Confident Oral Health App
Overview
I created this app concept in a 1-week sprint in 2021. I had experienced a dental emergency wherein one of my molars had exploded. I learned I had very soft teeth, and wanted to create a tool that could help anyone build strong oral health habits.
Role
I created this project from the ground up, performing UX Research through interviews, surveys, and competitive research. I used this information to shape my personas and then strategized based on the pain points I'd identified to determine the key features of the MVP. As UX Designer I created User stories, User Flows, and Wireframes to determine how the app would function. I created and conducted Usability Tests to evaluate design decisions and to refine the product to meet user needs. As UI and Visual Designer I took care to establish branding, including a UI kit and a Style Tile as well as Hi-Fi Prototypes and Mockups to bring the app to life. I also spent time defining growth strategy and content strategy to bring this app to life.
Problem
Oral Health ripples outwards across the body to affect overall health. It is tied to health risks like Diabetes and Cardiac Disease, and 25% of Children, 50% of Adolescents, and 90% of adults will experience tooth decay. The statistics of how many people experience tooth problems was brought home in my own life when my own tooth exploded suddenly one day. Users want a guide to enable them to achieve better oral health by giving them confidence in what to do.
Oral Habits User Research
I conducted a series of short guerilla interviews with friends and family to broaden my scope of questions before conducting more in depth research via a survey posted on Reddit.
Survey Highlights
58.5%
Use a manual toothbrush
72.3%
Brush at specific times
55.9%
May be distracted while brushing
40
Brushers
Wanted a reminder on when to replace their brush head
35
Brushers
Wanted to learn better oral hygiene techniques
32
Brushers
Wanted a timer to help them track how long they brush
Key Quotes
I struggle with not knowing what a dental problem looks like.
The twice daily brushing is difficult for me. As somebody with depression and learning disabilities that give me a poor memory, I often find it difficult to brush twice a day. I am happy that I am doing better than my younger self though, who brushed maybe a couple of times a week at most.
TBH I'm discouraged and annoyed by everything pertaining to oral health. I floss and brush every day, but my enamel is still soft and weak and terrible. I should probably just get everything removed and go for dentures.
I dont gave a normal daytime - awake, nighttime-asleep, repeat every 24 hours, type of schedule. Its hard to remember to do it at least once in a 24 hour block. Also, I’d like to be better connected with my dentist, like if I miss an appointment or if something happens to a tooth but I cant make an appointment right away. This kind of thing only happens because I have a really hard time making and keeping appointments. Idk why. Mental health, maybe.
Oral Health Proto-personas
The research conducted up until this point informed a set of 3 simple proto-personas I created to guide the final product.
ZACH W.
Demographics
17 Years Old
Student
London
Goals
- Wants to brush consistently.
- Wants to floss consistently.
- Wants to set up healthy habits.
- Wants to get up to date on the dentist suggestions.
- Healthy teeth and good breath
- Taking care of his teeth so he can avoid cavity.
Behaviors
- Manual Brusher.
- Not the purchaser.
- Brushes teeth once or twice per day.
- Flosses as needed.
- Goes to the dentist twice per year.
- Sometimes on phone while brushing.
- Likes setting goals and accomplishing things.
- Brushes at the same time day.
MAE S.
Demographics
34 Years Old
Homemaker
Nashville
Goals
- Wants to keep track of how often her kids are brushing.
- Wants to teach her kids to be careful about brushing.
- Wants to make sure that her toothbrush isn’t being used for too long.
- Wants to make sure each child gets a proper brushing length.
- Wants to be able to keep track of dental appointments for family.
- Wants a guided brushing experience for her kids.
Behaviors
- Electric Brusher.
- Shares brush motor with family.
- Buys oral health products for the whole family.
- Learns about dental habits from her regular annual dentist visits.
- Take care to give kids healthy meals to make sure they’re healthy.
- Pays close attention to her kids health patterns as they have allergies.
- Brushes her kids’ teeth one at a time, has to keep them entertained while doing so.
Tarah R.
Demographics
26 Years Old
Nurse
New York City
Goals
- Wants a way to be reminded to brush her teeth regularly.
- Wants to floss more and learn how to do it faster.
- Wants a consistent schedule.
- Wants a way to keep track of her visits to the dentist.
- Wants to make sure she’s up to date on how details of how to brush as she sometimes has to brush patient’s teeth.
- Wants some input on what her teeth should look like.
Behaviors
- Manual Brusher.
- Independent oral health purchaser.
- Buys things that she sees really nice ads for on her social media.
- Has a lot of friends in the area and is often the life of the party.
- Works a flexible schedule so her needs for a consistent brushing plan are tricky to manage.
