LOTUS
Let's talk Women+'s reproductive health.
A mobile-based social media platform helps young women+ talk, share, and connect in topics of reproductive health. Lotus is a pre-seed startup firm backed by Harvard incubation programs.
Role
UI UX Lead
iOS Engineer
Tools
Figma
Xcode, iOS dev
Javascript, React
AWS
Timeline
Apr 2023 - Jan, 2024
Problem
Rroproductive Health in Teenage/College Women+ Requires Attention
Over 50% of young women+ in college have reported experiencing reproductive health conditions or issues. These individuals often experience feelings of depression, anxiety, and isolation because they are unable to openly discuss their diagnoses in a society that stigmatizes such conditions. Even when efforts have been made to curb these issues, the current solutions have failed to provide women with a secure, trusting, and organized space to come together.
Solution
Destigmatizing the Discussion of Women+'s Reproductive
Lotus supports conversations about reproductive health conditions and infertility diagnoses among women of all age groups, with a special focus on young women+ with limited access to resources. Our primary objective is to establish a platform where women can come together, build connections, engage in social interactions, and openly discuss topics related to reproductive health and infertility.
Value Proposition
A Safe and Secured Platform
Promoting online discourse about reproductive health, we will tackle hate speech and inappropriate language. Lotus's 24/7 algorithm-based moderator is dedicated to content curation, ensuring a secure space for women+ to engage. In addition to safety measures, we've developed various community connection options, including match-to-chat, group forums, and one-on-one chats.
Secured
A fine-tuned AI model moderates content 24/7, filters hate speech and inappropriate language on topics about reproductive health.
Group Forum
A topic-based supportive, informative, and inclusive community to share information, break stigma, and provide emotional support.
Individual Chat
Establish real, meaningful connections in an intimate environment, from reproductiion related topics to life.
Algorithic Matching
Facilitate individual connections by swiping to engage in meaningful conversations about reproductive health.
Design
Design in Phases
While we have a clear vision for community engagement, we remain adaptable to market-driven changes. During the MVP and Beta stages, the development team establishes feature milestones. Each design is provisional yet thorough, prioritizing user experience for each testing stage. Simultaneously, user interviews inform our task pipeline, aligning with our product vision and user feedback.
Phase 1: Minimal Viable Product
Features:
Create/log-in account
Join/leave/propose a Group
Create/edit/delete Post
Phase 2: Beta Version
Added Features:
Comment on post
Edit/delete comment
Friend, chat with friend
usability test
Usability Test for MVP
Lotus values every opportunity to engage with both existing and
potential customers. We conducted
four usability tests for MVP. Each interview consisted of
establishing a personal connection with Lotus, conducting
usability test, and discussing upcoming features that users are
anticipating.
These conversations have yielded invaluable insights into
understanding users' motivations for participating in our
community. The usability tests have provided essential feedback on
user flow and user interface design, where we made adjustment in
the Beta version.
Through careful observation and dialogue, we've recognized a
recurring pattern where users are seeking more from our platform.
This realization has prompted us to begin outlining our next
features. Please stay tuned, more to come from Lotus!
NM:
I won't go to internet for medical advice, because there's no
trustworthy community there but I'd love to have one.
TN:
I like the groups and I want to see
more (group) options and join their conversations.
However, it seems I can join without approval, which does
raise some safety concerns.
Design System
The user interface is designed to evoke a gentle and feminine ambiance, catering to the needs of women and those interested in reproductive health topics.
Thoughts
What did we learn?
Design is a journey defined by its iterative nature, marked by a perpetual loop of creation, assessment, and enhancement. This process extends beyond the mere crafting of visually appealing interfaces or functional systems; it represents a profound learning adventure that unfolds as we engage users and the message Lotus conveys. Within this ongoing cycle of improvement, it's imperative to acknowledge the juncture where we pause and evaluate the progress, to leverage Lotus's vision and the market.
Next
Lotus., Community., and More.
While the development team focuses on pushing the product and connect to the users, the exeutive team takes care of funding and marketing. Two of the team collaborate, communicate, and celebrate. I can't wait to see the future of Lotus, with you. Let's talk women's reproductive health, together!
