Kindled

A sexual wellness iOS app for couples.

Thoughts of a UX Designer…

Hey there! Thanks for taking the time to be here. I’ll be “popping up” through out the case study to provide some additional context. Think of me like your personal tour guide. See you in a bit!

What is Kindled?

Kindled is a research-based sexual wellness iOS application that helps couples in long term relationships manage sexual differences and communicate their sexual preferences through education and exploration.

View High-Fidelity Prototype

Project Overview

The Brief: Identify, plan, research, and design a hi-fidelity digital mobile solution that addresses a particular problem space, using the tools and techniques of user experience design.

Project Type: Academic Feb-Apr 2022

Timeline: 10 weeks

My Role: UX Researcher, Design Strategy, UX/UI Designer

Tools: Figma, InVision, Google Forms, Zoom, Post-it Notes

Figma
InVision
Google Forms
Zoom
Post-it Notes

The Design Process

I used a human-centred design approach to ensure I was keeping the user at the centre of all of the decisions being made and to ensure I was addressing a real problem.

EMPATHIZE

Secondary Research

What is sexual communication and why is it important?

“Sexual communication” is the degree to which individuals can express their preferences regarding sex, their desire to engage in specific sexual activities, as well as their sexual values, past experiences, and sexual attitudes. Source

Psychology Today says communication is the most important element of a fulfilling sex life for couples and is directly related to relationship satisfaction. Source

According to the Journal of Sex Research, married people report lower rates of sexual communication skills than most groups….but why? Couples avoid talking about sex because:

They believe talking about sexual problems will threaten their relationship
They worry they will hurt their partner
They fear being vulnerable or shamed by their partner

Gathering additional insight using a survey…

To learn more about the problem space and validate some early assumptions about my target demographic, I sent out an anonymous survey using Google Forms.

Insights from 56 survey participants revealed…

68%

were in a monogamous relationship.

61%

were between the ages of 25-34.

17%

reported frequent communication even though 87% felt it was important.

When asked about barriers to sexual communication, survey responses included…

“Confidence, knowledge, shame.”

“Fear of judgement.”

“I don’t want to hurt my partner’s feelings.”

The Problem Space

Sexual communication is highly important for relationship and sexual satisfaction. It is a common perception that individuals in longer term relationships are effective at communicating their sexual preferences to their partners. However, based on the research, married people and individuals in long-term relationships can have a difficult time communicating their sexual needs to their partner.

Initial How Might We Statement

How might we help couples in long term monogamous relationships effectively communicate their sexual preferences to their partners in order to improve relationship and sexual satisfaction?

This was revised following primary research.

Primary Research

Conducting User Interviews

I conducted 6 decontextualized user interviews via zoom. The demographic information I gathered from my survey helped inform the participant criteria.

Click on the drop-down arrows to learn why I chose this participant criteria.

Participant criteria:

Why did I include this criteria?
I selected this age range because I felt these users would be more inclined to use a digital app compared to an older demographic.
Additionally, the majority of my survey respondents were within this age range so I felt I already had some information about this demographic.
I also felt that these individuals would be more likely to be in a long term relationship than a younger demographic.
Why did I include this criteria?
I specifically focused on monogamous relationships instead of all relationship types because I assumed users in non-monogamous relationships would have different issues related to sexual communication.
I chose 2+ years instead of longer because my assumption was that these users would experience similar challenges to those in longer relationships, and I wanted to keep the “pool” of participants as open as I possible since I anticipated that finding interviewees would be challenging given the nature of the topic.
Why did I include this criteria?
Given the sensitive and private nature of the topic, I was concerned about response bias from interviewees. I assumed that if I didn’t know the interviewee’s partner, the interviewee would be less inclined to exhibit response bias.

Thoughts of a UX Designer…

I faced several challenges while conducting primary research including:

Time constraints
Finding participants who were willing to be interviewed about a sensitive and personal subjective matter
Response bias

Mitigating Response Bias

To mitigate response bias during user interviews…

I did not interview anyone whose partner I knew. I assumed that interviewees would be less inclined to answer honestly if they felt that their answer would not portray their partner in a positive light.

I did not record the interview. I didn’t record the interviews in an effort to help the interviewees feel more comfortable and safe answering openly and honestly.

I did not disclose too much before the interview. When providing context to the interviewee, I explained that the topic was about sexual communication in relationships, but did not specify that it was about communication issues.

Synthesizing Primary Research Findings

After the interviews, I began to synthesize my interview findings into pain points, behaviours, and motivations. I also identified responses that may have been influenced by response bias.

Key Themes and Insights

Themes Related to User Behaviour and Motivations

The following 4 themes were helpful in understanding more about the user’s behaviours and motivations:

Theme: Finding Information about Sex

Insight: Individuals access information about sex on websites, blogs, and instagram accounts, but also question the credibility of the information.

