CoCare.
Designing a family coordination platform for dementia care — reducing carer burnout through structured collaboration and shared responsibility.
Designing a coordinated care platform, engaging carers and support structures to reduce burnout among dementia carers through structured family collaboration. Research showed that higher family involvement reduces burnout — but in practice, care responsibilities are rarely distributed evenly.
- Product strategy
- Mobile app UX
- Marketing site design
- Messaging framework
- Prototype development
- Pricing model design
Reducing burnout in fragmented family systems.
Caring for a loved one with dementia places disproportionate strain on the primary carer. Research shows that higher family involvement reduces burnout — but in practice, care responsibilities are rarely distributed evenly.
Communication is scattered across text messages, notes apps and memory. Critical details live inside the primary carer's head. No one outside the inner circle knows what needs doing or when support is most needed.
The opportunity was to move from individual burden to shared responsibility.
Strategy
CoCare was positioned as a teamwork platform rather than a medical app. The goal was to strengthen families so they could give better care.
Instead of framing the product around demands on the carer, the messaging centred on coordination, visibility and trust. The emotional tone shifted from obligation to support.
Understanding confusion and unspoken expectations
Research and community interviews revealed recurring frustrations. Primary carers struggled to step away, even briefly, because family members created friction within already stressed households.
The deeper issue was not a lack of love. It was a lack of structure.
Test and feature prioritisation
The product needed to reduce mental load, not add to it. A personalised resource hub was designed to support the specific needs of families caring for dementia. Calendar views allowed family members to see when professional carers were scheduled and provide support asynchronously.
Validation began with networks, support groups and partnerships with charities and councils. The objective was simple: make asking for help feel normal.
Visual design language
The visual identity embodied warmth and strength. Gradients and soft overlays created a sense of support without infantilising the audience — the idea that stronger families give better care.
The tone avoided medical jargon and focused on empowerment.
Design system
The feature release was structured around three pillars: coordination, clarity and communication. Recurring assigned tasks, shared calendars, a message hub and a resource library formed the core experience.
The marketing site mirrored the app's emotional framing. It presented a finished product experience while capturing early access sign-ups for a test audience pilot. The system was built to scale across marketing, product and community channels seamlessly.
New features
Shared scheduling, collaborative care assignments and centralised knowledge storage formed the foundation. The resource hub included expert messaging, reminders and care prompts to reduce mental load on the primary carer.
The campaign extended to social media storytelling, using real quotes from carers to validate the need. CoCare was not designed as a checklist. It was designed as a relief mechanism.
