SheWell

Project Overview

• Project type: End-to-end app, B2C iOS App

• Role: Project Manager, UX Designer

• Industry: Health, Wellness

• Duration: Winter 2023 - Summer 2024

Background

Observing the struggles of my sister and female friends, many of whom were struggled with breast-related issues at a surprisingly young age. I realized that, not just in my local community but also throughout the world, there was a widespread lack of knowledge and lack of understanding about women's health.

In 2022, about 2.3 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer and 670,000 died — not counting the many with undiagnosed problems. This global awareness gap is what motivated me to start SheWell.

❓ Problem

• Women lack accessible breast health knowledge

• Research shows diet has strong impact → awareness is low

• Existing apps = too generic, not focused

👑 Goal

• Fill the market gap with a breast-health–focused wellness app

• Provide personalized nutrition plans, daily tracking, and reliable health education

• Combine tracking + education + habit support to empower women to take proactive actions

• Increase health awareness and drive long-term engagement

Design Outcome

SheWell, a women's wellness app, specially focuses on breast disease prevention and overall well-being by offering tailored nutrition plans and tools to track dietary habits, empowering women to lead healthier, disease-resistant lives.

Design Process

Literature Review

At this stage, we reviewed research on breast health and nutrition. We found diet has a big impact, but most people don’t know about it. That confirmed our direction — nutrition is powerful, easy to change, and easy to track. So we made it the core of the app, combined with education and habit support.

Market Research

For market research, we analyzed both international and Chinese apps me and my teammates actually used in the health and wellness space. On one side, there are nutrition-focused apps like MyFitnessPal, Cronometer, and Lose It, which are very strong in tracking calories, macros, and daily food intake. On the other side, women’s health apps like Meiyou and Dayima focus more on cycle tracking, pregnancy support, and building community engagement.

Initial User Interview

For our initial user research, we conducted around 20-30 in-depth interviews with women aged 19-59 from different age groups, ethnic groups, and different job positions. Our questions were mainly divided into three categories: current health and diet status, diet awareness and health risk awareness, and past diet management effects. Despite varied answers, the message was clear: women wanted to manage their eating habits but lacked knowledge and guidance, and daily routines often made it harder.

Different age groups had unique challenges: younger women struggled with irregular meals and early breast issues; women in their 30s–40s faced pregnancy-related conditions and low motivation; older women dealt with menopause, lower appetite, and higher cancer risk.

Across all groups, the common pain points were the same: limited access to trustworthy nutrition knowledge, difficulty sustaining routines, and a need for professional guidance. These insights showed the strong need — and opportunity — to design a solution that makes nutrition guidance accessible, practical, and supportive across life stages.

Prototypes - Low-fi

Prototypes - Design systems

For SheWell’s design system, I chose pink and green to symbolize hope, renewal, and health — creating warmth and empathy. I followed Apple’s iOS guidelines to keep the UI clean and intuitive, so users could focus on their health journey. The system also defined consistent components like buttons and typography, making the app cohesive and scalable.

Prototypes - High-fi

Iteration - User Test Feedback

We interviewed the people who took the initial interviews to find out what went well and what didn't. 

Iteration - Set Priorities

For iteration, I set clear priorities. First, I focused on engagement by adding customizable nutrition reminders in the user profile, so users can set their own frequency and get system notifications. Second, to address credibility, I integrated small daily nutrition tips on the home page with sources, and added a data source section in the profile, linked to APIs from trusted organizations. Finally, while users wanted price transparency, we decided not to show per-item prices since they vary by region. Instead, we added an onboarding survey to capture monthly food budgets, which allows us to tailor plans by affordability. This way, each iteration stayed aligned with user needs while balancing usability, trust, and scalability.

Iteration - New AI chat box feature added

We added an AI chatbox to boost engagement and credibility, integrating GPT so users could upload meal photos for nutrition analysis or ask simple food questions. The interface was kept clean and guided to make it approachable, even for first-time AI users. This encouraged daily interaction and built trust by offering clear, evidence-based insights — turning the app from just a tracker into a supportive health companion.

Final Design - Demo Video

Impact & Reflection

This project had a meaningful impact by highlighting the link between nutrition and breast health, with user testing showing strong positive feedback. As my first end-to-end project, it gave me the chance to learn how to translate research into design while also strengthening my teamwork and project management skills. At the same time, the work revealed several limitations: the scope was somewhat idealized without a clear business or monetization plan, and future iterations should focus on expanding localization and scalability, as well as improving accessibility through simplified information and mobile-friendly formats.