Theme: Alternatives to talking in-person

Insight: When in-person communication felt too difficult, individuals used text messages and digital apps to help connect with their needs and start the conversation.

Theme: Family & Culture

Insight: Conversations with parents about sex growing up were infrequent and focused on sexual health and safety, not sexual needs and desires.

Theme: The Role of Friends

Insight: Individuals talk about sex with like-minded, open and trustworthy friends leading to feelings of acceptance.

Themes Related to User Pain Points

The following 3 themes gave me great insight into problem areas and pain points. I ultimately decided to focus on sexual differences and desire discrepancies as it came up most frequently throughout the interviews and addressing this would have the biggest impact for the user.

Theme: Frequency

Insight: Couples communicate about wanting to have sex more often, which leads to planning vs. spontaneity.

Theme: Sexual differences

Insight: Sexual differences and desire discrepencies can make sexual communication difficult and evoke feelings of fear, vulnerability and frustration.

Theme: Initiation

Insight: One person in the relationship is more likely to initiate sexual conversations that the other.

Revised How Might We Statement

How might we help couples in long term monogamous relationships manage sexual differences and desire discrepancies, in order to improve relationship and sexual satisfaction?

DEFINE

A Solution with Real-World Validity

Additional Research to Inform the Design

Before ideating, I wanted to ensure I was designing a digital solution based on research, with real world validity. I conducted additional research to learn about sexual differences and desire discrepancies in relationships and discovered the work of Dr. Nan Wise.

Dr. Nan Wise is a neuroscientist and sex therapist who specializes in helping couples in long term relationships communicate their sexual desires and needs.

What is a love style?

Dr. Nan Wise wrote a book based on her research, identifying that there are 7 main love styles. A love style helps an individual understand more about their sexual desires and preferences. Some love styles mesh easily, while others might seem mismatched.

In a long term relationship, the key is understanding how the love styles of both partners intersect and how to find ways to “build a bridge” between the different styles.

I decided to incorporate the different love styles into my app to serve an educational purpose for my user.

Click here to learn more about Dr. Nan’s work.

Thoughts of a UX Designer…

I reached out to Dr. Nan to ask permission to reference her work when designing my app. We connected over the phone and she happily gave me permission.

The Persona

Behaviours, Motivations, Pain Points….and Love Style

My persona, Lizzie, was based on the insights gained during user interviews as well as the work of Dr. Nan Wise on the 7 different love styles (see above for an overview of Dr. Nan’s research).

Lizzie’s motivations included wanting a more passionate relationship with her partner and wanting to be able to express her sexual preferences and desires without feeling judged.

Lizzie’s pain points included feeling vulnerable when expressing her needs and desires to her partner as well as feeling like her and her partner were not sexually matched, with different levels of desire.

Based on her desire to try new experiences with her partner and her desire for passion and intensity, Lizzie exhibits the love style of an “Explorer” based on the 7 love styles of Dr. Nan Wise. Lizzie’s partner who exhibits a lower level of desire than Lizzie, exhibits the love style of a “Low Sex Driver”.

The Experience Map

A conversation expressing sexual needs and desires to a partner

I explored the experience of a user having a conversation with their partner to express their sexual preferences and desires.

Opportunities emerged during various phases of the experience, however I focused on solutions that could support the user during moments of the experience when they are feeling the most vulnerable.

IDEATE

Tasks & Task Flows

With my persona’s pain points and goals in mind, I began creating user stories and epics to identify features that would be valuable to the user. I then identified user stories to build out into a task flow. I built task flows for 2 different features to ensure I was addressing the user’s needs.

Both task flows begin at the “Shared Profile” screen after the user and their partner have completed a questionnaire to identify each of their unique love styles.

The questionnaire feature would be designed as part of next steps.

Task Flow 1

Task Flow 2

PROTOTYPE

Sketching with Design Considerations in Mind

Nielson Norman’s Heuristic Design Principles and Mitigating User Risk

It was important that the functional design of the app mitigate the risk of the user accidentally sharing content with their partner unintentionally which could result in the user feeling embarrassed and vulnerable. As I began sketching screen designs, I considered multiple heuristic principles:

User Control and Freedom - the screen designs included components to allow the user to exit out of an in-progress task, and edit information on forms that had already been submitted.

Error Prevention - I included “safeguard” screens during the task flows where the user was required to provide confirmation before sharing an activity or desire with their partner.

Error Recovery - I ensured the user had the ability to cancel requests that had already been submitted.

Mid-Fidelity Wireframes

After creating solution sketches, I selected the designs that best fit the user’s needs and created low-fidelity and then mid-fidelity wireframes.

TEST

Usability Testing

I conducted 2 rounds of usability testing with 5 testers per round and revised the screen designs based on tester feedback.

