Client: Omaia Health
Industry: Healthcare
Timeline: 2 weeks Alpha prototype, 3 months closed beta | 2025
My Role: Product Design Lead & Strategic Design Partner
Team: 1 PM (periodically), 2 Founders, 1 Developers, UX Researcher, Clinical Advisors

Leadership & Contribution

I led both the design direction and project structure for Omaia Health's wellbeing-focused pregnancy app, serving as the bridge between product vision, technical execution, and clinical expertise. Beyond hands-on UX/UI work, I shaped how the team collaborated, what we prioritized, and how we delivered under startup constraints.

Strategic Leadership:

• Defined the product roadmap from early concept through alpha and closed-beta release

• Facilitated cross-functional planning sessions with founders, engineering, and clinical advisors

• Temporarily stepped into PM responsibilities during a gap period, maintaining project momentum and stakeholder alignment

• Established design and development workflows that balanced speed with quality

  
  

  Design Execution:

  • Built the product's UX foundation from scratch (only brand basics existed when I joined)

  • Created first interactive prototypes (Figma + Lovable) that became the north star for development

  • Led user research synthesis workshops, translating insights into prioritized design decisions

  • Developed a scalable design system and content framework for the growing product

  
  

  Cross-Functional Communication:

  • Partnered directly with CEO and founders on product strategy and business priorities

  • Translated complex clinical requirements from advisors into user-friendly experiences

  • Worked iteratively with developers to ensure design feasibility and smooth handoff

  • Managed stakeholder expectations across multiple domains (business, clinical, technical, user)

  
  

  This role required me to operate across service design, product management, and hands-on UX/UI—seeing the complete picture from user needs to business goals to technical constraints.
  
  

  Core Competencies Demonstrated:
  Product Strategy · Design Leadership · Cross-Functional Collaboration · UX/UI Design · User Research · Prototyping · Design Systems · Project Planning · Stakeholder Management

Challenge

Most digital products in the pregnancy/wellbeing space focus heavily on static information, leaving little support for day-to-day emotional experience. The focus is also more on baby development rather than the mental health of the pregnant person.

The design challenge: Create an experience that feels supportive, trustworthy, and effortless—even for users who are overwhelmed, low-energy, or anxious.

The strategic challenge: Build a viable product under tight timelines with a lean team, limited resources, and high clinical/emotional stakes.

How might we design a health-oriented product that remains simple, emotionally supportive, and low-cognitive-load while still providing meaningful guidance—and do so in a way that's sustainable for a small startup team?

Live website: https://www.omaia.ai/

Approach

I took a research-driven, strategically iterative approach—balancing rapid execution with thoughtful validation. My leadership focused on structuring the work, aligning the team, and maintaining design quality under fast-paced startup conditions.

Project Leadership & Planning:

• Defined project phases, milestones, and success metrics with founders

• Created a flexible design and development roadmap that adapted to emerging insights

• Facilitated weekly cross-functional planning and retrospectives

• Managed competing priorities across clinical accuracy, user needs, and technical feasibility

• Stepped into PM role temporarily to maintain delivery cadence and team coordination

  
  

  Design Strategy & Execution:

  • Established core navigation patterns and interaction principles

  • Designed modular content templates for scalable creation

  • Built the product's visual direction and foundational design system

  • Led user research: planned studies, conducted interviews, facilitated synthesis workshops

  • Created Alpha and Beta prototypes used for testing and stakeholder alignment

  • Ensured accessibility, readability, and emotional safety across all touchpoints

    
    

    Stakeholder & Team Collaboration:

    • Presented design rationale and strategic recommendations to CEO and founders

    • Partnered with clinical advisors to ensure medical accuracy without complexity

    • Worked embedded with developers to solve implementation challenges in real-time

    • Coordinated with the UX researcher to align research questions with business priorities

    • Facilitated collaborative design reviews to build team ownership

Activities.
Competitor Analysis · User Interviews & Synthesis · Research Planning · Personas · IA · Wireframes · User Flows · Prototyping · Usability Tests · Accessibility Review · UX Writing · Design System Foundations · Sprint Planning · Stakeholder Workshops

Due to NDA restrictions, detailed feature logic and prototype visuals cannot be shared publicly.