- She brushes/flosses after meals.
- She carries a brush with her to work in her bag to use on the go.
- She hates bad breath.
Competitive Analysis
Colgate Tooth Brushing App
Strengths:
- Connection to your toothbrush
- Education elements
- Detailed Brushing Guide
- Gamification
- Profile and Brush Head Tracking
Weaknesses:
- Too many options
- Bloated, complex navigation
- Features (like Trivia) feel overwhelming
- Brushing and tracking are minimized
- Push to buy more products
Opportunties:
- Guide the user
- Un-branded education
- Prioritize the health, not points
Colgate Brush Companion App
Strengths:
- Brushing Timer
- Live Feedback from Toothbrush
- Ability to track days brushed
- Streaks and statistics
Weaknesses:
- Focus on one brand
- Pairs with a specific model
- Features are difficult to understand
- Overly complicated metrics
- Profile is not clearly defined
- Too many things happening at once
Opportunities:
- Pare down the options
- Increase interaction with profile
- Add more functionality to the data
- Functionality with a wider set of brushes
General Tooth Brushing App
Strengths:
- Simple interface
- Clear purpose
- Free to anyone
- Dentist appointment tracking
Weaknesses:
- Limited function
- Ads make the experience feel more cheap and not as trustworthy
- Ability to switch stuff and customize is overwhelming
- Difficult to find education
Opportunities:
- Connection to each brushing event
- Calendar to watch your record
- Gamification
- More connections with the dentists nearby and ability to add notes
Oral B Tooth Brushing App
Strengths:
- Clean interface
- Ability to track brush health
- Live feedback from brush
- Brushing timer
- Metrics to watch brushing habits and trends
Weaknesses:
- Poor calendar format
- Need to own a specific brush
- Pushes products
- No personalization
- No option for connecting to a dentist
- No recommendations or education
Opportunities:
- Ability to interact and use without a specific toothbrush
- Flossing tracking
- Appointment tracker
- Education
Capturing User Stories
I turned my insights into actionable paths and asked how might we (I) address the wide range of issues encountered in the research in a way that reflects the main needs of the proto-personas.
High Priority Goals
- As a Floss Fanatic I want to mark when I've flossed so I can try to floss more often
- As a Sporadic Scheduler I want to have a system of brushing so I can brush my teeth regularly
- As a Constant Brusher I want to be reminded when to switch my brushing head so I can brush effectively
- As a Forgetful Person I want to be reminded to brush so I can remember to brush daily
- As a Distractible Person I want to have something to guide me so I can make sure I'm brushing all my teeth each time
- As a Floss Hater I want to learn how to do it best/fastest so I can avoid doing it for so long
Medium Priority Goals
- As a Brushing Buff I want to mark when I brush so I can make sure I'm brushing enough
- As a Parent I want to keep track of my children's dentist appointments so I can make sure they are keeping up with healthy habits
- As a Patient I want to connect with my dentist so I can set up an appointment when a need arises
- As a Busy Person I want to have a dental calendar so I can keep track of when I was at the dentist last
- As a Bad Breather I want to be recommended the best practices so I can take better car of my mouth
Stretch Goals
- As a Mouthwash Averse Person I want to remember to brush in the morning so I can avoid using mouthwash all the time
- As a Demotivated Brusher I want to have a way to be rewarded so I can challenge myself to brush more
- As a Nomad I want to keep track of dental notes so I can get my new dentist up to speed
- As a Off/On Brusher I want to have a goal to meet so I can brush more consistently
- As a Person w/o Healthcare I want to be able to get a professional opinion so I can take care of my mouth without spending money
User Flows for Key Tasks
These key tasks addressed are marking a flossing session, starting a guided brushing experience, educating users on how to brush, setting up or editing a brushing schedule, and setting brush replacement reminders.
Wireframing
I took the simple tasks I had created and laid out flows to a degree of fidelity that helped me capture the varying component types I might need to create, then used that as a checklist to build out the individual pieces and start to consider an overarching brand and name to someday bring this app to life and to help speed up thoughtful iteration when I began testing.
Brand Exploration
Type
A basic type package consisting of varying weights and treatments of Raleway, emphasizing cleanliness, simple lines, and also ensuring a typeface that could support multiple languages and variable options for numerals, as timing, dates, and statistics are a key part of the content.
Color
A utilitarian theme that combines soothing mints reminiscent of clean teeth with the teals of an optimistic futurism. Gold and gradient accents give space for subtle anchoring and punchy CTAs throughout.
Content Strategy
Since education is such a key part of many of the key and stretch goals reiterated in the research I felt it was important to also draft a quick content strategy to plan for future scaling.
