeys. The Mighty empowers individuals with chronic health conditions by fostering a supportive online community and providing a wealth of resources like newsletters, podcasts, and member-driven content.
Although the mighty has a loyal existing user base, the Mighty's non-logged-in homepage lacked a clear value proposition and failed to engage new visitors, especially those with complex health conditions who seek a supportive online community. The existing logged in home page also lacked a consistent design language and organized information architecture that did not enable users to use the Mighty's various features to its maximum potential. In order to improve the overall user experience, we followed a multi-pronged approach to improve different aspects of the user interface.
The Non-logged in home page is the first touch point for non-mighty users or for existing mighty users who mighty be looking for new resources. This interface was in many the face of the platform. Keeping this significance in mind, the existing platform posed a few challenges that needed to be addressed.
1. Unclear Value Proposition: New users landing on The Mighty weren't immediately greeted with a clear understanding of the app's purpose and the benefits it offers for those with chronic health conditions.
2. Hidden Resource Awareness: The onboarding process didn't effectively showcase the variety of valuable resources available within The Mighty, such as informative newsletters, podcasts, and member-driven content.
3. Misaligned Design Language: The visual design and messaging during onboarding didn't convey the supportive and encouraging atmosphere The Mighty aims to create for its users.
How can we boost User Acquisition and Engagement Through Streamlined Onboarding?
This primary goal combines two key goals:
I believe that the design process should be iterative and responsive to user needs. Fortunately, The Mighty has access to a wealth of historical data about its user base. We leveraged this data to gain deep insights into user demographics, behaviors, and potential pain points. This data-driven approach provided a strong foundation for our design decisions, allowing us to "build outwards" and create a user experience that truly addresses the needs of The Mighty's community.
To optimize The Mighty's onboarding experience, we began with a deep dive into user needs. This involved:
1. Leveraging Existing Data: We analyzed historical data from The Mighty's existing user base to understand their demographics, behaviors, and potential pain points.
2. Conducting User Interviews: We conducted interviews with potential users who have health conditions similar to The Mighty's target audience, but who had not yet heard of the app. This provided fresh perspectives on onboarding challenges and user expectations.
Beyond the valuable historical data available about The Mighty's user base, we recognized the importance of gathering fresh perspectives. To gain a deeper understanding of user needs and challenges, we conducted a series of user interviews. These interviews allowed us to create detailed persona maps for both existing Mighty users and those who haven't yet joined the platform. By considering both perspectives, we were able to identify a comprehensive range of areas that needed to be addressed during the redesign of the entire user experience.
Based on the responses we gathered from the user interviews, I put together two different personas - one for a mighty user and one for a potential mighty user.
Through this combined research approach, we were able to gather valuable insights that informed the design process.
/ Prioritize Credibility: Highlight the platform's commitment to reliable and trustworthy health information, including showcasing peer-reviewed articles or partnerships with health organizations.
/ Content Categorization and Search: Improve search functionality with filtering options based on health conditions and topics. This allows users like Sarah to find content specifically relevant to their chronic illness.
/ Information Hierarchy: Consider a multi-layered information architecture on the homepage. This could include easily accessible sections dedicated to mental health (for David) and chronic illness information (for Sarah), alongside general health and wellness content.
/ Tailored Onboarding: Explore options for a personalized onboarding experience based on user demographics and interests. This could help users like Sarah discover communities and content relevant to their specific condition.
/ Privacy Assurances: Clearly address privacy concerns during onboarding. This might be particularly important for users like David who are hesitant about sharing personal information.
/ Anonymous Options: Consider offering anonymous access to certain features or resources, catering to users like David who are not comfortable with full disclosure.
/ Private Messaging and Groups: Explore features that facilitate deeper user interaction, such as private messaging or focused support groups. This could address Sarah's desire for a stronger sense of community and David's potential need for some level of anonymous connection.
/ Mood-Based Content: Consider features like mood-based content curation. This could offer calming or uplifting content for users experiencing anxiety or difficulty sleeping, addressing a potential pain point for Sarah during late nights.
From the insights I gathered, I dove into the ideation phase. I sketched and built wireframes to explore concepts that addressed the key points from the user interviews.
After the ideation phase, we conducted user interviews and testing to see what existing mighty members and non mighty members felt about the changes we implemented.
Consolidating the overall user insights gave very interesting insights that informed the future design iterations.
