Developing the ultimate app for positive parenting.

everge
Product & Graphic Design Lead
jun 22 – jul 23

Background

Everge is the ultimate positive parenting app, packed with science-backed tips, tricks and training courses from parenting experts in communication, nutrition, sleep and more.

The brief

To design the Everge product, including:

• A complete brand identity

• The UX/UI of the Everge app

• A marketing website that allows users to subscribe to the Everge app

• Digital marketing assets including flexible social media, paid ads and email templates

• Business assets including pitch decks for potential investors and partnering parenting experts

I formed part of a small, cohesive team consisting of Everge’s Co-founders (Head of Product and Chief Content Officer), a Product Content Manager, a Copywriter and two Developers.

User interviews

In order to understand our key audience, their motivations and challenges, the team held interviews with 15 parents via Teams.

Top 5 findings about our audience

1. The main motivations behind learning new parenting techniques were to strengthen the bond with their children, to promote autonomy and to create a stable, respectful home environment. One said, “I want my children to be heard and valued.” On a more intrinsic level, many interviewees were motivated by their own personal growth.

2. 80% of interviewees had more than one child. Interestingly, parenting techniques that were successful with their first child did not work well with their subsequent children. One said, “With my first child, everything went well, but suddenly my standard method stopped working with the second and third child." They recognised that each individual child is unique and requires a different approach but were unsure how to go about it.

3. Parents actively seek out new parenting techniques when their existing methods are no longer working for them or when their children reach a more challenging developmental milestone e.g. hitting during a tantrum.

4. Multiple interviewees stated that positive parenting is important to them because they had childhood challenges that led to difficulties later in life: “Negative emotions were not fully acknowledged during my upbringing. I aim to give my son the tools to become a kind and empathetic individual who can handle others' emotions.”

5. The biggest challenges for parents around learning new parenting techniques is lack of time, tiredness and feeling overwhelmed. Therefore the techniques need to be accessible, simple and easy to apply.

Top pain points

The team also spoke to the interviewees about their experiences using a preliminary version of the app.

Search

Participants expressed difficulties in locating specific content within the app due to the limited search functionality. As Everge will cover various parenting topics, implementing an advanced search feature is a priority.

Free vs. paid for content

Users were uncertain about which content was free and which required payment. Some didn’t realise that there was any free content available on the app and hoped to try out some of the training materials before committing to a subscription. One said: “I hoped there would be a trial period to explore the content before making a purchase.” There was also confusion around the term ‘lifetime subscription’.

content is not tailored

Users stated that they would like to see training suggestions based on their interests and the age of their children so that the content feels more relevant to their family set-up and the current developmental milestones their children are facing. Some raised concerns about their child’s privacy so it would be useful to offer reassurance around this in the app onboarding.

social sharing

Users would like to share content with their partner, friends and family through the app. One said, “I would like to invite my pregnancy group to use it together. I use a sports app with a similar system and it encourages me to use it more often.”

Empathy mapping

The team then facilitated an empathy mapping exercise using Figjam in order to capture findings from the above interviews. Together we mapped out user attitudes, behaviours, needs and pain points for our core audience, and grouped them into categories to help identify emerging themes.

Personas

The above empathy mapping exercise was used to generate our key persona. The profile was used as a reference point throughout the project.

Key persona: mother of three

Competitor analysis

Throughout the project, the team and I carried out thorough reviews of competitor apps and e-libraries. We focused on training screens, personalised home screens, search functionality, tone of voice and overall UI. These included Masterclass, Duolingo and Peanut.

Masterclass

1. The home screen is divided into ‘Home’ and ‘My list’, which allows users to bookmark learning materials

2. MasterClass uses clear, succinct copy to explain the product. The term ‘instructors’ is used to describe course leaders

3. MasterClass’s primary CTA is to ‘Get all-access’

4. Just three rows are displayed on the home screen: ‘New Classes’, ‘Class Previews’ and ‘You May Also Like’ which lists instructors and their areas of expertise

5. Class thumbnails include the instructor’s area of expertise, their name and the class title (truncated)

6. There are just two items in the nav: ‘Home’ and ‘Library’ (search)

7. Key class information: the instructor’s area of expertise, their name and the class title

8. The default CTA is ‘Play lesson 1’ which updates in accordance with the user’s class progress

9. There is a clear breakdown of each lesson which includes a written summary

10. Users can navigate between ‘Lessons’ and ‘Overview’ which provides a general summary of the class

11. The library allows users to filter by ‘Format’ (Classes, Playlists, Series and Sessions), ‘My Content’ (In Progress, Completed, On My List), ‘Duration’ and ‘Categories’

12. A small ‘New’ label sits in the bottom corner of the thumbnail

Duolingo

1. A simple loading bar helps users visualise learning progress

2. Duolingo uses stylised illustrations to onboard users and provide guidance across the app

3. Simple, horizontal answer buttons are used throughout the app

4. While the app loads, pull-out stats are displayed to help motivate users

5. Streaks are used to gamify the learning experience and keep users returning to the app

Peanut

1. Clear, concise language is used to summarise Peanut’s subscription offering

2. Peanut’s lifetime subscription is highlighted on the screen and an ‘offer ends’ countdown timer is used to encourage users to purchase

3. The CTA updates in response to the selected subscription

4. Simple illustrations in a limited colour palette are used across the app

5. Social features include: likes (hearts), comments and sharing

6. An approachable tone of voice encourages users to uphold a positive and supportive space

Brand identity

After carrying out user research and analysing competitor apps, I presented the following logos to the team as a starting point.

