2021
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UX Writer
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Content Creation, Research, Communication Strategy
Approaching Content with Empathy:
Crafting Communication That Cares
TLDR:
Halodoc's Pregnancy Tracker marked a significant step in expanding Halodoc's focus into female health, beyond medicine orders and online consultations. As a communication designer, I crafted an information strategy that was empathetic yet clear, supporting expecting mothers at every stage of their journey. With over 20 million monthly users, Halodoc connects expecting mothers to more than 22.000 doctors and 1.200 pharmacy partners across Indonesia, delivering comprehensive support and trusted resources nationwide.
My Role & Involvement
In this project, I took on the role of UX Writer, responsible for copy creation and communication strategy in both Indonesian and English. This project allowed me to delve deeper into crafting content for sensitive, life-stage-specific needs. I collaborated closely with design and health experts to create supportive, accessible messaging that guides users through each stage of pregnancy.
The Genesis
In 2021, we began a new chapter at Halodoc, focusing on female health by launching the Pregnancy Tracker. Driven by our belief that women are the backbone of family health, we designed the Pregnancy Tracker to provide personalized support week by week, covering everything from typical progress to sensitive scenarios like pregnancy loss. This project was a deeply fulfilling experience for me, blending my professional skills with my personal passion for women’s health.
The Pregnancy Tracker was also a gateway to developing Bidanku, an app that connects expecting mothers with local midwives. This initiative, born out of our collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Indonesian Midwives Association (Ikatan Bidan Indonesia/IBI), further solidified our commitment to making healthcare accessible to women across Indonesia.
Research Insights, Best Practices & Iteration Walked into a Bar
Foundational Research
Our research phase was focused on deeply understanding the unique needs of pregnant and expecting women in Indonesia. Using a combination of surveys, interviews, and direct user engagement, we gathered critical insights into how these women consume information throughout their pregnancy journey.
One particularly insightful activity was a card-sorting exercise, where participants helped us prioritize the key information points they found most valuable, like pregnancy stages and specific healthcare needs. Through this process, we discovered that Indonesian pregnant women are especially interested in numbers, particularly gestational age. Knowing “how many weeks or months” along they are was the most frequently sought-after information. With this insight, we shaped the design to ensure that gestational age took center stage, making this information prominent and easy to access.
Benchmarking & Best Practices
To inform our design choices, I conducted benchmarking against popular apps like Flo and Clue, identifying best practices in pregnancy tracking and user experience. However, knowing that our users, primarily Indonesian women, come from a unique cultural and demographic background, I understood that our approach needed to be more tailored than simply applying industry standards.
One specific cultural aspect we addressed was Indonesia’s deeply religious and family-oriented context, where it’s generally assumed that pregnant women are married. To navigate this sensitivity, I decided that our primary communication focus would be on the expecting mother herself, rather than referencing a “husband” or “partner”. This approach allowed us to avoid making assumptions about marital status while ensuring that the tracker felt personal, supportive, and relevant. By directing the messaging to the mother, we could connect more authentically and avoid potential missteps around familial roles.
User Testing & Iteration:
Once the high-level flow was mapped out, we moved into user testing to validate our design choices and gather hands-on feedback. We worked closely with pregnant women, conducting sessions where they interacted with the Pregnancy Tracker in real-time.
Through this testing, we uncovered an unexpected insight: users preferred an illustration of the baby’s growth in the form of fruit sizes rather than as a fetus. To explore this, we tested two options – one with fetal illustrations and another using fruit comparisons to represent growth stages. Our users overwhelmingly chose the fruit illustrations, explaining that it helped them better visualize the baby’s size and progress, whereas the fetal images felt less intuitive. By incorporating this feedback, we refined the product to create a more engaging and relatable experience for expecting mothers.
Long Way to Track
Building Halodoc's Pregnancy Tracker was a perfect example of how research, design iteration, and benchmarking can work beautifully together to craft an experience aligned with the needs of Indonesian mothers. Let's take a look at the final product and my approach to creating it.
Onboard Them with Empathy
To make the onboarding process intuitive and inviting, I designed the content around three essential user questions that align with each touchpoint:
Why should I use this feature?
We introduced the feature by emphasizing its benefits, with sections like “Stay Informed” to highlight personalized tips and articles tailored to each pregnancy stage, helping users feel supported and empowered right from the start.How can I use this feature?
Next, we provided clear guidance on functionality, such as the “Due Date Calculator,” making it easy for users to calculate their due date with a straightforward input. This step-by-step approach made the process feel simple and actionable.What more can this feature offer?
