FAMs had a robust platform with helpful parenting content backed by child development experts. Their primary market was mothers in the U.S., but their team was based almost exclusively outside of the United States.
They needed to better tap into their target users' everyday behaviors, beliefs, and trust patterns.
Tools
Zoom, Google Suite, and Miro
Team
Solo contract work
My Role
UX Researcher
Timeline
1 month
Study Objective
Get a clear understanding of the primary fears, pain points, and motivators of moms. Generate findings related to the 3 hypotheses identified.
3 key themes we wanted to understand
How parents foster the personal development of their children
How they try to fix parenting problems
How to spend meaningful time together as a family
CLARIFY NEEDS
Originally, my request had focused mostly on app usability tests and competitor research. After doing an initial discovery session with the PMM and CEO, we aligned to shift the research to a generative research project.
This would help them better understand their target users' real pain points and habits, providing them with foundational, evergreen information moving forward.
CREATE PLAN
Narrowed the study to their primary users - moms.
Decided on 5 qualitative interviews to provide deep findings and rich insights.
Identify the following: Habits, Environment, Tools, Goals, Tasks, Priorities, and Challenges
Study Methodology
Key Questions
What are moms’ biggest challenges?
What solutions are they using?
What are the limitations of those solutions?
What is their goal when looking for information?
Choosing 5 in-depth qualitative interviews was intentional:
Exploratory stage: The app was mid-pivot and lacked customer research. Generative insights were more valuable than usability testing or surveys.
Depth over breadth: Parenting is emotional and contextual. Fewer but longer conversations revealed not just what parents do but why.
Saturation & efficiency: By the fifth interview, themes like social media overwhelm, need for validation, and fragmented trust were repeating—enough to guide product direction with confidence.
Contextual richness: Semi-structured conversations uncovered unexpected insights, such as parents using nap time or bedtime as their “learning window.”
Fit for business needs: This approach balanced rigor with speed while staying within a modest budget.
RECRUIT
I recruited from acquaintances to fulfill time and budget constraints.
I built compensation into the budget to respect participants’ time—especially as mothers of young children.
INTERVIEW DESIGN AND FACILITATION
My Facilitation Style
Gave space for pauses and listened actively -- I recorded the interviews and limited note taking as much as possible to be fully present.
Noted contextual cues (interviews being pushed last minute to accommodate naps, interruptions by kids) that revealed parenting’s mental load.
As a new mom, I balanced empathy with neutrality — building rapport without steering responses.
Emotional Respect
Included reflective prompts like “What was the moment you realized it was an issue?”
Bookended the interview with positive reflections around bonding and favorite moments. Parenting is emotionally sensitive and I wanted the interviews to end on an empowering note.
Open-Ended Questions
I used prompts like “Can you describe a recent challenge you've faced in parenting?” instead of yes/no questions.
I invited participants to tell stories in their own words, surfacing deeper behaviors and beliefs.
Broad → Deep Progression
We began with family context and joys, then moved into challenges, solutions, and trust in information.
I wanted participants to feel at ease before exploring sensitive topics.
“Give Me a Recent Example”
I asked for specific instances where solutions failed or where parenting felt successful.
I guided the responses to real experiences to reduce bias or abstract generalizations.
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SYNTHESIZING THE DATA
This method allowed me to group the hundreds of quotes, observations, and notes into the following themes:
Trust in Information
Trust in self
Schedule and Daily Habits
Moments of Conflict
Measuring Success
Time Together
Humanized the data for the product team.
Highlighted emotional drivers and showed how outside pressures caused self doubt
Would help keep a user perspective front and center in design and strategy discussions.
1 persona was created based on the many coalescing themes from user interviews.
One hero quote captured the sentiment of all moms
I framed the persona around user goals and frustrations.
I highlighted indirect competitors — all of the different sources of parenting advice.
I identified the existing "user journey" for parent problem solving to see where their app could fit into existing habits.
I showed the varying levels of trust moms had in different sources to highlight which indirect competitors to emulate vs. avoid.
CLIENT HANDOFF
At the end of our engagement, I held a 1 hour session to review the readout and answer any questions they had.
My research readout included the following:
This was the company’s first investment in research. Beyond immediate insights, I left them with:
A repeatable research plan and budget template for future projects
A clearer understanding of their U.S. target audience’s needs and motivators
A foundation for product decisions that went beyond theory and grounded their pivot in user reality
A list of "How Might We" statements that they could immediately use when prioritizing new concepts or drafting new ideations
By combining strategic framing, practical execution, and stakeholder education, I helped FAMS build its first layer of research maturity—while balancing the constraints of a freelance engagement alongside my full-time role.
There were a couple of themes that came up in our interviews that I would have loved to delve into more. As an "edutainment" app, I thought one of the most promising ideas that came up in interviews was the idea of parents and kids learning side by side.
Much of the app's content was geared solely toward parents but, many parents referenced beloved series like Ms. Rachel and Bluey - these resources are entertaining and educational for children, but also focus on encouraging parents.
I would have loved to have taken some of those insights and put together concepts for parents and children to participate in together.
One of the biggest takeaways from this project was to better value my own time and expertise. I had worked on a team for so long that I forgot what it was like working solo. It was refreshing to go to a new team and context and see my expertise being immediately useful for them.
I also took away a new perspective on managing emotions while interviewing. Each participant got vulnerable and emotional at some point in their interviews. Talking about your perceived mistakes as a parent is humbling and difficult. As a new mother myself, many of the topics hit close to home. I had to balance being empathetic, dealing with my own emotions, keeping the interviews on track, and making calls on when it was appropriate to dig more and when to respect the privacy of the participants.