Current homepage is more informative, but less welcoming and inviting:
1. “I think the current homepage gives a little bit more information about what The Mighty is, but it feels very corporate. So while I do appreciate the information provided, I think the look and feel of the new homepage feels more welcoming and easier to digest.” - non-Mighty member
2. “This language [on the current homepage] is much clearer, it signals exactly what the website is about. This one is clear and direct, but the [new homepage] is more emotional. So it depends on the feel you’re going for.” – non-Mighty member
3. “The current homepage is very straightforward… The new homepage feels like it’s not intimidating, not overwhelming or complicated.” – non-Mighty member
User interviews revealed a recurring issue: many users struggled to grasp The Mighty's core value proposition. To address this, we explored using a concise tagline paired with a relatable illustration. The goal was to clearly communicate how The Mighty bridges the gap between doctor visits and a diagnosis.
Through several iterations, we landed on a metaphor: the patient's journey as a voyage with a map. The Mighty community acts as the compass, guiding users towards the right path.
Before beginning on the high fidelity wireframes, it was important to recreate a brand framework for the Mighty. With the data from the user interviews, I focussed on creating visuals that communicated emotions of comfort, trust and clarity.
The strategy : An Interplay of illustrative elements and real-person photos would create a relatable and warm visual language.
As users scrolled further, a curated selection of The Mighty's extensive resources was unveiled. This valuable information, encompassing editor-reviewed articles, member-contributed blogs, podcasts, newsletters, and more, was all readily accessible to registered users.
To facilitate discovery and navigation, health topics were organized into visually appealing "collections" adorned with hand-painted illustrations. This approach not only conveyed the vastness of The Mighty's information database but also provided a user-friendly way to explore relevant content.
Exploring the Supportive Landscape:
The final sections of the non-logged-in homepage offered a glimpse into the existing health communities within The Mighty. This strategic placement allowed potential users to "window-shop" through a diverse range of existing groups before committing to sign-up. This fostered a sense of transparency and empowered users to make informed decisions about joining the platform.
Some final before and after shots of the mighty non-logged in home page work!
The Mighty has always been about fostering a supportive and empowering online community for people facing health challenges. We understand that a rich and informative user profile is key to creating a more meaningful experience for everyone. In order to understand the missing gaps and potential pain points that users felt, we analyzed the user journey further by creating user journey maps of our user personas of both David and Sara.
By analyzing the user journey maps for Sarah and David, along with insights from the existing user research, we identify several key pointers for The Mighty user profile redesign:
Focus: Make profiles personal and empower connections.
1. About: Users can share as much or as little personal information as they feel comfortable with.
2. Activity: This tab becomes a hub for showcasing recent interactions within The Mighty app.
3. Following: Stay organized with a clear view of groups, articles, and conversations you're involved in.
/ Privacy Matters: Each tab offers individual privacy controls, allowing users to choose whether information is public or private.
This streamlined approach empowers users to personalize their profiles and maximize control over their information within The Mighty community.
Privacy at the Forefront:
Understanding the importance of user privacy, The Mighty implemented individual privacy controls for each tab. This empowers users to meticulously choose which information they wish to share publicly and what remains private.
Recognizing the value of conversations within The Mighty, the platform implemented powerful new filtering options. Users can now delve deeper by filtering conversations by type (discussions, polls, Q&A sessions), date range (focusing on recent or past interactions), and even content (searching for specific keywords or topics within conversations). This enhanced control empowers users to personalize their Mighty experience and discover the conversations that hold the most relevance and value for them.
The final feature we added to the user profile was the introduction of badges. Badges add a playful layer to The Mighty experience, motivating users to engage more actively and celebrating their contributions to the supportive community.
In-depth user research and analysis of user journey maps played a key role in the decision to introduce badges to The Mighty platform. Here's how these insights fueled this exciting addition:
1. Increased Engagement: User journey maps revealed a common drop-off point in initial app usage. New users often completed basic profile setup but didn't actively engage in discussions or share their stories. Badges address this by offering an incentive for continued participation. The gamified aspect motivates users to take further actions within The Mighty, fostering a more dynamic and engaging experience.
2. Community Recognition: User research highlighted a desire for users to feel valued and appreciated for their contributions. Journey maps showed that users craved a sense of belonging and support within the The Mighty community. Badges serve as a tangible recognition system. Earning a badge acknowledges a user's effort to share their story, participate in discussions, or support others. This reinforces the feeling of community and motivates users to keep contributing to the positive and supportive environment.
By implementing badges based on user research and journey map data, The Mighty aims to create a more engaging and rewarding experience for all users, ultimately strengthening the supportive community it fosters.
These were the badges that we incorporated into the user profile system.
