“Kate left no stone unturned. She uncovered insights we hadn’t even considered and translated them into features that made us rethink what was possible. Her impact was foundational.”
Biz/Org
Carina
Year
2024
Social Impact
UX Research
Project Overview
Carina and Washington Medicaid needed deep, user-led insights to guide the creation of a new digital respite care matching platform. I led an emotionally complex, multi-perspective research initiative to center the lived experiences of caregivers, providers, and system administrators.
Conducted 1:1 interviews with unpaid caregivers, care workers, and state partners
Created detailed personas and emotional journey maps across all user types
Delivered a 28-page research synthesis with prioritized product recommendations
Used storytelling and quotes to amplify voices typically left out of product strategy
Embedded trauma-informed design principles to influence tone, features, and flows
Project Goals
How might we help unpaid caregivers of medically fragile people find the right support—without guilt, overwhelm, or fear?
Most existing tools treated respite care as a scheduling problem. But in reality, caregivers faced trust issues, burnout, and emotional hurdles before they even logged in. Our goal was to deeply understand these blockers—and design for dignity from the start.
Identified psychological and practical barriers to accessing state-supported care
Balanced Medicaid requirements with lived experience and emotional nuance
Positioned MVP features to build trust and reduce friction (e.g., provider filters, secure messaging)
Elevated caregiver stories as essential design inputs—not edge cases
Challenges
Sourcing emotionally vulnerable stories with sensitivity and respect
Designing for trust in a context defined by burnout, fear, and overwhelm
Navigating Medicaid policy constraints while honoring real user behavior
Lack of prior digital infrastructure meant starting from zero, conceptually and structurally
Solutions
Designed and facilitated a full research program: recruitment, guides, interviews, synthesis
Built shared understanding through cross-functional presentations and design artifacts
Created modular research outputs to inform phased MVP development
Outcome & Impact
Delivered a comprehensive insights report that served as the foundation for MVP planning
Guided Carina and WA Medicaid to focus on emotionally resonant, modular features
Aligned cross-functional teams around a shared understanding of caregiver needs
Helped secure buy-in for a product direction rooted in empathy, safety, and real impact
