Image depicting the Jointly Care App.

Making Caring A Little Easier & Less Stressful.

UK Sports Institute

Carers UK

Jointly

Care App
SaaS
B2B
B2C

Jointly makes caring easier, less stressful and more organised by making communication and coordination between those who share the care as easy as a text message.

My Role

Product Design Lead

Led the design of Jointly, for Carers UK, a social care app aimed at simplifying the caregiving process, focusing on care monitoring and communication.

Platforms

  • Mobile (iOS and Android)
  • Responsive web application

What I Did

  • Designed "Circle of Care" concept, enabling users to coordinate care activities with family members and professionals.
  • Designed lean UX prototypes, incorporating feedback from test groups.
  • User-friendly features like messaging, task management, calendar, medication tracking, and contacts storage.
  • Consistently enhanced product features through iterative development.
Image depicting the Jointly Care App.

Research and conceptualisation

Understanding the challenge
I collaborated with Carers UK to harness extensive research, revealing that 3 million people in the UK juggle unpaid care with work, with many leaving their jobs due to caregiving responsibilities.

The research identified care management and effective communication as primary challenges.
Concept development
I designed the "Circle of Care" concept to facilitate coordination of care activities among family, medical professionals, and other stakeholders.

We focused on creating a digital platform that supports carers, especially those balancing employment with caregiving responsibilities.
Image depicting the lots of post-it notes.

Design process

Design thinking
I adopted a Design Thinking methodology, centred on discovering user needs, and learning from a series of lean UX prototypes.
Feature design
I concentrated design effort on a user-friendly interface with features such as messaging, task management, calendar, and medication tracking.
Prioritising features
Lean UX prototypes enabled rapid testing. I utilised user feedback from professional and occasional carers to prioritise and improve features.
Iterative development
Following testing we advanced to interactive web prototypes. Employing iterative design, development and testing to enhance the user experience.
Beta release and soft Launch
We conducted several iterations before releasing the Jointly Beta app, utilising feedback from early adopters to refine the product prior to launch.

Technical development

Cross-platform app development
We developed Jointly as a cross-platform application, ensuring uniform functionality and layout across devices. We maintained a single codebase for efficiency and faster iteration of future versions.
Transition from Cordova to React Native
Initially developed using Cordova for iOS and Android, the app later transitioning to React Native for improved performance and a more native user experience.
Image depicting the Jointly Care App.

Key features of Jointly

Dashboard
Invite people, see who is in your circle, view a log of recent activity
Profile
Store useful information about the person you are looking after and access it any time at a click of a button!
Messaging
Communicate with everyone in your Jointly circle at a touch of a button! Simply post a message or upload an image.
Notes
Create and organise notes and store images, sort them into categories or just view as a simple list.
Tasks
Keep organised and on top of things by using tasks and task lists. Simply create a task and assign it to any member of your Jointly circle, including yourself, and monitor its status.
Calendar
Create date/time specific events and invite anyone in your circle.
Medication Tracking
Keep track of current and past medication of the person you are caring for. You can also upload an image to quickly recognise a medicine.
Contacts
Store useful contacts and access their details anytime, anywhere!
Devices
Jointly can connect to health and care devices to share information with your circle.
Image depicting the Jointly Care App.

Impact

Adoption and recognition
The Jointly app gained traction among progressive employers and service providers, including Sainsbury's and Surrey County Council
Retention of employees
Aids in the retention of skilled workers who balance caregiving responsibilities, reducing recruitment and training costs for employers.
Benefits for Employers and Caregivers
Provided a practical tool for caregivers that supported them in their daily lives.
Positive feedback
Received positive feedback from users and professionals, highlighting its utility in simplifying caregiving and communication.

Conclusion

The Jointly app project for Carers UK, under the leadership of the product design team, successfully addressed the critical challenges faced by caregivers. By integrating thoughtful design, user-centred development, and innovative technology, the app has significantly eased the burden of caregiving, offering a model for future innovations in the social and health care sector.
Get In Touch
Surrey County Council
Sainsbury's
"We were delighted to offer the Jointly app to our colleagues. Jointly is an innovative service that supports carers to manage care for a loved one, which is very helpful for carers who balance their caring responsibilities with work."
"Jointly is an innovative product we can offer carers in order to support them in their caring role. It is especially useful for those who are juggling work with care and those carers who are sharing the care with other family members, friends or neighbours."