Launching a Coaching Platform from Concept to Production

Enabling the DoD (Army) and Stanford Medicine (Cancer Patients) to monitor user behaviors and improve their physical and mental health

Our Team

I was a Design Manager, leading a design team while delivering this hand-on design work for the UX Strategy team.

• I designed both apps and dashboards from 0-1 within ~1 year

• I designed a flexible design system and content management system

• I designed marketing websites, brochures, user tutorials, style guide, etc.

• I managed an offshore contract designer who collaborated on early design concepts

• I partnered with a Product Owner, Program Manager, and 5-10 person offshore engineering teams

Our Why

Business Goal – Revenue Potential and Customer Acquisition

Platform Goal – Vibrent’s coaching platform was created for customers seeking to evaluate and change user behavior using a multi-domain framework.

Customer 1 – Total Force Fitness (TFF): The Department of Defense (DoD) wanted a way to prepare Army recruits for their Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT). The mobile app needed to address physical training, nutrition, mental resilience, and social connection while the dashboard monitored app user progress, identifying potential intervention points.

Customer 2 – Head and Neck Cancer Virtual Coach (HNC): The Starmer Research Lab at Stanford Medicine wanted a mobile app for cancer patients. The app guides patients through their 7-week radiation treatment journey, focusing on critical swallowing exercises, nutrition, mental resilience, and social connections while Providers monitored their progress from a dashboard, intervening as needed.

To understand, empathize, and align goals

• We defined user personas and I created a mood board with their brand colors and imagery through stakeholder interviews

• I analyzed 7 competitor behavioral health apps

• I analyzed 4 competitor measurement and evaluation dashboards

• I iterated on user journey flows and wireframes, reorganizing the app architecture adding gamification and personalization to the app experience

• I researched best practices for various workflows and behaviors

• We defined success, problem statements, terminology, technical restrictions, and timeline with product stakeholders

Definition of success for TFF

Reduces military resource strain by:

• Preventing premature APFT attempts

• Decreasing test failure rates

• Optimizing training effectiveness

• Enabling remote progress monitoring

Definition of success for HNC

Reduces healthcare resource strain by:

• Optimizing therapy effectiveness

• Enabling remote patient monitoring

• Decreasing emergency interventions

Design and Execution

Ideating, prototyping, and testing iteratively

• Designed apps from 0-1

  • Military app: Guided workouts with multiple training levels, device tracking integrations, recipes, and motivational content

  • Cancer care app: Guided swallowing exercise routines, progress tracking, recipes, and motivational content

• Designed an adaptable component library for various use cases

• Designed a content template system enabling messaging and imagery updates using excel docs without manual intervention

• Designed measurement dashboards for progress tracking and intervention

• Conducted iterative A/B testing

• Shared with military leadership for approvals, iterating as needed

• Shared component library, app, and dashboard screens with developers using Zeplin

A personalized onboarding assessment that:

• Creates soldier profiles based on current fitness levels and goals

• Identifies key improvement areas across physical, mental, and nutritional domains

• Algorithmically recommends 3 targeted challenges matching the soldier's needs

Designing the:

Home and Challenge Screens

Home is a personalized dashboard displaying the user's key activities:

• Gender-specific motivational imagery for personalization

• Quick-access to their daily workout module

• One-tap access to challenge libraries

Users can maintain 3 concurrent challenges that adapt to their goals:

• Active challenge slots with clear progress visualization

• Flexible challenge activation/deactivation

• Post-activity surveys to track adherence and user understanding

Designing the:

Daily Workouts

A progressive workout training system designed to ensure APFT success:

• Daily required guided workouts aligned with DoD standards

• Automated difficulty progression based on performance

• APFT readiness indicators to predict test success

• Optional fitness tracker integration for detailed metrics

Designing the:

Challenge Template System

A flexible content architecture enabling stakeholder independence:

• Self-service content updates using excel uploads requiring no developer intervention

• 6 layout options to standardize content creation

  • Educational content

  • Video instruction modules

  • Multiple choice checklists

  • Binary response

  • Progress assessment slider

  • Recipe

Designing the:

Custom mobile optimized interactive content

Specialized experiences for complex infographics:

• 3 Responsive interactive modules to improve engagement

• Consistent touch-based performance across devices

Designing the:

Settings, favorites, library, and notifications

Designing the:

Measurement and evaluation dashboards

Comprehensive oversight platform enabling officers to:

• Track individual and unit-level adherence

• Identify at-risk soldiers through early warning indicators

• Monitor fitness progression trends

• Deploy targeted interventions

• Generate performance reports

I leveraged the core TFF platform architecture to rapidly develop the HNC application while maintaining clinical standards. I also assisted in the art direction of the customer video tutorials.

Technical Foundation

• Reused modular component system with updated styling

• Maintained proven user flows, interaction patterns, and content template system

• Retained evaluation and reporting frameworks

• Utilized existing Excel-based content management system

• Adapted to single 7-week program rather than multi-level workouts

Design System and Copy Updates

• Refreshed color palette and typography for healthcare environment

• Adapted imagery for supportive healthcare context

• Revised messaging tone to be more empathetic to the patient’s experience

Outcomes

• Established scalable app and design system framework creating a behavioral coaching platform that works for multiple customers, accelerates our time to market, minimizes development costs, and lowers the training requirements for content managers enabling rapid future adaptations for new use cases

• Created measurement dashboards for tracking user progress and intervention needs

• Developed adaptive content management system for stakeholders updates

• Launched HNC application, 5 stars in Apple Store, with active patient enrollment and participation proving mobile apps increase engagement and understanding of swallowing exercises while TFF was developed; however, was not formally adopted by the DoD as there was a shift in leadership

Reflection

• System Flexibility:

  • Building modular systems for design and content enables rapid adaptation for new use cases; but, inevitably require development to configure progress indicators

• Design

  • Early stakeholder alignment is crucial, especially de-blurring terminology

  • User-centric decision making drives feature adoption

  • Looking back, I would have created a more universal dashboard color and type system

• Team Collaboration

  • Clear documentation enables successful offshore design and development

  • Routine touch points with implementation teams improves handoff efficiency