DADSforLife
Readjusting our perspective in how we approach fatherhood.
Dads forLife emerged in Singapore in the context of two sociological trends. From the 1970s, increasing numbers of women in the labour force spearheaded an evolution of expectations towards fatherhood beyond the traditional role of “breadwinner”.
The second trend has been the continued lag in the involvement of fathers in family life behind that of mothers, despite evolving social and familial norms.
Dads forLife was launched on 19 November 2009 in conjunction with International Men’s Day, with a mission to “inspire, mobilize and involve fathers to become good influencers in their children’s lives for life”.
Roles
I assumed the following role designing this app:
Brand Strategist
User Experience (UX) Designer
User Interface (UI) Designer
Deliverables
Brand Book:
Competitive analysis
Styleguide
Personas
Site map
Low-fidelity wireframes
High-fidelity mockups and prototypes
Brand activation roadmap
Project Specification
Duration: 10 weeks
Tools:
Adobe XD
Photoshop
Illustrator
Indesign
The Challenge
“With most child related guides and groups focused on mothers, I feel so left out and unconfident as a dad to take care of my little ones...”
Research
My research started off on the company’s existing offering and social media efforts. An in-depth competitor analysis helped open my eyes to how groups across the world is tackling this similar problem. Reaching out to stakeholders (stay at home fathers) provided emotional insight into key points of users’ journeys. It further amplified the lack thereof continued support & community.
Findings
Lack of father centric community applications.
Further education is needed on pushing the norms of fatherhood.
Brand Identity is not consistent throughout social media outlets.
Low engagement with online content and awareness posts.
Outdated website loses credibility of potential viewers.
Visualizing a User-Centric Experience
Designing the interface from the ground up gave me lots of liberty and breathing space to explore. However, I chose to follow a strict familiar framework that is already in the market for an initial testing.
Converting platforms
Moving the website into a mobile application was a task that required careful execution. Needing to maintain the existing offerings whilst gently easing regular users into the know-hows of the app.
Utilising the credibility of the brand to act as a mothership of shared resources. Inspired by the framework of a local library app on how to categorise and display information.
Resources for fathers are sprawled across various platforms without a reliable source.
Insight:
Proposed:
Dedicated section for convenient discovery of interest groups as well as organised events. Inspired by the framework of Reddit and Pinterest that uses a mansory style grid.
Fathers would like reach out to others of similar situations and attend hands-on workshops for an in-depth learning experience.
Insight:
Proposed:
See the run-through
See the run-through
Time to see how the prototype looks!
Next Steps
Consolidate data on user journey with new application
Explore rolling out additional functions (smartwatch widget)
Ensure engagement and adoption of application from initial promotion is well received
Brand Styleguide on User Interface
Mockup of brand logo
Example of smart watch counterpart
Advertisement used to promote brand
Lessons learnt
Strong research can help substantiate the intent of redesigning purposefully
Establishing a brand style guide early on is important to ensure consistency
A successful rebranding not only stems on strong insights but also the way it is delivered and crafted