GOJI
a minimally-invasive pelvic therapy toolkit to make healing more gentle, holistic, and accessible
MY ROLE
I took on the UI/UX portion of the project, creating the app that would accompany the physical tool. My role largely encompassed research and digital design, while also contributing to the visual identity and design of the physical model.
TEAM
Emi Tang, Anne Fernandez
DURATION
10 weeks
TOOLS
Figma
LET'S OPEN UP
Vaginismus is under-diagnosed, under-researched, and overlooked.
Vaginismus is a condition characterized by involuntary muscle spasms in the pelvic floor, often leading to painful intercourse and general pelvic pain.
Understanding that the problem surrounding vaginismus includes limited accessibility, lack of support, and an intimidation factor, we created a holistic design system to provide users with gentle and compassionate care.
How can we create a healing solution for people with vaginismus and chronic pelvic pain that is both gentle and approachable?
INITIAL FINDINGS
Existing tools for vaginismus feel clinical, outdated, and intimidating.
When it comes to existing solutions on the market, we analyzed and plotted them on a graph indicating depending on how invasive of a treatment they were, and how pleasurable of an experience it was to use them.
While a lot of these products sought to create a more comfortable solution through means like temperature therapy, AI biofeedback, and even gamifying the healing process, most of them still felt intimidating for the beginner user. We sought to create a solution that leaned more towards the upper left quadrant: something minimally invasive while still pleasurable to use.
USER RESEARCH
Barriers to care are both physical and mental.
By asking individuals with vaginismus and pelvic pain about their experiences with their healing journey, I learned that:
The treatment journey is more than just the physical tool.
Seeking additional help before jumping into dilators and tools, like seeking treatment with a therapist, was suggested by a Reddit user who found that to be a valuable aspect of their own healing.
There's a lack of solutions for psychological and emotional pain.
Another Reddit user, who identified themselves as a pelvic floor therapist, said that most insertable tools available are built to address the muscular tightness without doing much to examine emotional and psychological barriers.
VALUE PROPOSITION
How can we support our target audience beyond just a physical tool?
From our market and user research, it encouraged us to explore ways that users could feel supported beyond just the physical product.
Expanding our solution beyond a physical product can open new possibilities for how users can experience, track, and feel their healing.
INITIAL CONCEPT
Let's create a digital companion.
Since we knew we wanted to create a physical massage tool for our target audience, we imagined it would be beneficial to create a supplemental digital companion for users as well to track their progress and guide them as they use the tool.
HOW WE FEEL
An app developed by professionals to help users navigate emotions
HEADSPACE
A mental health app that makes meditation more accessible
ITERATIVE DESIGN PROCESS
Halfway through our project, we came across invaluable insight.
We got the opportunity to interview an OBGYN to gain a professional's opinions on how they view the healing journey from vaginismus. This chat helped us understand what patients struggled with and what she has seen from personal experience as effective healing. Our biggest takeaway was that although users could find resources to help their physical wellbeing, oftentimes community support could help support their mental wellbeing, which is an aspect of healing that is often overlooked.
Community support is part of the healing process.
Being able to have and rely on a good support team is part of any healing and growing process.
Education and information should be more accessible.
Having education and resources on hand for users to learn effectively at their own pace.
How can we incorporate a community aspect into the digital companion to help strengthen the user's mental wellbeing?
Ultimately the focus is to ensure that users feel supported, not compared to. Our solution would allow for simple interactions so that users can engage with each other in a kind and productive manner.
GOALS
Care without feeling clinical
We wanted users to be able to reflect on their progress without making it focused on biometrics.
Faster and more accessible help
Get access to the answers users want so they spend less time dwelling on questions and more time focusing on answers.
Act as a transition, not as the end goal
Our focus is users who have no idea how to start their journey. If we address too many things at once, things feel lukewarm.
SOLUTION
Goji: a holistic system that gently and compassionately guides individuals at the beginning of the healing journey.
Ultimately the focus is to ensure that folks feel supported, not compared to. Our solution would allow for simple interactions so that users can engage with each other in a kind and productive manner.
KEY SCREENS
HOME PAGE
PROGRESS
AI CHAT
COMMUNITY
exercises
A selection of exercises backed by therapists and specialists proven to help ease anxiety and soothe pain over time.
Users can choose between 4 exercises: square breathing, body scan, belly breathing, and riding the wave. These exercises help users slowly ease towards pain relief over time. Users can choose the duration of each exercise and are prompted with a two quick reflection questions at the end.
progress
Showcase the progress users have made throughout their journey.
Users can reflect on the progress they've made over time. Throughout these analyses, they can understand what exercises they do most frequently, how they often feel afterwards, and more.
ai chat
Leveraging AI to help users get the specific help they need, quickly.
Sometimes users want answers to pressing questions. With the knowledge of the user's progress, the chat feature can help provide responses tailored to the user's needs.
COMMUNITY
Creating a space where users with similar experiences can support and learn from each other.
By being part of a space where everyone can share advice or struggles with each other, users can feel a sense of belonging and community. Having the support of people going through similar experiences can be a significant factor in the healing process.
ADDITIONAL DELIVERABLES
In addition to the digital companion, I helped with the visual identity, copywriting, and overall branding of the additional deliverables: the pelvic massager, the manual, and the posters. Those are my hands in the product shots!
Takeaways
Adapt to new information.
During this project, I ended up adding onto our digital companion as we received more information and research. The process of pivoting and adapting can feel overwhelming, but when it's grounded in research, it's beneficial.
Revisit designs when you feel there's room for improvement.
I revisited this project a few months after I graduated after having done some UI design work at my contractor position. Having this hands-on experience and reviewing even more real-world examples gave me clarity as to how to improve my designs. If you're interested in viewing my designs previously, feel free to message me — they were a DOOZY.
THANK YOUS
Thank you to Kristine Matthews and the UW Design School for mentoring my teammates and I during this process, as well as providing the foundation to explore and grow as a designer.
A huge thank you to my Capstone partners Emi and Anne for being the best teammates, I'm so glad that we were able to work one last time together before going our separate ways after graduating. To many more Vietnamese coffees in our future <3