Alpha Testing: What We Validated

I designed the test plan and research protocol to answer critical questions:

• Can users understand our onboarding and privacy approach?

• Is navigation intuitive enough to find key sections without guidance?

• Do guided content flows feel clear and supportive (not clinical or cold)?

• Does the tone build trust and emotional safety?

• Is content digestible for users in vulnerable, low-energy states?

I synthesized findings with the team and prioritized changes based on impact and feasibility.

Navigation & Orientation:

• Simplified navigation with a bottom bar (replaced hamburger menu for accessibility)

• Redesigned homepage as the primary orientation point

• Unified learning and resource areas into a structured, findable section

Content & Guidance:

• Refined conversational flows with clearer prompts and progressive disclosure

• Introduced standardized templates for interactive content (scalable for content team)

• Strengthened trust messaging throughout onboarding and critical touchpoints

Visual & Accessibility:

• Updated dashboard with a simple visual activity overview

• Switched to dark mode as standard (accessibility + cognitive load reduction)

• Ensured AA/AAA compliance across all components

Design System Maturity:

• Created reusable component library for developers

• Documented interaction patterns and content guidelines

• Built a framework for future feature additions

Accessibility & Inclusivity

As design lead, I ensured these were non-negotiable standards:

• AA/AAA-compliant color contrast and typography

• Large touch targets (48×48px minimum) and clear focus states

• Semantic HTML structure with descriptive alt text and ARIA labels

• Short-form content options for users experiencing fatigue or overwhelm

• Inclusive, person-first language throughout the interface

• Dual-language support (EN/SV) in early prototypes for international viability

Result & Impact

Product Delivered:
A validated closed-beta experience with improved clarity, navigation, and emotional resonance. Users completed key flows with less friction and stronger sense of support.

Design System Established:
I created reusable templates that transformed complex clinical content into simple, guided interactions—empowering the content team to scale without design bottlenecks.

Team & Process Impact:
Established sustainable cross-functional workflows that balanced startup speed with design rigor. The product reached a stage ready for expanded testing, clinical review, and partnership demonstrations.

Strategic Outcome:
Positioned the product for next-phase growth with a solid UX foundation, validated user flows, and a scalable design system—all delivered under tight timelines with a lean team.

Deliverables.
Research Protocol & Synthesis · Personas & User Journeys · Information Architecture · Alpha & Beta Prototypes · Core Flows & Interaction Patterns · Conversational Framework · Accessibility Specifications · Visual Design System · Component Library · Developer Handoff Documentation · Project Roadmap & Sprint Planning

Learnings

On designing for vulnerable users:
Emotional contexts demand ruthless simplicity, gentle pacing, and absolute clarity. Trust is built through consistency, transparency, and careful attention to language, tone, and accessibility.

On design leadership:
I strengthened my ability to lead both the creative vision and the operational structure—balancing hands-on design with strategic planning, stakeholder management, and cross-functional facilitation. Leading a project end-to-end, especially while temporarily covering PM responsibilities, taught me how critical clear communication and structured workflows are to team success.

On seeing the whole picture:
This project reinforced that great product design isn't just about interfaces—it's about understanding business constraints, technical realities, clinical requirements, and user emotions, then synthesizing all of that into cohesive, executable solutions. My service design background and PM experience allowed me to navigate complexity and keep the team aligned on what mattered most.

Takeaway.
I delivered a validated MVP (dark mode, dual-language, accessibility-first) ready for scaled development. The product is clear, supportive, and easy to navigate—designed to grow with the business.

Next phase: Expanding personalization, refining chatbot conversational behavior, and deepening content—all informed by additional testing, clinical workshops, and stakeholder feedback.

Prototype available on request.