Overview
Research
Bei, Eva & Morrison, Valerie & Zarzycki, Mikołaj & Vilchinsky, Noa. (2023). Barriers, facilitators, and motives to provide distance care, and the consequences for distance caregivers: A mixed-methods systematic review. Social Science & Medicine (1967). 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115782.
This research highlights that distance caregiving is shaped by structural barriers, limited resources, and emotional strain, underscoring the urgent need for clearer systems and tools to support family healthcare coordination across distance.
Problems
Solutions
Disconnected by Distance & Time
Daily Check-in
To bridge the gap of distance and time, I designed a shared family health space where members can check in daily on their mental and physical well-being.
Feed and Notification
Updates appear in a shared Feed, keeping everyone informed and connected.
Members also get task reminders for themselves and others, making it easier to support each other from anywhere.
No Simple System
Dashboard
Dashboard gives each family member a clear, shared view of daily tasks, moods, and missed check-ins: making it easier to stay updated, prioritize care, and avoid communication gaps.
CareBear (Care-giver) and BearBoss (Admin) Dashboard
BabyBear (Care-receiver) Dashboard
Generate Tasks with AI
Next is AI-powered task creation. Instead of entering every detail manually, users can generate tasks effortlessly, simplifying care coordination for busy families.
Create task with AI Chat
Create task with AI Scan
Connect with Strava
Strava is a fitness app that tracks your workouts and wellness data like runs, walks, and cycling.
By connecting with apps like Strava, CareBear automatically pulls in activity and wellness data, providing a more holistic view of each person’s health without any extra work.
Unclear Role in Family Care
Family Group
I want to address this problem by assigning clear, personalized roles, like CareBear, BabyBear, and BearBoss, each family member knows exactly how they contribute to the caregiving dynamic.
Challenge
Unlike other apps that focus on a single user group, CareBear is designed for a wide range of users: from children to young adults, middle-aged caregivers to elderly family members.
This presents a major UX challenge: creating an experience that feels intuitive, accessible, and engaging for all ages and tech comfort levels, without overwhelming anyone.
Brand Design
Reflections
— Building Bridges with the Team
From brainstorming sticky-note storms to untangling tricky edge cases with engineers, I learned that the best ideas often come from rolling up your sleeves together. Clear, open chats kept us moving like one crew steering the same ship.
— Feedback as a Superpower
Instead of bracing for critiques, I started chasing them. Every round of feedback—whether from my mentors, PMs, developers, or early testers, helped shape CareBear into something smoother, smarter, and more lovable.
— Designing for Humans, Not Just Users
I kept reminding myself: families aren’t checklists, they’re people. So every button, notification, and flow was crafted to feel caring, supportive, and easy, like a helping hand, not another task on the to-do list.