Early brain development depends on healthy interactions with caregivers, but many parents, although well intentioned, don’t provide the necessary care during these early years due to their own stressors or because they didn't receive appropriate care themselves.

Kare aims to educate and reinforce developmentally supportive interactions between caretakers and their children during the early stages of development. The video coaching service highlights the behaviours that caretakers are already doing well.

In my early research, I talked to over 20 subject matter experts in the fields of developmental psychology and social work. In one interview, I was informed that the natural ability to parent is not a thing, it's based on our own experience. I also learned that moms are less likely to voice their confusion, but dad’s will.

Based on this information, I conducted 8 interviews with fathers raised by single mothers in order to understand their behaviours and mindsets about parenting.

Fathers expressed interest in these concepts, but the existing options make it difficult to find support.

To get a better idea of all potential users, I identified the traits that they would likely all possess and created 4 meaningful user groups.

Building off my user groups, I created proto-personas and drew scenario maps to uncover product features for key touchpoints.

Each scenario uncovered new ideas. From here, I made a list of high-level features and prioritized them.

With features defined, I drafted a hierarchy and wireframed each state.

When a parent first signs up for the app, they would select a coach. Once selected, they would be prompted to schedule an introductory phone call as a way to establish trust.

Each week, parents would be prompted to upload 5-minute video clips of themselves engaging in everyday activities with their children.

Once uploaded, coaches would review the content, and instead of correcting, they would encourage positive behaviours by commenting on the actions the parents did well.