ParentFlo
Built a smartwatch app that helps new parents balance caregiving with self-care through gentle reminders, shared tasks, and activity tracking.
Service
Mobile App Design
Date
May 2025
Project Overview
New parents often neglect their own health due to the demands of childcare. Our research combining articles, interviews with new parents, and usability testing, showed a need for tools that encourage movement, rest, and communication without adding complexity. ParentFlo integrates with the Apple Watch to provide light reminders, task-sharing features, and quick progress snapshots. The app promotes both movement and rest, reframing wellness as essential self-preservation for parents.
Key Highlights
Problem: Parents overlooked wellness during childcare → WHY: Interviews revealed they felt exhausted, guilty about self-care, and overwhelmed by rigid fitness apps.
Process: Researched fitness tracking, postpartum needs, and smartwatch use → WHY: This highlighted that numbers-heavy tracking could be harmful and that simplicity was more motivating.
Design Choices: Minimal flows, color-coded tasks, encouraging notifications → WHY: Parents told us they multitask constantly; reducing taps and adding lightweight reminders kept the app supportive, not burdensome.
Solution: ParentFlo balances movement and rest, not just activity → WHY: Our research showed both overexertion and inactivity were issues; encouraging breaks was as important as nudging activity.
Impact: Empowers parents to care for themselves while staying connected → WHY: Task-sharing features reinforced teamwork between partners, reducing mental load and building mutual support.
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