Testing Objectives:

Confirm that user’s were able to complete all 3 tasks with minimal difficulty
Validate the language/copy included in the app.
Validate whether the correct fields were included in the “Create an Activity” task flow

Given the time constraints, I prioritized the changes using a prioritization matrix, focusing on high impact/low effort changes first.

Thoughts of a UX Designer…

During user testing, it was important to validate that the appropriate language and copy was used in the app. The language in the app played an important role for the user including addressing potential feelings of shame and fear through affirmative and encouraging language.

REFINE

Brand Development

Love. Connection. Warmth. Accepting. Gender-Neutral. Playful and sophisticated. Joyful.

I defined a set of adjectives that the brand embodies. Given the sensitive nature of the topic, and the assumed emotional and vulnerable state of the user, it was important to create a brand that felt approachable and welcoming.

Mood Board Iteration

Thoughts of a UX Designer…

The initial mood board I put together (version 1) was too serious and too feminine. Although my persona identifies as a woman, the app was designed to be used by both individuals in the relationship which could include a user who identifies as a man, a woman, or non-binary.

Version 1

Too serious, too feminine.

Version 2

Aligned with the adjectives.

Colour Psychology & Design Decisions

I used Orange as my primary colour.

According to research, the colour Orange increases energy levels and is associated with feelings of playfulness and vibrancy. Orange is a “friendly” colour that stands out visually. It is bright, happy, joyful and compassionate, and can induce higher levels of arousal. Source

I used Green as my secondary colour.

According to research, green can positively affect thinking, relationships and physical health. Green can be both calming and motivating. Communicating with a partner about sexual desires and preferences can be anxiety provoking so I wanted to include colours in the design that elicited a calming effect for the user. Source

UI Library

During the brand development process, it was critical to continuously check in with peers for feedback. Ideally, I would have tested the branding with my target user but due to time constraints, this was not possible.

Click the drop down arrows below to learn more about my process:

Based on the colour psychology research, I created a colour palette that both met the brand guidelines and. met the WCAG AA standards.
I used 2 fonts, a serif font, Playfair Display, and a sans-serif font, Lato.
The choice of typography was another opportunity to strengthen the brand voice and incorporate the right balance between playfulness and approachability, and sophistication and trustworthiness.
I gathered typographic inspiration by looking at other competitors with applications in the sexual wellness space and other brands tackling “taboo” issues. Many of the brands used both serif and sans-serif fonts. Serif fonts were mostly used for headers and sans-serif fonts for body copy.
I organized all buttons, components, and design elements include state changes using the Atomic Design System framework. I annotated and redlined all components including specifications, contextual detail, properties, dimensions, padding and spacing measurements.

Wordmark Development & Decisions

When exploring a name and wordmark for the app, I made decisions that stayed true to the playfulness of the brand with the mixture of serif and sans serif fonts and different font sizes.

Because the app is targeted to couples, I incorporated that into the design of the wordmark by adjusting the spacing between certain letters and extending serifs of certain letters so that letters were touching, making it appear as though each letter was part of a “couple”.

Additionally, the different sized fonts give the word a “wavy” feeling, representing the natural “ebbs and flows” of sexual desire in a relationship.

High-Fidelity Wireframes

After defining the brand and colour palette, I applied high-fidelity visual design elements to the prototype. I considered colour, photography, icons, typography, design layout, spacing, and interaction states.

View High-Fidelity Prototype

Project Recap

Sexual communication is highly important for relationship and sexual satisfaction. It is a common perception that individuals in longer term relationships are effective at communicating their sexual preferences to their partners. However, based on the research, married people and individuals in long-term relationships can have a difficult time communicating their sexual needs to their partner.

The Problem Space

How Might We

How might we help couples in long term monogamous relationships manage sexual differences and desire discrepancies, in order to improve relationship and sexual satisfaction?

The Solution

View Prototype Below

Kindled is a research-based sexual wellness iOS application that helps couples in long term relationships manage sexual differences and communicate their sexual preferences through education and exploration. It’s features include viewing recommended activities based on both partner’s love styles, sharing activities with your partner that you are interesting in trying, and creating customized activities based on your preferences.

View High-Fidelity Prototype

A Responsive Marketing Website

To market the product, I developed a single-page high-fidelity responsive marketing website for both desktop and mobile viewports, including a content flow diagram to indicate how content would behave between desktop and mobile viewports.

View desktop viewport

View mobile viewport

Next Steps

It is important to test the branding and design of the app with the target user.

Usability testing with the high-fidelity prototype

Build out the notification functionality

Next steps will include building out the notification functionality when a user shares an activity with their partner. Considerations will include how to provide the receiving partner with a gentle and sensitive way to respond to the request if they are not interested.

Build out the questionnaire functionality

When users first log into the app, the user and their partner would each complete a questionnaire to identify their love style.