Overview
Challenge
Diabetes en Movimiento (DEM) is a health-coaching company serving Spanish-speaking people with Type 1 diabetes and their caregivers, with a 64,000 + follower Instagram community. Despite this strong organic reach, it converts a comparatively small share into signed-up users.
Skepticism towards T1D management programs is common for people living with T1D for years, which makes them hesitate to sign up.
We need to redesign on-ramp phase to communicate DeM's value.
Users
Spanish-speaking people with Type 1 diabetes and their caregivers
My role
Led research, synthesis, and usability testing
Led the end-to-end on-ramp experience redesign and content strategy, integrating a knowledge quiz and self-assessment flow to drive user engagement and conversion
Independently built high-resolution UI and interactive prototypes with Figma, Claude Code and Vercel
Conducted stakeholder management
Time
Feb - April 2025
June - August 2025
Team
Tool
Figma & FigJam
Qualtrics
Excel
Claude code
Vercel
Impact
+31.6%
Audience Growth
Expanded reach across social channels (Instagram followers grew from 50K to 65.8K in 3 months
+12%
Conversion Rate
Increased online course offering sign-up rates by 12% through lightweight strategy implementation pilot
4.2 / 5.0
User Decision Confidence
Elevated self-reported confidence in taking the next onboarding step from 3.6/5.0 to 4.2/5.0 in testing
Context
Mental burden
Skepticism towards management program with overconfidence
87%
Feel confident managing themselves
VS
35%
Meet actual adequacy
Despite program effectiveness and strong reach on Instagram (64k+ followers), DeM's current top-of-funnel touchpoints fall short of communicating some of its distinct value to users at these critical hesitation points.
Key Design Outcome
⚠️ PROBLEM 1
Missing Mid-Commitment On-Ramp:
Prospective users lack a low-stakes environment to evaluate program fit or discover their management gap.
✅ APPROACH 1
Building user confidence & Quick gap identification— Knowledge Quiz & Preview Class
Help users quickly identify gaps in their management with quizzes on crucial but not well-known knowledge "trivia", and give them a bite-sized preview class to experience and creates sense of progress
⚠️ PROBLEM 2
Fragmented Offering Architecture & Obscured Core Value
Insufficient, slightly overlapping offering information on the current website creates choice paralysis and confusion, while DeM’s highest-value differentiators remain hidden.
✅ APPROACH 2
Program Transparency & Value Differentiation— Homepage & Core Feature Redesign
⚠️ PROBLEM 3
Multidimensional Hesitations
Hesitation is emotional and multi-dimensional, including cost, past burnout, other life priorities get in the way). Users feel uncertain whether DeM can help them with the various barriers they’re facing in life.
Lack of time:
other life priorities comes first
Distrust in online program
Cost was a concern
Burnout from past failures
“I mainly didn’t know a new program would work after I have tried many different approaches.”
— Graduated DeM alumni
✅ APPROACH 3
Judgement-free Exploration & Relatable Support — AI-assisted Personalized Plan with Alumni Podcast & Community Resources
Help users surface their goals and hesitations through a quick structured self-assessment, while leaving room for open-ended input.
Personalized resource recommendation: AI interprets these signals to recommend relevant alumni stories, resources, and support pathways.
Research & Design Process
Process overview
Phase 1
Due to limited research time and resources, we adopted behavioral research in phase 1 to have a more comprehensive understanding of T1D users' experience with management.
Primary research
We evaluated DEM's current website, offerings and interviewed the CEO to understand business context and existing user pain points
Behavioral research
We identified common on-ramp barriers for management using behavioral frameworks like the COM-B model and behavioral system model
Research synthesis
I distilled findings into 6 behavioral archetypes and designed strategies targeting the archetypes
Comparative Analysis & Mid-Fi Prototyping
Audited onboarding and on-ramp flows of direct competitors to create mid-fidelity prototypes, using them as conversation starters to align stakeholder feedback early.
Phase 2
Survey
I designed a survey ( n=25) for further understanding T1D users’ perspective on DeM’s on-ramp experience, including their motivation & hesitation, and to cross-check research insights in phase 1 and adjust design directions
Analogous Study & Executive Co-Design
Conducted an analogous study on high-converting landing page designs, collaborating directly with the CEO to co-design and refine the on-ramp experience
Usability testing & Design iteractions
Conducted multiple rounds of usability testing with T1D users to refine flows, UI, and content. Designed interactive high-fidelity prototypes.
Key research findings
Behavioral archetypes and initial design directions
We summarized our behavioral analysis of people living with T1D's life situations and their experience with health management programs, and identified 6 archetypes. These archetypes are the foundation for our following synthesis and design work (see the following section).
Survey results reveal what T1D users care about in DeM, but existing on-ramp touch points missed
Prospective user hesitations closely mirror the past doubts of alumni before they enrolled; Existing messages fail to highlight the high-value experiences alumni later praised or address these concerns.
Top hesitations
Lack of time:
other life priorities comes first
Distrust in online program
Cost was a concern
Burnout from past failures
“I mainly didn’t know a new program would work after I have tried many different approaches.”
— Graduated DeM alumni
DeM's most valuable assets to alumni
DeM's unique structured framework
Group mentorship sessions or peer support
Educational videos and community materials
Testing mindset and personalization
“The top thing that have positive impact in my management is…checking with my own experience and seeing that what was happening matched the info received.”
