The pandemic revealed another big problem for children with disabilities: Access to therapists.
FAME India a non-profit organisation faced a huge challenge when the pandemic hit. Their st
My Role
Stakeholder & User Research, UX Design, User Flows, Prototyping
Collaborators
Product Manager
Timeline
8 weeks
The Challenge
The pandemic caused special needs educational centers to shut down, leaving many children with disabilities from low income families without access to the regular therapy they needed to maintain their conditions.
Project Highlights
Leveraging AI to help children with disabilities manage daily activities and track therapy progress.
Empowering people to find the right therapists on your own
The Outcome
Parents of children with disabilities can now not only find therapists, but also manage daily care with ease, and feel supported through AI-powered guidance—making therapy more accessible and empowering.
KEY FEATURE 1
Daily Care Guidance
AI Assistant that personalizes guidance for managing daily care routines
Recommends tailored activities for different conditions
Suggests adaptive activities based on progress
Sends reminders and encouragement daily
Connects with therapists for actionable insights
KEY FEATURE 2
Therapist Matching Support
Helps families connect with the right therapist based on their unique needs
Helps you filter by type of therapist, like speech, occupational, or behavioral
Offers smart recommendations to help you choose with confidence
Shows availability and communication preferences to make coordination easier
How I got there | JUMP TO SOLUTION
DISCOVER
I surveyed and interviewed over 30 parents and staff from FAME India
FAME India is a non-profit that works to improve the quality of life of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) by providing interventions that are life-long, deep and holistic. Here is what I found:
77% of participants reported limited access to therapy professionals.
90% of participants said that the childrens' condition were affected by this.
OPPORTUNITY
Caretakers need more support managing children’s conditions.
My research validated the initial hypothesis and revealed another opportunity: leveraging AI. After completing an AI checklist to assess its relevance and necessity, I found that AI could be highly effective in this context.
Image Source: Fameindia.org
Image Source: Fameindia.org
How might we?
Provide children with disabilities direct access to therapy while empowering caretakers to manage their needs independently.
RESEARCH
Competitive Analysis
Doing secondary research to find out if similar solutions exist and if so, why aren't people using them?
While Practo and Anvayaa offer valuable healthcare services, they lack support for children with disabilities
Practo has become very popular to conveniently find individual doctors and book appointments with them online. They have also introduced the concept of video appointments.
Practo has become very popular to conveniently find individual doctors and book appointments with them online. They have also introduced the concept of video appointments.
RESEARCH
Creating research based personas
Based on insights from the interviews, I developed two user personas to guide my ideation and identify the key features the app should include.
Children with disabilities and their caretakers
Needs
Frustrations
Therapists
Needs
Frustrations
IDEATION
Redesigning What Didn’t Work
For the first version of the app, I drew inspiration from existing medical apps—but the result felt cold, boring, and uninspiring. I realized that for parents, children, and professionals already under stress, the experience needed to feel playful, uplifting, and easy to use.
FINAL DESIGN
Redesigning What Didn’t Work
For the first version of the app, I drew inspiration from existing medical apps—but the result felt cold, boring, and uninspiring. I realized that for parents, children, and professionals already under stress, the experience needed to feel playful, uplifting, and easy to use.
Next Steps
Next Steps
More research on types of at home support caretakers require
Enhancing character interactions for a more immersive experience.
Maximizing customization to meet each user's unique needs.
Testing the current workflows with target audience