Safer, kinder health communities at scale
From first post to real support, clear creation tools, topic-based feeds, rooms, and private companioning.
From first post to real support, clear creation tools, topic-based feeds, rooms, and private companioning.
Contribution:
Journey mapping & IA across sign-up → topics → publish → room → DM/companion → profile & notifications.
UX/UI for Stories editor, feeds, topic manager, room layout, polls, DM drawer, notifications, companioning, i.care assistant, and profile + mood tracker.
Safety & privacy UX: role badges, report flows, granular privacy settings, and concise microcopy.
Design system: tokens, cards, chips/badges, tables, drawers, modals—reused across desktop/tablet/mobile.
Growth surfaces: Suggested rails, refer-a-friend, frequent/popular topics in assistant.
The information provided in this case study represents my own views and may not necessarily represent the opinions of the client.
The information provided in this case study represents my own views and may not necessarily represent the opinions of the client.
Role:
Product/UX Designer
Product/UX Designer
Client:
NDA Name
NDA Name
Timeline:
36 months
36 months
Challanges
Lower the posting barrier for sensitive health topics, give users control over comments/likes/sharing.
Balance safety and reach with verified/role badges, reporting, privacy, and discoverability.
Make support tangible: move beyond reading to joining Rooms, companioning, and ongoing check-ins.
My Process
Mapped the journey sign-up → choose topics → read → write → join a room → message/companion → keep in touch, then shipped in two de-risked phases:
Phase 1: Creation & Personalization (Stories + topics + safety controls)
Phase 2: Ongoing Support (Rooms, DMs/companioning, notifications, assistant, profile & mood)
More voices, safer participation: first-time posts up, harassment/flag load down.
Deeper engagement: rooms + companions + mood/journey loops turn readers into supported members.
Operational clarity: badges/reporting and privacy controls keep moderation manageable without killing reach.
Results & Impact (Roll-up)
Phase 1: Creation & Personalization
What we designed & shipped (screens referenced):
Email verification modal at sign-up (Desktop – Sign Up).
Topic selection chips powering feeds (All / Following / My stories) and preselected topics on mobile
Write a story editor (title, rich text, images/video, tags, drafts) with share controls (Allow comments / likes / member sharing) and publish counters
Trust & moderation: Verified user, Moderator, Administrator badges; Report action in post menu
Personalization rails: I am interested in… + Suggested for you cards
Impact (10-week window):
Time-to-first-post (sign-up → publish): 5:10 → 2:10 (−58%).
Story publish rate per 100 new signups: 14 → 24 (+71%).
Why this first: if publishing feels simple and safe, the flywheel (read → post → connect) starts quickly and responsibly.
Phase 2: Ongoing Support
What we designed & shipped (screens referenced):
Support Rooms with clear descriptions, People in the room widget (companions vs others), and Invite friends (carepoints reward)
Threaded posts & shared links in rooms with quick Like/Comment and “Show more comments”
Conversations (DM) drawer with search and recent activity; Message Center views
Companioning: requests with Confirm/Reject, and “is now your companion” confirmation in the Notifications drawer (mobile & desktop notifications).
Gentle nudges: Mood tracker and Journey prompts in notifications; Profile dashboard with carepoints, mood trendline (30-day graph), rooms list, companions, and Suggested for you rooms.
i.care assistant: topic cards (“How do I navigate the site?”, “Information about a condition”, “Analyze my health journey”), frequent topics & popular topics, and a search conversation field (assistant variants + frequent topics screen).
Granular Data & Privacy settings pages (visibility, discoverability, data controls)
Impact (10-week window):
Room join rate (first session): 22% → 39% (+17pp).
Companion acceptance rate: 31% → 56%.
Notification CTR (mood & journey prompts): 9% → 18%.
DM adoption: 0 → 48% of active members used conversations weekly.
Poll participation: median 120 votes in top rooms (from ≈0 pre-feature).
Refer-a-friend send rate: 4% → 11% of room members used the invite modal.
Why this second: once users create and follow topics, deeper support loops (rooms, companions, nudges, assistant) build retention and real-world help.
Results & Impact (Roll-up)
More voices, safer participation: first-time posts up, harassment/flag load down.
Deeper engagement: rooms + companions + mood/journey loops turn readers into supported members.
Operational clarity: badges/reporting and privacy controls keep moderation manageable without killing reach.
Lower the posting barrier for sensitive health topics, give users control over comments/likes/sharing.
Balance safety and reach with verified/role badges, reporting, privacy, and discoverability.
Make support tangible: move beyond reading to joining Rooms, companioning, and ongoing check-ins.
Mapped the journey sign-up → choose topics → read → write → join a room → message/companion → keep in touch, then shipped in two de-risked phases:
Phase 1: Creation & Personalization (Stories + topics + safety controls)
Phase 2: Ongoing Support (Rooms, DMs/companioning, notifications, assistant, profile & mood)
My Process
What we designed & shipped (screens referenced):
Email verification modal at sign-up (Desktop – Sign Up).
Topic selection chips powering feeds (All / Following / My stories) and preselected topics on mobile
Write a story editor (title, rich text, images/video, tags, drafts) with share controls (Allow comments / likes / member sharing) and publish counters
Trust & moderation: Verified user, Moderator, Administrator badges; Report action in post menu
Personalization rails: I am interested in… + Suggested for you cards
Impact (10-week window):
Time-to-first-post (sign-up → publish): 5:10 → 2:10 (−58%).
Story publish rate per 100 new signups: 14 → 24 (+71%).
Why this first: if publishing feels simple and safe, the flywheel (read → post → connect) starts quickly and responsibly.
What we designed & shipped (screens referenced):
Support Rooms with clear descriptions, People in the room widget (companions vs others), and Invite friends (carepoints reward)
Threaded posts & shared links in rooms with quick Like/Comment and “Show more comments”
Conversations (DM) drawer with search and recent activity; Message Center views
Companioning: requests with Confirm/Reject, and “is now your companion” confirmation in the Notifications drawer (mobile & desktop notifications).
Gentle nudges: Mood tracker and Journey prompts in notifications; Profile dashboard with carepoints, mood trendline (30-day graph), rooms list, companions, and Suggested for you rooms.
i.care assistant: topic cards (“How do I navigate the site?”, “Information about a condition”, “Analyze my health journey”), frequent topics & popular topics, and a search conversation field (assistant variants + frequent topics screen).
Granular Data & Privacy settings pages (visibility, discoverability, data controls)
Impact (10-week window):
Room join rate (first session): 22% → 39% (+17pp).
Companion acceptance rate: 31% → 56%.
Notification CTR (mood & journey prompts): 9% → 18%.
DM adoption: 0 → 48% of active members used conversations weekly.
Poll participation: median 120 votes in top rooms (from ≈0 pre-feature).
Refer-a-friend send rate: 4% → 11% of room members used the invite modal.
Why this second: once users create and follow topics, deeper support loops (rooms, companions, nudges, assistant) build retention and real-world help.
Challanges
Phase 1: Creation & Personalization
Phase 2: Ongoing Support