— Graduated DeM alumni
Research synthesis
DeM currently lacks low-stakes, mid-commitment touchpoints and clear value communication, making it difficult to meet users where they actually are—leaving experienced patients unaware of their management gaps and hesitant prospects unsure if DeM fits their daily life.
1. Without a mid-touch experience to test fit and reveal knowledge gaps, prospective users hesitate to commit
Lack of mid-commitment touchpoint: Current touch-points sit at either extreme — low-commitment (browsing Instagram & website ), or high-commitment (program purchases / 1v1 consultation).
“Simply scrolling through their website or IG doesn’t clearly convince me what the program is like and if it's worth my investment, though they indeed teach me something useful.” — New user
2. DeM’s core value is proven in practice, but buried in top-of-funnel messaging
DeM’s highest-value differentiators—peer community and an iterative testing mindset—are obscured in top-of-funnel messaging, while alumni consider these elements transformative
“It’s a group where you meet people going through the same situation... There’s no other community like it—it’s a university in itself.” — Graduated DeM alumni
3. Hesitation to sign up for management program is multi-dimensional and people lack confidence that they can succeed with their life situation
Prospect hesitation spans skepticism, cost, past advice failures, and competing priorities. DeM’s single standardized pitch fails to address these diverse barriers or highlight how different offerings fit specific life situations or how the guidance helps overcome them.
"Mainly not knowing that a new way of looking at diabetes could work.” — Graduated DeM alumni
Solution Strategy Overview
Key strategy: Instant Value Realization & Test fit
Knowledge quizzes followed by self-assessment to address both technical gaps and other life concerns for users to see values more efficiently, and build confidence that they can improve with the program.
Design highlights & iterations
Macro Strategy
"Try-Before-You-Buy" Learning Preview: Unbundling DEM’s 5 core topics into interactive, bite-sized sub-topic pills. Users get immediate access to quick actionable guides and social-proof content before committing.
Behavioral Reinforcement (Progress Tracking): Introducing milestone feedback ("You've explored 1 of DEM's 5 core topics!") creates a rewarding achievement loop that builds user confidence.
Recommendation page content hierarchy
Structured the post-assessment feed to cater to three different user needs
After getting feedback in testing, I iterated the design from simply recommending alumni stories to including quick management guides and program previews. The guide cards are not apparent enough for users to discover when they appear as cards on video-playing screens.
Peer validation: Alumni story cards with metric proof.
Low-commitment utility: Quick, actionable guides (e.g., 3-Min Read).
Program previews: Personalize potentially suitable program options
Dual-Discovery Architecture (Filters + AI ):
Allow self-directed users to locate relatable peer stories independently, besides recommendations by the chatbot.
Insights: While the chatbot provides guided curation, the Community Page features explicit situation filters based on archetypes research.
Approach: Barriers are reframed with neutral language; the filter allows users to find relatable stories more efficiently.
Micro-Interactions: Designing for User Agency & Context
Non-Intrusive Prompts to full screen
Insights: User testing revealed that forcing a full-screen survey transition directly from the chatbot window made users feel out of control.
Approach: Added an inline chat prompt offering an optional full-screen expansion instead of a forced transition.
Adaptive Video Toggles
Insights: DeM’s unedited 12–15 minute alumni interview videos felt authentic, but users with limited time dropped off early. Testing showed users wanted both quick answers and raw authenticity.
Approach: Implemented a dual-format video toggle (1-Min Highlights vs. 12+ Min Full Episode) on story cards. This respects different cognitive loads and time budgets while preserving DeM’s core content assets.
UI & Visual Design
Translating the strategy into a supportive visual language
I developed a lightweight visual system to keep the experience consistent across onboarding, quizzes, recommendations, and AI-assisted touchpoints, while preserving DeM’s approachable and human tone.
Lightweight UI system
A flexible set of colors, typography, components, and interaction patterns keeps onboarding, quizzes, recommendations, and AI-assisted touchpoints visually coherent.
Illustration as emotional design
I created two complementary illustration styles to communicate support while reducing the clinical and evaluative feel of diabetes education.
Brand / support illustrations
A restrained two-color line style communicates DeM’s core support values while maintaining a calm, consistent visual identity.
Brand / support illustrations
Brighter, playful illustrations appear during knowledge checks to reduce the pressure of being “tested” and reinforce moments of curiosity and progress.
AI chatbot identity
Making AI feel like part of DeM
Designed an AI identity that emphasizes DeM’s human touch while staying rooted in its existing brand language.
Reflections
Strategic adaptability: Accelerating discovery through behavioral research
Facing tight initial timelines that precluded exhaustive primary interviews in Month 1, we used an agile, literature-backed research strategy. We systematically mapped user barriers and hypothesized 6 behavioral archetypes—achieving a level of structural depth that interview sampling couldn't have matched in that short timeframe. I aligned these findings with clients first, then validated and refined our insights through quantitative surveys and usability testing.
Systems thinking & active listening: Structuring design concepts into cohesive system
Beyond team ideation, I focused on defining the underlying logic behind our three core concepts. Designing the system architecture ensured that each concept directly addressed specific behavioral triggers while maintaining a cohesive user experience across different touch points.
Ownership & execution: Driving end-to-end delivery
Though the initial teamwork stopped after 2.5 months due to teammate's competing priorities, I took ownership of the project's 2nd phase, continuing the collaboration with clients. Delivering a complete end-to-end interaction prototype individually challenged me to bridge high-level strategy with design execution.