Educational Tips
- Details on how to brush
- Details on how to floss
- Details on suggested methods for cleaning tongue
- Details on suggested treatment for canker sores etc.
Overall Health Summaries
- Weekly Summary of:
- Brushing time
- Flossing sessions and spread
- Mouthwash
- Time to next brush head replacement
- Time to next Dentist Appt.
Future GOals
- Walkthroughs/Demonstration Videos
- Newsletters
- Updates and email interactions with Dentist
- FAQ or some kind of Wiki on how to diagnose a real issue and tell what is serious enough to be looked at by a professional.
Growth Strategy & Future Steps
Connecting with Dentists as a way to retain loyal patients. Partnering with Dentists to tailor to help them offer this to their network of patients. Conducting research with Dentists to understand their needs, difficulties, and opportunities. Refining the building of HABITS, CONNECTION, and EDUCATION around oral health. If I can get people to do a daily thing, to have a schedule, to have a relationship with their dentist or oral care provider, and finally to be educated on how to best care for their mouths I believe they will see value in saved time and increased oral health.
Brushing Up the Look
I ran usability tests via Maze to test whether the flows were intuitive and clear. As I made adaptations to improve the flow I’d also include and refine the branding and overall aesthetic of each component. Here are 3 generations of the UI as it progressed in branding and level of detail and refinement.
Sprint Outcome
Audience
My goal with this product was to enable
Users to build their own healthy habits,
so the target audience was habit-
builders. Specifically this included:
- Parents and Children
- Young Adults
- Neurodivergent Users
Solution
Over a 1-week sprint I created a mobile app that gives Users tools to build healthy habits around their oral care routine. The app is a tool that provides education so Users can improve their technique and understanding, guidance so Users can keep track while they are brushing, metrics so users can see progress over longer periods of time, and trackers to see how often they are brushing, flossing, replacing their brush heads, and visiting the dentist.
Next Steps
This app is one I have come back to continually as a concept that strikes a chord for me. My goal is to continue to learn as I pursue a fully developed app with the enablement of AI to become a full stack designer. Enhancements around the Dentist side of this application are also a key part of the future.
Beatham
Slashed training time by 95%, from 24 hours to 1 hour and 5 minutes per Cashier across +2,750 stores for an annual labor saving of 7.1 Million Hours.
Confident Oral Health App
Overview
I created this app concept in a 1-week sprint in 2021. I had experienced a dental emergency wherein one of my molars had exploded. I learned I had very soft teeth, and wanted to create a tool that could help anyone build strong oral health habits.
Role
I created this project from the ground up, performing UX Research through interviews, surveys, and competitive research. I used this information to shape my personas and then strategized based on the pain points I'd identified to determine the key features of the MVP. As UX Designer I created User stories, User Flows, and Wireframes to determine how the app would function. I created and conducted Usability Tests to evaluate design decisions and to refine the product to meet user needs. As UI and Visual Designer I took care to establish branding, including a UI kit and a Style Tile as well as Hi-Fi Prototypes and Mockups to bring the app to life. I also spent time defining growth strategy and content strategy to bring this app to life.
Problem
Oral Health ripples outwards across the body to affect overall health. It is tied to health risks like Diabetes and Cardiac Disease, and 25% of Children, 50% of Adolescents, and 90% of adults will experience tooth decay. The statistics of how many people experience tooth problems was brought home in my own life when my own tooth exploded suddenly one day. Users want a guide to enable them to achieve better oral health by giving them confidence in what to do.
Oral Habits User Research
I conducted a series of short guerrilla interviews with friends and family to broaden my scope of questions before conducting more in depth research via a survey posted on Reddit.
Survey Highlights
58.5%
Use a manual toothbrush
72.3%
Brush at specific times
55.9%
May be distracted while brushing
40
Brushers
Wanted a reminder on when to replace their brush head
35
Brushers
Wanted to learn better oral hygiene techniques
32
Brushers
Wanted a timer to help them track how long they brush
Key Quotes
I struggle with not knowing what a dental problem looks like.
The twice daily brushing is difficult for me. As somebody with depression and learning disabilities that give me a poor memory, I often find it difficult to brush twice a day. I am happy that I am doing better than my younger self though, who brushed maybe a couple of times a week at most.
TBH I'm discouraged and annoyed by everything pertaining to oral health. I floss and brush every day, but my enamel is still soft and weak and terrible. I should probably just get everything removed and go for dentures.
