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Embrace: end-to-end UXW for a
grief support app

Embrace Header.png

Project introduction

I led the end-to-end UXW process: from conducting research and usability testing to crafting an empathetic voice that guides users on their journey through grief.

​

This was my final project as part of the UX Writing course by

the UX Writing Hub.

The Goal​

  1. Create a brand voice and microcopy for a fictional B2C digital product.

  2. Base the copy on research and user testing.

  3. Create designs and microcopy for 2 flows in the product.

Project Plan

  • Research
       1. Competitive analysis
       2. Conversation mining
       3. Qualitative research (interviews)
       4. Quantitative research (survey)

  • Usability testing for UX Design and UX Writing

  • Final screens

Timeline

2,5 months​

🤎 Concept

I chose a grief support app as my final project driven by my deep connection to death and loss - subjects often considered taboo.

While grief can be a bewildering experience, I'm passionate about exploring ways we can support each other through it.

Research

🎯 Goals

  • Wording - what words and phrases users use to describe their grief.

  • Voice & Tone - how users expect a grief support app to sound like.

  • Tools - discover and validate what helps users go through grief (journaling, talking to someone, or other methods?).

  • Appearance - define a UI Design for the app.

🧭 Research Plan

Research Methods​

  1. Competitive analysis

  2. Conversation mining

  3. Qualitative research (interviews)

  4. Quantitative research (survey)

→

Discovery Goals

  1. Wording, Voice & Tone, Tools, Appearance

  2. Wording, Tools

  3. Wording, Tools

  4. Wording, Tools​

1. Competitive analysis

🎯 Goals

  • Understanding the apps’ Voice & Tone and UI

  • Identifying common practices and functionalities

In order to analyze and define what fits best for my grief support app, I wanted to explore the spectrum of mental health apps that offer the following:

  • Expert advice

  • Journaling

  • Community

  • Different tone and UI design

Apps analyzed:

  • Grief Refuge

  • Empathy - Loss Companion

  • Headspace

📊 Findings
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2. Conversation mining - Grief Support Reddit

🎯 Goals

  • Discover how people share their lived experiences with grief

  • Understand what support people need most while grieving

  • Understand what words and phrases they use for their grief

📊 Findings
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3. Qualitative research - user interviews

🎯 Goals

  • Interview participants in different stages of grief

  • Understand how they describe their emotions

  • Understand what helps or helped them go through grief

💬 Interview set up

  • 4 participants, ages 21-40

  • Google meet call

  • Max 45 min

  • Interview Themes: grieving a lost family member in childhood and adulthood, grieving a period in life that has ended

📋 Structure

  • Introduction - disclaimer (this is a safe space), recording permission

  • Experiencing grief - 4 questions

  • Grief help - 4 questions

  • Closing thoughts

📊 Findings
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4. Quantitative research - survey

❗️Challenge ahead

Reflecting on the quantitative research, I didn’t feel like making a survey was beneficial for this project. 

I’ve already gathered enough real-life data on grief, its stages and what users need through the previous research phases.

The survey results did not influence the features for the grief support app nor have an impact on the app’s tone & voice.

🎯 Goals

  • Discover what tools users user for grief support (online or offline)

  • Discover what methods or activities helps users go through grief

  • Acquire a broader spectrum of understanding of user needs for a grief support app

💬 Survey set up

  • 6 closed-ended questions

  • 3 open-ended questions

  • Survey themes: resources for grief and sharing your grief

📊 Findings
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Voice & Tone

Calm & neutral

Clear & concise​

Compassionate

Not assuming

Hopeful

but not

​Cold

Empty

Pitying

Apathetic

Naive

🗣️ Embrace’s Brand Voice

  • Leading with empathy and compassion

  • Use of simple, every day language

  • Not embellishing the emotional experience of the user

  • Remaining neutral, but hopeful

🎨 Embrace’s UI Design

  • Colors: warm earth tones

  • Fonts: Lora for headings, Lato for body. A mix of sanf serif and serif for readability and competence.

  • Imagery: illustrations of plants represent growth and rebirth, an optimistic and grounding presence.
    Illustrations by Valeriia Vlasovtseva.

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Flowers.png

Usability Testing

🎯 Goals

  • Voice & Tone - validate the defined voice & tone and its effect on the user.

  • User Flow - validate the user flows for the app onboarding and journaling feature.

  • Wording - examine clarity and readability of wording.

🌊 Flows

1. Onboarding
2. Journal
3. Journal push notifications

💬 Testing set up

  • A/B testing.

  • User Flow - validate the user flows (onboarding and journaling).

  • Wording - examine clarity and readability of wording.

  • Feedback was asked on: text content, text format, voice & tone, readability and clarity, overall UX.

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Onboarding Results 1.png
Onboarding Results 2.png
📊 Findings - Onboarding & Journaling
​✅ What worked well

  • Voice and tone
    Participants felt emotionally picked up by the voice & tone of the text, especially the headers. They felt like Embrace is relatable from the very first glance.

  • UI and visual language
    Participants liked the look and feel of Embrace.

  • Readability
    Participants understood the onboarding process and what happens in each step.

  • Overall UX
    Participants could understand what to expect from one screen to the next.

❌ What didn’t work well

  • Lack of scannability
    In V1 the onboarding included too much body text, which made it difficult to scan.

  • Wording
    Despite some screens being very wordy, participants still liked the longer headings. 
    As soon as the text was short Embrace felt less personal to them.

  • UI Elements
    Some participants were confused by the colors of the chips. Is brown bad and teal good?

  • No skip option
    Some participants wanted to skip the onboarding altogether, which wasn’t possible.

  • Create an account
    Participants had the most confusion here. The titles on the forms were missing and the text in the button changed after the form was filled. This caused inconsistency.

Journal Results 1.png
Journal Results 2.png
📊 Findings - Push Notifications
​✅ What worked well

  • Voice and tone
    Participants liked the empathetic message, it felt relatable and close, as if asked if they are ok by a friend.

  • Readability
    Participants understood the onboarding process and what happens in each step.

Frame 36752.png
❌ What didn’t work well

  • Wording
    Some participants were confused what the notification wanted them to do, as there was no mention of the word ‘journaling’.
    The expression “writing can help lighten the weight” was familiar to users, but didn’t really “click” like a common expression would.
    As soon as the text was short Embrace felt less personal to them.

  • Heart emoji
    All participants felt the green heart emoji didn’t fit Embrace’s visual style.
    This notification was the least favorite.

Frame 36753.png
Push.png

Final screens

Onboarding
Onboarding.png
Create account
Create Account.png
Journaling - happy path
Journaling 1.png
Journaling - edge cases
Journaling 2.png

Learnings

✅ What worked well

  • Validation for UX Writing: the correct voice and tone has a direct effect on user drop off.

  • Seeing how UX Design and UX Writing go hand in hand.

❌ What didn't work well

  • Quantitative research was not necessary in this project and I could have saved time and resources to proceed with my findings and design.

✍️ For next time

  • I would reevaluate what kind of testing fits the project best in order to have better results and save time, as the survey was not really needed.

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