Tova Senior product designer, 2024

One shared week for families caring for a parent.

Tova helps brothers and sisters share the care of an ageing parent: appointments, medicine, visits. Families signed up, then went back to their group chat. I redesigned the week and the way tasks get shared.

Role: Senior product designer
Team: 1 product manager, 3 engineers
Time: Four months, 2024
Platforms: iOS and Android

02In short

The problem: Families signed up, then went back to their group chat after two weeks.
What I did: Diary studies with 9 families, a new week view, one tap to take a task, and gentler reminders.
The result: Three times more tasks shared per family, and 64% of families still active after three months.

03The problem

Caring for a parent is a group project nobody planned. Brothers and sisters split the work in a group chat, and tasks got lost between news and photos.

The first Tova put every task in a long list. People opened it, felt guilty, and closed it.

A Sunday visit during the diary study. Families planned the week over breakfast, then lost it in the group chat.

04What we heard

Nine families kept a diary for three weeks, and we visited five of them at home.

I end up doing everything because I see it first.

Daughter, Aarhus

I want to help. I just never know what's needed.

Son, Berlin

The chat is for news. I need a list.

Daughter, Odense

Show the week, not the backlog.People plan care around the next seven days.

Let people choose.A task someone picks gets done. A task someone is given waits.

Say thank you.Seeing who did what kept families going.

05The decision

Give tasks to people, or let people take them?

Give every task to someoneClear, but it felt like a boss. People ignored tasks they had not chosen.

Let people take them, with a gentle nudgeShippedOpen tasks sit in the week. One tap says “I'll do it”. If nobody takes one in a day, Tova asks the person who lives closest.

Take turns automaticallyFair on paper, but it ignored who lives near and who works nights.

Why: People help more when they choose. The nudge catches what falls through the cracks.
What it cost: The first nudge felt like being watched, so we let each person turn it off.

06Try the flow

The week as families see it. Tap the groceries, then “I'll do it”, and the others know.

07Results

We shipped the new week in May 2024. Families moved their planning out of the group chat and kept the chat for news.

3×more tasks shared per family each month

64%of families still active after three months, up from 22%

41%fewer missed appointments

Before22%

After64%

Families still active three months after signing up.

08Timeline

17 weeks from the first interview to launch.

Diary studies5 weeksConcepts3 weeksTests with families4 weeksBuild and launch5 weeks

09What comes next

Bring the parent in. A simple view for Mum, with only today: who visits, who calls, and when.

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