Observing Friction through Ethnography and Experience Prototyping in the Postpartum Period

Abstract

During the postpartum period, significant clinical and social supports exist for the care and wellness of a newborn baby. Yet over the same six weeks, new moms report feeling abandoned and alone. In this case study, we share the research methods we used to evaluate an early prototype of a digital tool designed to offer support and healing guidance to postpartum moms. We discuss our strategies for onboarding participants during this period of significant transition, and for engaging them for six weeks through a novel study design. This work highlights the deep friction new moms often face navigating their own physical healing while so much attention and care—theirs and others'—is focused on the baby. It also offers an approach to reducing an ongoing friction in new product development: what people say they want may differ significantly from what they actually want or need in real-life contexts.