Designing for AI: Mothering Together’s Evolution

How human-centered AI enhances maternal care by delivering personalized, evidence-based support at scale. This is a buildspace s5 project.

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Business Challenge

The postpartum period is often overlooked in maternal care, leaving new mothers without easily accessible, reliable information. Many experience isolation, lack community support, and face an overwhelming amount of conflicting advice online. Despite the availability of maternal care resources, there is no widely adopted, AI-powered solution that provides personalized, evidence-based guidance while fostering a supportive community.

Approach

To address this gap, Mothering Together was redesigned as an AI-driven mobile platform that supports postpartum mothers and families by offering tailored, evidence-based information and community connections. The approach involved:

Conducting user research to understand the unique challenges new mothers face.
Developing a freemium business model to ensure accessibility while maintaining sustainability.
Creating a roadmap that focuses on phased feature rollouts to ensure continuous growth and user engagement.

Research & Insights

User Research & Market Analysis

3.6 million births occur annually in the U.S., yet postpartum care remains limited beyond the six-week check-up.
70-80% of new mothers experience “baby blues,” and 1 in 7 women develop postpartum depression.
Conducted in-depth interviews with postpartum mothers to identify pain points in existing healthcare and support systems.
Analyzed competing solutions like The Bump, Peanut, and hospital patient portals to assess gaps in content, usability, and accessibility.
Explored AI-driven personalization strategies to optimize content recommendations.

Key Findings

Mothers struggled to find reliable, expert-backed postpartum resources.
They valued personalized guidance but didn’t always have time for live interactions.
A majority preferred on-demand access to mental health support, lactation consultants, and pediatric resources.
The maternal care app market is projected to grow to $1.3 billion by 2032, presenting a significant opportunity for innovation.

Solution Design

Mothering Together’s solution leverages AI-driven personalization and community engagement to support postpartum mothers through:

Curated, expert-verified content library offering evidence-based resources.
Elle AI – an intelligent chatbot designed to provide instant, personalized answers.
Community matching features (future phase) to connect mothers based on similar experiences and needs.

Creating Elle AI: A Warm, Empathetic Assistant

Designed Elle AI’s personality to be warm, reassuring, and aligned with brand values.
Built conversation flows that recognize emotional context in user queries.
Ensured transparency by differentiating AI-generated insights from expert-reviewed content.

AI-Enhanced User Experience & Interface

Designed an intuitive chat interface that clearly distinguishes AI from human interactions.
Used progressive disclosure to introduce AI features without overwhelming new users.
Integrated seamless handoffs between AI support and human experts for complex queries.

Business Outcomes

The platform is designed to create both business and user benefits, including:

For Users

Access to trusted, evidence-based postpartum care information anytime.
A supportive digital community reducing feelings of isolation.
AI-powered guidance that adapts to individual postpartum journeys.

For the Business

A scalable freemium model with premium subscription options.
A user-centric growth strategy, including referral incentives and a “Pay It Forward” feature.
Opportunity to partner with healthcare providers to expand offerings.

Growth Roadmap

The development plan is structured around phased rollouts:

Current Status:

High-fidelity wireframes completed.
AI system prompts refined.

Future Milestones:

Milestone 1: Web and mobile app prototype launch, beta testing, regulatory compliance implementation (HIPAA).
Milestone 2: MVP release, beginning of native app development.
Ongoing: Early partnerships and user acquisition efforts
Future Phases: Expanding features to include community matching and telehealth capabilities.

Strategic Value

Mothering Together aims to redefine postpartum care by bridging the gap between technology and maternal health. By leveraging AI and community-driven insights, the platform provides accessible, personalized, and evidence-based postpartum support. As the platform evolves, it holds the potential to become an industry leader in maternal health technology, with opportunities for global expansion and healthcare integration.