I dont gave a normal daytime - awake, nighttime-asleep, repeat every 24 hours, type of schedule. Its hard to remember to do it at least once in a 24 hour block. Also, I’d like to be better connected with my dentist, like if I miss an appointment or if something happens to a tooth but I cant make an appointment right away. This kind of thing only happens because I have a really hard time making and keeping appointments. Idk why. Mental health, maybe.
Oral Health Proto-personas
The research conducted up until this point informed a set of 3 simple proto-personas I created to guide the final product.
ZACH W.
Demographics
17 Years Old
Student
London
Goals
- Wants to brush consistently.
- Wants to floss consistently.
- Wants to set up healthy habits.
- Wants to get up to date on the dentist suggestions.
- Healthy teeth and good breath
- Taking care of his teeth so he can avoid cavity.
Behaviors
- Manual Brusher.
- Not the purchaser.
- Brushes teeth once or twice per day.
- Flosses as needed.
- Goes to the dentist twice per year.
- Sometimes on phone while brushing.
- Likes setting goals and accomplishing things.
- Brushes at the same time day.
MAE S.
Demographics
34 Years Old
Homemaker
Nashville
Goals
- Wants to keep track of how often her kids are brushing.
- Wants to teach her kids to be careful about brushing.
- Wants to make sure that her toothbrush isn’t being used for too long.
- Wants to make sure each child gets a proper brushing length.
- Wants to be able to keep track of dental appointments for family.
- Wants a guided brushing experience for her kids.
Behaviors
- Electric Brusher.
- Shares brush motor with family.
- Buys oral health products for the whole family.
- Learns about dental habits from her regular annual dentist visits.
- Take care to give kids healthy meals to make sure they’re healthy.
- Pays close attention to her kids health patterns as they have allergies.
- Brushes her kids’ teeth one at a time, has to keep them entertained while doing so.
Tarah R.
Demographics
26 Years Old
Nurse
New York City
Goals
- Wants a way to be reminded to brush her teeth regularly.
- Wants to floss more and learn how to do it faster.
- Wants a consistent schedule.
- Wants a way to keep track of her visits to the dentist.
- Wants to make sure she’s up to date on how details of how to brush as she sometimes has to brush patient’s teeth.
- Wants some input on what her teeth should look like.
Behaviors
- Manual Brusher.
- Independent oral health purchaser.
- Buys things that she sees really nice ads for on her social media.
- Has a lot of friends in the area and is often the life of the party.
- Works a flexible schedule so her needs for a consistent brushing plan are tricky to manage.
- She brushes/flosses after meals.
- She carries a brush with her to work in her bag to use on the go.
- She hates bad breath.
Competitive Analysis
Colgate Tooth Brushing App
Strengths:
- Connection to your toothbrush
- Education elements
- Detailed Brushing Guide
- Gamification
- Profile and Brush Head Tracking
Weaknesses:
- Too many options
- Bloated, complex navigation
- Features (like Trivia) feel overwhelming
- Brushing and tracking are minimized
- Push to buy more products
Opportunties:
- Guide the user
- Un-branded education
- Prioritize the health, not points
Colgate Brush Companion App
Strengths:
- Brushing Timer
- Live Feedback from Toothbrush
- Ability to track days brushed
- Streaks and statistics
Weaknesses:
- Focus on one brand
- Pairs with a specific model
- Features are difficult to understand
- Overly complicated metrics
- Profile is not clearly defined
- Too many things happening at once
Opportunities:
- Pare down the options
- Increase interaction with profile
- Add more functionality to the data
- Functionality with a wider set of brushes
General Tooth Brushing App
Strengths:
- Simple interface
- Clear purpose
- Free to anyone
- Dentist appointment tracking
Weaknesses:
- Limited function
- Ads make the experience feel more cheap and not as trustworthy
- Ability to switch stuff and customize is overwhelming
- Difficult to find education
Opportunities:
- Connection to each brushing event
- Calendar to watch your record
- Gamification
- More connections with the dentists nearby and ability to add notes
Oral B Tooth Brushing App
Strengths:
- Clean interface
- Ability to track brush health
- Live feedback from brush
- Brushing timer
- Metrics to watch brushing habits and trends
Weaknesses:
- Poor calendar format
- Need to own a specific brush
- Pushes products
- No personalization
- No option for connecting to a dentist
- No recommendations or education
Opportunities:
- Ability to interact and use without a specific toothbrush
- Flossing tracking
- Appointment tracker
- Education
Capturing User Stories
I turned my insights into actionable paths and asked how might we (I) address the wide range of issues encountered in the research in a way that reflects the main needs of the proto-personas.
