Conceiving a baby can be remarkably stressful, and during in vitro fertilization—a notoriously grueling process that fails more often than it succeeds—that stress can compound. A commonly cited poll found that 42% of people undergoing IVF treatments report have suicidal thoughts, and multiple formalized studies have discovered that around 10% are considered to be at a clinical risk for suicide.
Aura Fertility wants to see these numbers improve. The U.K.-based, female founded and led startup launches its Aura IVF app today. Currently available to patients of three IVF clinics in the U.K. at launch, the app is anything but another gussied up fertility tracker. Instead, it follows a patient’s mood through the course of IVF treatments while providing information on the process, appointment scheduling, and even allowing the patient to connect face-to-face with a doctor.
Designed by Special Projects—a U.K. firm that’s known for taking a human-first approach—the app is specifically meant to avoid stressing or othering the patient.
That philosophy is not mere lip service. Clara, alongside Adrian Westaway, her spouse and cofounder, designed Aura to avoid adding any additional stressors on the user—and without painting an unrealistic or overly optimistic view on success, either.
Through several conversations with IVF recipients, the Westaways of Special Projects found their answer. “It sounds super obvious,” says Adrian, “but folks we talked to said they were never given a timeline of what the [IVF] journey might look like.”
In response, the Aura app provides exactly four articles every day—no more, no less—focused on explaining the IVF process and providing psychological care. The content itself can be customized automatically in response to the patient’s mood log, providing evidence-based care like cognitive therapy to help people cope with stress. While this means that Aura has to write a lot of articles for patients, that figure is somewhat finite, since one round of IVF treatments runs six to eight weeks on average.That’s intentional UX, to offer the user some clarity and control without luring them into the sort of binge-consumption that could further feed their anxiety. Meanwhile, a backend dashboard at the IVF clinic allows doctors to set up a treatment schedule in the app and follow the patient’s progress, similar to medical dashboards at hospitals today.
All of these functions are crucial to Aura’s experience, but the visual design was just as thoughtful. Special Projects handled the UI and branding, which was designed with a welcoming, handwritten feel. Even the app’s custom icons look like pen drawings; none of them are quite complete by design so that they appear casual. It’s a manipulative touch, yes! But it’s also done in the service of the user, to create a sense of warmth within the app.
“They might not do it on purpose, but the imagery is really hard for people trying to conceive,” Clara says.
Aura launches today in the U.K.; U.S. expansion is planned for 2023.
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