Lastly, we showcased additional support options, like “Instant Access to ObGyn Care,” connecting users to trusted healthcare providers in just a few clicks. This reassured users that they had quick access to professional support if needed.
My approach went beyond merely following Halodoc’s Tonal Guideline; I crafted a unique, empathetic voice for this feature, resembling “a fellow woman full of empathy for your pregnancy journey.” By speaking directly to common user concerns and framing each touchpoint as part of a caring, informative conversation, I designed the onboarding to feel supportive and relatable, ensuring that users could easily engage with each part of the feature in a meaningful way.
Balancing Accuracy and Compassion in Flow Design
In designing the date input feature, we aimed to ensure accuracy while accommodating real user needs. During testing, we discovered that many users didn’t consistently track their menstrual cycles, which created a challenge for accurately predicting due dates. To address this, we consulted with our doctor advisors, who shared that, in medical practice, an approximate pregnancy week can still be a reliable reference when the exact date isn’t available.
Based on this insight, I advocated for an option that allows users to select “I don’t remember the date.” This feature reassures users that they can use an estimated date if they’re uncertain, removing pressure and making the experience feel more inclusive. By integrating this flexibility, we created a flow that respects diverse user experiences while still meeting the accuracy needs of the product. The result is a functional, compassionate feature that aligns with real-world usage, offering both support and understanding for expecting mothers.
Information Architecture
Core Information
The timeline and baby’s size are front and center on this page, providing mothers with a quick, intuitive way to track their pregnancy progress. We display the baby’s size in terms of familiar objects (like a sesame seed at seven weeks) making each stage feel more relatable and grounding the abstract concept of growth in everyday terms. This visual approach ensures that expecting mothers can immediately understand their baby’s development, turning medical data into something both accessible and meaningful.
Supporting Information
Beyond tracking, the page provides quick access to resources that support each stage of the pregnancy journey. Personalized articles appear just below the core tracking information, tailored to the current pregnancy week and offering advice on common concerns, like morning sickness or trimester-specific tips.
Additionally, we integrated shortcuts to connect with trusted ObGyns and access our Health Store, allowing users to chat with over 4.100 available doctors or browse products from 1.200 pharmacy partners across Indonesia. This structure offers a balanced mix of essential tracking data and supportive resources, making it a one-stop page for both guidance and practical support.
Contextual Information
Given that the tracker relies on manual input for key milestones, we can't automatically detect when a baby is born. To address this, I introduced a gentle prompt as the due date approaches, reminding users to log the birth when the time arrives.
Additionally, we provided quick access to pediatric specialists directly from the main screen, allowing users to address any health concerns about their child seamlessly. This contextual interaction aligns with the different stages of the user's journey, offering timely support as they transition into parenthood.
Dealing with Sensitive Issue
To ensure the product remains sensitive to all possible pregnancy outcomes, I included options for managing situations like pregnancy loss or premature birth. Users can update these details discreetly via the settings, accessed through the gear icon at the top right of the screen. Selecting this option will pause the tracker and remove pregnancy-related updates from the main interface, giving users control over when and how they interact with this information. This approach keeps the tracker accessible but respectfully in the background, allowing users to manage their experience on their own terms.
Personal Learning Points
Working Around Legal Restrictions on "Consultation"
At the time, legal restrictions prevented us from using the term "consultation" for anything other than face-to-face interactions with doctors. This required us to get creative with our language, finding alternative ways to describe the service while ensuring users still understood its meaning.
Tackling Content Prioritization
Working with pregnancy content was challenging due to the sheer volume of information. To avoid cognitive overload, we consulted with doctors and midwives, then tested with pregnant mothers to identify which details they valued most. This allowed us to prioritize and highlight the most essential information clearly.
Addressing Emotionally Sensitive Scenarios
One of the toughest challenges was creating content for emotionally sensitive situations like pregnancy loss. The content needed to be empathetic yet digestible for both first-time pregnant women and those with prior experience. We had to strike a balance – ensuring the tone wasn’t too clinical but also not overly simplistic – while still providing clear, supportive messaging that met the emotional needs of a diverse audience.
Managing a Large Volume of Content
Creating content for all 40 weeks of pregnancy was a real challenge. We had to manage a lot of information while making sure it felt personal and easy to digest. Striking the balance between being thorough and ensuring everything was accessible for a diverse group of users wasn’t easy – it pushed us to think carefully about how much detail was too much.
Project Details
Role
UX Writer for Indonesian and English language
Company
Halodoc
Year
2021
Release Environment
Nation-wide in Indonesia
Collaborators
Nikhil Vashista – UX Designer
Adrian Sirait – UX Designer
Javed Khan – Design Lead
Playlist That Powered This Project
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