High Priority Goals
- As a Floss Fanatic I want to mark when I've flossed so I can try to floss more often
- As a Sporadic Scheduler I want to have a system of brushing so I can brush my teeth regularly
- As a Constant Brusher I want to be reminded when to switch my brushing head so I can brush effectively
- As a Forgetful Person I want to be reminded to brush so I can remember to brush daily
- As a Distractible Person I want to have something to guide me so I can make sure I'm brushing all my teeth each time
- As a Floss Hater I want to learn how to do it best/fastest so I can avoid doing it for so long
Medium Priority Goals
- As a Brushing Buff I want to mark when I brush so I can make sure I'm brushing enough
- As a Parent I want to keep track of my children's dentist appointments so I can make sure they are keeping up with healthy habits
- As a Patient I want to connect with my dentist so I can set up an appointment when a need arises
- As a Busy Person I want to have a dental calendar so I can keep track of when I was at the dentist last
- As a Bad Breather I want to be recommended the best practices so I can take better car of my mouth
Stretch Goals
- As a Mouthwash Averse Person I want to remember to brush in the morning so I can avoid using mouthwash all the time
- As a Demotivated Brusher I want to have a way to be rewarded so I can challenge myself to brush more
- As a Nomad I want to keep track of dental notes so I can get my new dentist up to speed
- As a Off/On Brusher I want to have a goal to meet so I can brush more consistently
- As a Person w/o Healthcare I want to be able to get a professional opinion so I can take care of my mouth without spending money
User Flows for Key Tasks
These key tasks addressed are marking a flossing session, starting a guided brushing experience, educating users on how to brush, setting up or editing a brushing schedule, and setting brush replacement reminders.
Wireframing
I took the simple tasks I had created and laid out flows to a degree of fidelity that helped me capture the varying component types I might need to create, then used that as a checklist to build out the individual pieces and start to consider an overarching brand and name to someday bring this app to life and to help speed up thoughtful iteration when I began testing.
Brand Exploration
Type
A basic type package consisting of varying weights and treatments of Raleway, emphasizing cleanliness, simple lines, and also ensuring a typeface that could support multiple languages and variable options for numerals, as timing, dates, and statistics are a key part of the content.
Color
A utilitarian theme that combines soothing mints reminiscent of clean teeth with the teals of an optimistic futurism. Gold and gradient accents give space for subtle anchoring and punchy CTAs throughout.
Content Strategy
Since education is such a key part of many of the key and stretch goals reiterated in the research I felt it was important to also draft a quick content strategy to plan for future scaling.
Educational Tips
- Details on how to brush
- Details on how to floss
- Details on suggested methods for cleaning tongue
- Details on suggested treatment for canker sores etc.
Overall Health Summaries
- Weekly Summary of:
- Brushing time
- Flossing sessions and spread
- Mouthwash
- Time to next brush head replacement
- Time to next Dentist Appt.
Future GOals
- Walkthroughs/Demonstration Videos
- Newsletters
- Updates and email interactions with Dentist
- FAQ or some kind of Wiki on how to diagnose a real issue and tell what is serious enough to be looked at by a professional.
Growth Strategy & Future Steps
Connecting with Dentists as a way to retain loyal patients. Partnering with Dentists to tailor to help them offer this to their network of patients. Conducting research with Dentists to understand their needs, difficulties, and opportunities. Refining the building of HABITS, CONNECTION, and EDUCATION around oral health. If I can get people to do a daily thing, to have a schedule, to have a relationship with their dentist or oral care provider, and finally to be educated on how to best care for their mouths I believe they will see value in saved time and increased oral health.
Brushing Up the Look
I ran usability tests via Maze to test whether the flows were intuitive and clear. As I made adaptations to improve the flow I’d also include and refine the branding and overall aesthetic of each component. Here are 3 generations of the UI as it progressed in branding and level of detail and refinement.
Sprint Outcome
Audience
My goal with this product was to enable
Users to build their own healthy habits,
so the target audience was habit-
builders. Specifically this included:
- Parents and Children
- Young Adults
- Neurodivergent Users
Solution
Over a 1-week sprint I created a mobile app that gives Users tools to build healthy habits around their oral care routine. The app is a tool that provides education so Users can improve their technique and understanding, guidance so Users can keep track while they are brushing, metrics so users can see progress over longer periods of time, and trackers to see how often they are brushing, flossing, replacing their brush heads, and visiting the dentist.
Next Steps
This app is one I have come back to continually as a concept that strikes a chord for me. My goal is to continue to learn as I pursue a fully developed app with the enablement of AI to become a full stack designer. Enhancements around the Dentist side of this application are also a key part of the future.
Beatham
Slashed training time by 95%, from 24 hours to 1 hour and 5 minutes per Cashier across +2,750 stores for an annual labor saving of 7.1 Million Hours.