2024 - current
Empowering user privacy, one mom at a time
Aware ai is a small tech startup looking to leverage artificial intelligence to create unique virtual communities that inspire powerful support groups among women while proactively connecting them with vital social resources before, during, and after pregnancy.
As a Product Design intern, I executed the customer privacy experience through meticulous research, conceptualization, prototyping and implementation planning. Furthermore, I took ownership of our product marketing strategy.
Check out aware.aiRole
Product Designer, Product Marketer
Timeline
Nov 2023 - Feb 2024
Tools/ Skills
Figma, Google Suite, Monday.com
Impact
Laid the groundwork for GDPR-compliant privacy features by designing user friendly data portal and clarifying consent flows while also building early brand awareness through pre-launch social media campaign that reached over 2,200 people in 3 weeks
about aware.ai
Make the motherhood journey easier through AI-powered social support.
Founded in 2020 by David Ajoku, a former product engineer at Tesla and Nvidia, Aware.ai is a personalized risk management platform for new and expectant mothers that combines education and community engagement with artificial intelligence to improve maternal health outcomes.
Every year, 700 – 900 women die in the United States and over 50,000 women suffer severe life-altering complications from childbirth. The statistics are much worse for women of color.
Today, the United States has the most severe maternal death rates in the industrialized world. Aware.ai's primary mission is to be the village for women who need it the most and reduce maternal death rates in the United States.
problem discovery & user research
Post Roe v. Wade Privacy Concerns
Following the 2022 landmark case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization which overturned the federal right to abortion, many women became increasingly concerned about how companies handled their sensitive data.
Many moms face a pervasive lack of awareness and understanding regarding the nuanced intersection of health and privacy within the realm of menstrual tracking and pregnancy apps.
While existing solutions in the market claim to address these concerns, there remains an unexplored gap in empowering, reassuring, and educating moms about the intricate dimensions of privacy inherent in using pregnancy apps.
problem statement
Aware.ai is looking to reassure users that their data is being handled properly.
However, their current privacy experience does not match their mission due to a lack of acquired user consent & transparency in the privacy policy.
How might we educate and empower moms on privacy in the Aware.ai app while ensuring a seamless user experience?
research, the scrappy way
Launching in weeks
Since I was hired as a UX Design & Product Marketing intern to prepare for the upcoming beta launch of the app, we were moving fast and didn't have time to speak with our users. To better inform my design decisions, this is what I did instead:
White Paper Research: I examined 3 research studies on femtech and data privacy practices, published on Deloitte, PubMed, and the EU's GDPR.
Tons of competitive analysis: How do other companies, especially those in the femtech space, account for data privacy?
Gathering internal feedback: I sought feedback from our internal team including 3 other designers, a software engineer, a PM, and our CEO.
conducting research
"Only 50% of respondents felt that the benefits they received from online services outweighed their data privacy concerns" - Deloitte
I conducted competitive analysis from 4 competing women’s health apps to understand how they addressed user privacy. Furthermore, I also conducted white paper research to understand the privacy, data sharing and data security policies of other women’s mHealth apps. From that research I found 3 key user insights:
Gender Trust Gap: Women view data collection and sharing as riskier than men. (Deloitte).
Lack of Consent: Only 16 of (70%) of the 23 most popular women's mobile health apps displayed a privacy policy (Alfawzan et al).
Data Privacy Dilemma: Only 50% of respondents felt that the benefits they received from online services outweighed their data privacy concerns (Deloitte).
the challenge
Breaking news: privacy policies are difficult to read
By their nature, privacy policies are often very long 10-20 page documents that are difficult to read and understand. They have to be to outline nuanced data policies, yet users are left feeling confused and inundated with legal jargon.
With this in mind, I guided my ideation with these questions that a potential user might have when using the Aware.ai app.
Guiding Questions
- How do I learn more about my privacy rights?
- How can I control how my data is collected, managed, and used?
- How can I ensure that my data is confidential?
solutions: introducing aware.ai's privacy portal
1. How might we simply privacy and enable moms to learn at their own pace?
I created a Privacy Portal that allows moms to look at the most frequently asked questions that others users have regarding their privacy. Creating a shortened form with illustrated figures and photos also helps users better understand the privacy policy.
2. How might we give users more choice over how their data is used and with whom it's shared with?
Drawing inspiration from cookie consent desktop pop-ops, users are now able to toggle on and off what data we collect from them.
3. How might we give users incentives to share their data?
When users share their information with Aware.ai, they expect to get something valuable in return. This exchange allows Aware.ai to offer more personalized experiences that match their interests.
impact
GDPR-compliant privacy portal with clear consent flows & user friendly data controls
Unfortunately, the privacy portal I designed was not launched before my internship ended, so I was unable to measure its direct impact on users.
As a result, my contributions were limited to laying the foundation for GDPR compliance and building prototypes that demonstrated the value of transparent consent flows.
If I had stayed longer, I would have measured the impact by running usability tests to track task success rates (e.g., how easily users could manage their privacy settings), conducting pre/post surveys on user trust, and analyzing engagement with features like consent toggles. These metrics would have quantified improvements in user understanding, trust, and product compliance.
Reduced potential legal exposure and improving transparency for future users
Contributed to establishing early design system and collaborated in weekly agile sprints with cross-functional teammates, improving team alignment on product direction
Designed and executed pre-launch social media strategy, producing 12 posts that reached 2,200+ people in 3 weeks to build early awareness for the beta app.
reflections
Growing as a Versatile, Impact-Driven Designer
At Aware.ai, I embraced the need to wear multiple hats, stepping in as both a product designer and product marketer to create over 25 social media posts that supported the business’s immediate goals.
I learned how to work cross-functionally across design, PM, and engineering, while we prepared for the launch of our iOS app. Working in an agile environment taught me to iterate and get feedback from the rest of the team quickly!
Thank you to David, product manager and CEO at Aware, I learned so much about integrating customer journeys with business needs. Thank you for your constant guidance and mentorship on my career aspirations. You really brought the team together. Another thank you to Leia, Chloe, Yishu, and Spencer! It was a pleasure hearing your insights during our weekly design critiques.