UX RESEARCH CASE STUDY / 2019
Track OS
Making everyday
PCOS care easier
to understand.
Exploring how fragmented health data and invisible progress shape everyday care and translating those insights into a clearer tracking experience.
MY ROLE
UX research + product design
TIMELINE
15 weeks · 2019
CONTEXT
Individual project · PCOS care
OUTPUT
Research-informed app concept
01 / PROJECT OVERVIEW
The challenge was bigger than tracking.
PCOS care happens between appointments.
People may track their workouts, symptoms, and menstrual cycles in different places. But collecting data does not automatically make it understandable or make a difficult routine easier to sustain.
THE QUESTION I EXPLORED
What makes it difficult to understand health patterns and sustain routines between doctor visits?
02 / PROJECT PROCESS
A research process that informed the product
01 / EXPLORE
System research
Mapped enablers, barriers, and relationships across the PCOS care experience.
02 / SYNTHESIZE
Mapping + interviews
Grouped recurring patterns and explored assumptions with the target audience.
03 / MAKE
Concepts + prototypes
Explored desirability and feasibility, then developed low- and high-fidelity screens.
04 / EVALUATE
Usability testing
Used early feedback to iterate, then examined comprehension, tasks, and navigation.
My contribution: system research, synthesis, concept exploration, wire-framing, usability testing, and interface design. The focus is everyday understanding and continuity of care not a claim to treat PCOS or improve fertility.
03 / RESEARCH SYNTHESIS
Progress was not only a data problem.
Mapping and re-populating the system with the target audience surfaced three recurring themes.
The empathy synthesis also captured fragmented information, uncertainty about what to do next, and a sense of being misunderstood. Together, these pointed toward clarity, encouragement, and trust not more data alone.
Working through the system with the target audience.
01
Lifestyle change
Maintaining demanding routines was difficult when progress felt slow or invisible.
02
Emotional burden
Symptoms were associated with frustration, body-image concerns, and low self-esteem.
03
Care continuity
Symptom improvement could be mistaken for recovery, interrupting follow-up visits.
THE DESIGN OPPORTUNITY
How might we help people with PCOS understand their health patterns and take manageable steps in everyday care?
Support understanding and continuity of care. Do not replace clinical advice.
04 / CONCEPT EXPLORATION
Explore broadly. Then give the idea a structure.
I explored expert support, peer communities, symptom calendars, incentives, and short-term goals. Audience acceptance testing and desirability/feasibility mapping informed a direction centered on bringing health data together.
From possibilities to a platform
Early concepts explored different ways to support motivation and everyday care.
From platform to key paths
The architecture organized symptoms, lifestyle data, goals, appointments, and dashboard review.
05 / EVIDENCE → DESIGN DIRECTION
Make the research visible in the decisions.
RESEARCH SIGNAL
DESIGN PRINCIPLE
PRODUCT RESPONSE
Data dispersed across applications.
Bring the picture together.
A shared dashboard for symptoms, routines, and care reminders.
Slow progress and low motivation.
Make the next step manageable.
Clear trends, supportive feedback, and smaller goals.
Uncertainty and misinformation.
Build understanding without judgment.
Plain-language summaries and a clearer path back to clinical care.
My hypothesis
Tracking and supportive feedback might sustain engagement. The interviews informed that hypothesis; the project did not establish clinical effectiveness. An unsourced 40% dropout figure in the original notes is not used as a verified finding.
06 / EVALUATION + ITERATION
Early feedback changed what needed to be clear.
Low-fidelity wireframes supported the first round of usability and concept testing. Three documented issues became priorities for the next design pass.
01
Make entry explicit
Adding data beyond app linking was unclear. → Dedicated manual entry paths.
02
Show the bigger picture
People wanted a summary of their data. → A shared dashboard overview.
03
Clarify navigation
Icons were difficult to interpret. → Clearer navigation cues to evaluate.
The next round focused on understanding and use.
Revised wireframes were used to examine whether people understood the information, could carry out key functions, and could navigate the application.
The record documents testing intent and iterations, but not participant counts, recruitment criteria, task-level scores, or a measured usability lift. The design responses below should be read as research-informed directions, not proven improvements.
07 / RESEARCH-LED PRODUCT RESPONSE
Three priorities, translated into the experience.
One picture, not scattered data.
RESEARCH SIGNAL
People wanted a summary and struggled to connect information across apps.
DESIGN RESPONSE
A shared dashboard brings symptoms, daily routines, and care reminders into view.
NEXT QUESTION
Can people interpret trends without assuming cause and effect?
A clear way to record everyday care.
RESEARCH SIGNAL
Adding data beyond app linking was unclear in the early test.
DESIGN RESPONSE
Dedicated manual entry paths distinguish symptom updates from lifestyle tracking.
NEXT QUESTION
Does logging feel useful, manageable, and comfortable over time?
Make the next step feel achievable.
RESEARCH SIGNAL
Slow or invisible progress was linked with frustration and inconsistent routines.
DESIGN RESPONSE
Smaller goals and progress feedback turn long-term intentions into concrete tasks.
NEXT QUESTION
Would this support sustained engagement? That requires a longitudinal study.
08 / OUTCOMES + REFLECTION
The outcome of this creation
This project connected qualitative research to a focused prototype: clearer summaries, explicit entry paths, and manageable goals. It also taught me to prioritize the problem before expanding the feature set.
CONTRIBUTION
A traceable design rationale
System maps, synthesis, and usability feedback gave the concept a clearer problem definition and made the design priorities explicit.
LIMITATIONS
Claims stay within the evidence
The record lacks recruitment details, sample sizes, and task-level follow-up results. It does not establish improved usability, adherence, or health outcomes.
WHAT I WOULD DO NEXT
Make the next study sharper
Define realistic tasks and success measures. Include varied PCOS experiences. Test consent, tracking burden, and long-term engagement; review health content with clinicians.
The lasting lesson: research creates value when it narrows the problem and changes the next decision.