A New Brand and Mobile-friendly Experience for an Asynchronous Group Therapy Platform

An 8-week online support group run by the Reproductive Life Stages Program at Women’s College Hospital sought to revamp its brand and program to be mobile-friendly and more inclusive of women and gender-diverse individuals who are parents or co-parents of a baby under one year old.

Challenge

Postpartum Matters is a virtual group therapy program developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to support new mothers experiencing postpartum anxiety (PPA) and postpartum depression (PPD) during the critical first 12 to 18 months after childbirth. Participants begin with a phone-based assessment with a therapist. Once enrolled, they join a small group and take part in weekly discussions hosted on a secure learning management platform. These sessions provide a supportive space for parents and therapists to share experiences, evidence-based tools, educational resources, and practical strategies for navigating the challenges of early parenthood.

To expand its impact, Pivot partnered with Women’s College Hospital to design its brand and mobile-optimized user interface, and launch the next phase of the platform—making it more accessible and inclusive for women across Ontario.

Process

Our process involved gathering feedback from the core therapy team as well as from real users during the persona validation and usability testing phases.

Interviews were conducted to validate the project personas and to better understand the resources and content formats that people use as they navigate postpartum mood disorders in the first 12-18 months postpartum. We focused on users’ unique needs and asked questions to help us understand how we might improve the inclusivity of the program’s content and visuals, access to information, and the overall experience of the (formerly-named) Mother Matters program.

Some of the key findings uncovered from our 1-on-1 interviews with real users included:

The need for a variety of content formats to fit various contexts
The desire for more engaging forum features and clearer expectations about how to most effectively participate in the weekly group discussions

User flows crafted for each persona user group were based upon opportunities generated directly from our key interview findings. Three phases were taken into consideration: initial awareness of the program and signup, onboarding, and interaction with the platform.

The user flows informed the platform's new information architecture.

Once we had completed wireframing the platform, we applied visual design to the screens and created a high-fidelity prototype for usability testing.

Solution

Working within the constraints of a newly adopted learning management system selected by the hospital, we focused on creating the best possible user experience.

The new name for the program, Postpartum Matters, reflects a more inclusive approach, guided by the brand foundation document developed alongside the key project stakeholders.

A brand identity design was developed to fit within the hospital’s brand system, utilizing the teal and pink brand colours and Frutiger typeface. “Matters” is set in a handwritten, monoline typeface which ties to the “kind-hearted”, “approachable” side of the brand foundation.

The logomark plays upon the concept of connection — sharing experiences and thoughts with group members in the forum. A wave motif within a heart shape subtly conveys the idea of a “cup being filled,” representing the emotional benefits of participation.

By incorporating custom illustrations and a supportive brand colour palette, we were able to make the user interface more approachable and accessible for the program’s target audience in the pilot launch of the Postpartum Matters platform.

Challenge

Process

Solution

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