Logo concept 1

This concept drew inspiration from the uppercase ‘E’ of Poppins Black, as well as bold block logos like those belonging to Figma and Monzo. Conceptually, it was informed by a helix (symbolising expansion and stability) as well as a leaf (representing growth and new beginnings). The colour palette was inspired by the tones that make up leaf green: blue and yellow.

Logo concept 2

Concept 2 was inspired by the the lowercase ‘E’ in Poppins Light, as well as more linear, streamlined logos like Airbnb’s. Other point of reference included the curling tendril of a plant (symbolising support, structure and attachment) and plant shoots (representing new beginnings and new life).

The team presented the two concepts to our core audience and found that concept 1 was the preferred option but with a warmer colour palette. I wanted to maintain the leaf concept so opted for warmer, autumnal tones. We tested out three revised palettes and settled on the below.

ANIMated logo

The animation – designed for loading screens and social media content – is inspired by steps that resemble personal development, growth and journeying.

Colour palette

Typography

We chose the Poppins font for its modern aesthetic, high legibility and adaptability due to its wide range of weights.

Tone of voice

I worked closely with a Copywriter to define Everge’s tone of voice, facilitating a workshop to gather the team’s input on their envisioned tone for the brand. Here are some examples of our core messaging:

The ultimate app for positive parenting.

Access unlimited practical parenting courses and exclusive advice from top experts in communication, nutrition, sleep, child development and more.

Parenting experts in your pocket.

Our carefully curated courses and advice will help you face any parenting challenge – from building healthy habits to dealing with stress or shyness.

Simple strategies for busy parents.

We understand. You're busy. That's why our proven strategies are short, simple and easy to find – whatever you're doing and wherever you are.

Expert advice you can trust.

We've gathered science-backed tips, tricks and courses from verified experts who share our passion for gentle parenting methods.

Photography style

Our photography style strives to capture authentic, honest moments of parenting and childhood with a focus on diversity and inclusion.

App UI

I updated the designs in accordance with the user feedback above as well as feedback from the team and then handed over the Figma designs to Howtotalk’s Front-End Developers. English copy was translated into Dutch by a native Copywriter.

Onboarding screens

After conducting usability testing on preliminary designs, the user flow is as follows:

1. Who are we?

2. Who are you?

3. How can we support you?

avatar IllustrationS

Avatars for grandparents, parents, guardians, children and babies.

Navigational screens and AI parenting tips

Home screen

Our easy-to-use home screen features quick links to courses that are in progress as well as recently viewed parenting experts. Rows include ‘Courses for you’, ‘Experts for you’, ‘Continue learning’ and ‘Popular courses’.

Expert profile screen

The expert profile screen allows users to review each expert’s key information, access their learning resources and follow them.

Course overview screen

The course overview screen features a course thumbnail overlaid with the expert’s logo and area of expertise, as well as a course description, a ‘Start course’ (or ‘Continue course’) primary CTA and a succinct summary of each module. Users are also able to bookmark courses here.

AI parenting tips

We developed a parenting tips feature using AI whereby parents are shown easy-to-digest, practical advice around a specific subject. The tips reference their child(ren)’s name(s) and age(s) for a personal touch which differentiates them from the free advice parenting experts share on social media.

The AI script was written to align with Everge’s tone of voice.

Straightforward functionality allows users to share and bookmark tips for later.

Parenting course screens

Below are some examples of the flexible training course screens from our design system. The colour palette used below is used across all Everge Original courses. The screens include:

• Navigational/informational screens

• Written theory screens

• Audio theory screens

• Video screens

• Quiz screens

All theory screens include a citation icon in the top right where users can review the scientific sources used. This helps to evoke trust and credibility in our advice.

Accommodating the branding of different parenting experts

As Everge hosts advice from different parenting experts, we wanted the training course screens to reflect their branding in a way that was manageable for our small team. Experts have control over:

• Title text colour

• Icons/illustrations (if the expert does not have their own illustration style, the default circle’s background colour will reflect their branding)

• The background colour used in theory and quiz screens (shown above in off-white)

The last two screens in the selection below demonstrate how the UI accommodates the branding of one of our Dutch experts, Studio Uil, who do not have their own illustration style.

Website

I designed a marketing website that allows users to access information about Everge, learn about our experts and subscribe to the app. Furthermore, experts interested in joining Everge can easily apply through a dedicated page.

Social media library

I created a comprehensive social media asset library featuring editable, auto-layout templates in Figma. A selection of the Instagram posts and stories are shown below, all of which I wrote myself.

Email template library

Furthermore, I designed a suite of editable, auto-layout email templates tailored to our parenting community – one example of which is shown below. I collaborated with the Head of Product and a Copywriter on the email flow and written content.