An onboarding flow designed for people living with paralysis

Client

Maslow

Year

2020

The problem

Maslow's voice-controlled app helps people with a spinal cord injury run their care at home: their carers, therapists and rehab. The hard part was getting started. New users struggled to sign up and learn the app, therapists weren't sure how to help, and Maslow's small team was chasing every new lead by hand. That left less time for what mattered most: making the app better for the people using it.

Our process

Step 1

Listening, remotely

We interviewed users, therapists and the Maslow team over video, in the middle of COVID.

The end result

We redesigned how people join Maslow, from the first hello to their first week in the app. New users are guided step by step, with voice controls for anyone who can't tap easily. Therapists get their own path to support their clients. Follow-ups the team used to send by hand now go out automatically, giving Maslow's people time back for their users. And because we designed once for both platforms, the app shipped to the App Store and Google Play from a single build.

The Maslow app on three iPhones on a dark stage: today's care plan in front, team chat and progress behind
Maslow's onboarding role picker on a phone, between the welcome and QR invite screens

Three people, three ways in

Someone newly injured, their therapist and Maslow's own team all need something different on day one. We started with customer research, interviewing people living with paralysis, therapists and the Maslow team. Then we mapped each journey step by step, from first contact to daily use, and designed around the moments people told us they got stuck or were left waiting.

The Maslow team chat on an iPhone with automated follow-up notifications around it

Follow-ups that send themselves

Maslow's small team spent hours chasing new enquiries. We automated the follow-ups, so every new lead hears back on time and the team gets those hours back for their users.

The Maslow app with iOS Voice Control numbers on screen, and the spoken command Tap 4 selecting Saturday

Designed for voice, not just touch

Many of Maslow's users can't always tap a screen. We co-designed with people living with paralysis, built voice controls into the flow, and cut anything that got in the way.

Maslow's design system panels for logo, type, colour, buttons and icons, lifted off the board

One design, two app stores

We built a lean design system around the developer's toolkit, so every screen was designed once and shipped to both iPhone and Android with the same look and feel.

Capabilities

Remote research

Service design

Journey mapping

UX design

UI design

Accessibility

Voice interaction

Sales automation

Design system

iOS & Android

“As a startup, we're often challenged by the boundaries that come with being a fast growing organisation and team. Josh was able to work within these constraints to provide a detailed lens on our product, customer relationships, processes, and untapped capabilities.”

Andrew Akib, CEO of Maslow

Andrew Akib

CEO

“As a startup, we're often challenged by the boundaries that come with being a fast growing organisation and team. Josh was able to work within these constraints to provide a detailed lens on our product, customer relationships, processes, and untapped capabilities.”

Andrew Akib, CEO of Maslow

Andrew Akib

CEO

Trusted by many

Trusted by many