Role
Product Designer
Project
Personal Project
Scope
Research to final UI
Summary
Parents I interviewed described ongoing worry about their autistic children and a need for guidance, especially after diagnosis. I designed Humane, a personal app concept that brings together time for self-care, a view of a child’s health information, and support from other parents. I took the idea from interviews and rough wireframes to a design system and final screens.
What I owned
Interviewed parents of autistic children to understand their experiences.
Organized the concept into meditation, health and community sections.
Created paper and Balsamiq wireframes, the visual system and final app screens.
Problem
Parents wanted reassurance about how their children were doing, but they also needed support themselves. Some were looking for guidance after a diagnosis. Others wanted to understand their child’s sleep, location or moments of distress. The design challenge was to address those concerns while making space for the parent’s own well-being.
What I learned from parents
I started by interviewing parents of autistic children. Their experiences varied, and one parent put that difference into words:
“If you know an autistic person, then you know one autistic person.”
That stayed with me through the conversations. The concept needed to give parents different ways to find support: taking a moment for themselves, checking information about their child, or talking with someone who had a similar experience.
Key decisions
I organized Humane around three connected needs. Meditation would make room for the parent’s well-being. Health would bring information about their child into one place. Community would help parents find guidance and share experiences.
Exploring the flows
I sketched the initial layouts on paper, then moved to Balsamiq to work through the content and navigation in each section.
Meditation and mood
I explored categories for meditation, calming music and sleep stories. The concept also included recommendations based on current and previous moods, giving parents another way to choose where to start.
A view of each child’s health
The health flow explored information from a child’s smartwatch, including vitals and sleep. I also made switching between children part of the navigation, so a parent could view each child’s information separately.
Guidance and shared experience
I separated reading from conversation. Articles offered a way to explore topics, while groups and personal conversations gave parents a place to share their own experiences.
Design system
I wanted the visual language to support the app’s focus on well-being. I chose a calm green palette and developed a consistent set of typography, icons and interface elements to carry across the three sections.
Final designs
The final concept brings the three areas into one mobile experience. These screens show the proposed product, from its introduction to the meditation, health and community flows.
Making time for the parent
Meditation, music and sleep stories give parents different options for taking a break. Mood-based recommendations were designed to make that starting point more personal.
Keeping health information together
The proposed dashboard brings together heart-rate and sleep information, with an option to share data with a doctor. Smartwatch integration and alerts are concept features; their usefulness and reliability would need validation.
Finding people with shared experiences
Parents can browse and write articles, join groups and exchange experiences. This section extends the concept beyond individual tracking to support from other people.
Concept outcome
The result was a complete visual concept, from early wireframes to a shared design system and final screens. It brought the needs raised in the interviews into three clear areas of the app. This was a personal design exploration, so the intended benefits remain goals rather than measured outcomes.
Learnings and next steps
The interviews showed me why one family’s experience cannot stand in for everyone’s. That insight shaped a concept with several ways to find support, rather than a single prescribed journey.
A next step would be to test the flows with parents and include autistic people in evaluating the health-related features. I would want to understand which information offers reassurance, whether alerts add stress, and how families want to control what they share.
