Preparation
You will now complete a brief 5-minute setup to prepare your device and space for the screening.
ContinueAccurate, but she is being processed.
← All work
FeminaiAn at-home breast scan, designed for a woman who cannot look at her phone.
An app that guides her through the scan with a wearable patch. Clinical enough to trust, human enough to finish.
- Clinical studytested with real users, then redesigned
- $350K grand prizeMedTech Innovator, 2026
- $9.7M raisedinvestments and grants
- My roleUX research, UX, UI
FeminaiAn at-home breast scan, designed for a woman who cannot look at her phone.
- Clinical studytested with real users, then redesigned
- $350K grand prizeMedTech Innovator, 2026
- $9.7M raisedinvestments and grants
- My roleUX research, UX, UI
The brief
An app that guides her through the whole scan, with a wearable patch and a voice.
Clinical enough to trust, human enough to finish.
0phases, one linear session
0questions, one per screen
0minutes of scanning per side
0single-use patch, so no room for error
OverviewHow do you keep her calm, confident and correct for twenty minutes?
An at-home breast-mapping kit: a single-use patch, a small measuring device and an app that guides the whole session.
She is home alone, on her back, one arm raised. She cannot see her phone. And the subject is breast cancer.
()
( breast health, at home )
( a patch )( a small device )( your phone )- One session
- 19 questions
- A practice patch
- Right side, 5 minutes
- Left side, 5 minutes
→
Begin scan ›
5minutes left
( In my own hands. )
After the clinical studyWhat real use changed
The first version went to a clinical study. Some women attached the patch wrong: they could not find where the anchor grips. Older and heavier women could not see the spot at all.
01
The videos are the instructions
Written steps are required, but almost nobody read them. Everyone watched the videos. I recommended splitting them. Most of the work went there: shorter, split, clearer editing.
02
One video per position
One patch serves both sides. A blue liner restores the glue in between, and many women did not understand how to apply it. That video became two: first the patch comes off, then the liner goes on. Every split follows where she is: lying down or standing.
03
Screens turned sideways
Some screens are laid out in landscape. She is lying down, and the phone sits better in her hand that way.
After the changes, placement works far better.
The guidance videos are not shown here. They include nudity.
From UX to UIGrey first, colour later
Every screen was a wireframe before it had a colour. Pick a stage, then drag the handle.
In the wireframe
In the final screen
The ideaTwo hats, worn at once
The clinical hat
The expert. Calm, sure and precise.
The human presence
The person in the room with you. Warm, one step at a time.
Too clinical, and she freezes. Too friendly, and she stops trusting it. Every screen, sentence and sound holds both.
UX writingOne screen, three voices
The same message, written three ways and checked against the two hats. This is the setup intro.
Before you begin
Preparation involves 3 short steps to ensure an accurate screening session. This will take approximately 5 minutes.
Start setupClear, still a little distant.Getting ready
This setup takes about 5 minutes. We’ll guide you through unpacking, device pairing, and skin preparation.
Begin setupSays what will happen, and that she is not alone.DecisionsTwo arguments worth having
Not every idea got through the first time. These two shaped the product.
Lost, then half won
- The need
- Every session needs a usable photo of the patch. A bad photo can mean a discarded scan.
- I proposed
- Live framing, the way visa-photo apps do it. The answer was no.
- What happened
- Almost nobody took the photo right. We added three simple guide screens.
- Then
- The team came back to the first idea. Development could not build all of it, so we shipped a lighter version.
- Result
- It helped at once. The same pattern now runs in Gaia.
Beautiful, but not behind text
- The wish
- The Feminai team wanted glass everywhere. It is beautiful, and I agreed.
- The problem
- Users are as old as 72. Text on glass over a gradient does not have enough contrast.
- The decision
- Where there is text to read, the surface is a blur. Glass stays where there is nothing to read.
- Result
- The look they wanted, with text that can be read.
Solution
Three phases, three states of mind
Phase 1
Health questionnaire
She is focused and wants to answer correctly.01
The whole session, up front
Honest time estimates. No surprises.
02
What we ask, and why
What it covers, how long it takes, and that it stays private.
03
One question per screen
A clear count, large type, no sub-categories.
Phase 2
Setup and preparation
She is a little unsure and needs to feel ready.01
One card, one action
Tie back your hair. Clean the skin. Each step stands alone.
02
Practice before the real thing
The single-use patch is never her first try.
03
Checked before it starts
Placement is verified before any scan begins.
04
A clear “you are ready”
The device confirms the connection in plain words.
Phase 3
The scan
She is lying still and cannot see the screen.01
What will happen
What the light on the device will do, and how long it takes.
02
Minutes, not percentages
A countdown never looks stuck. Voice guidance carries the rest.
03
A clear hand-over
Right side saved. Now the left.
04
Calm when it breaks
One sentence, one action.
Screen mapTen flows, one straight line
The session never branches. Each flow hands over to the next, and errors are the only way out.
01
Onboarding
- Welcome
- Sign in
- Where is my passkey?
- Progress tracker
02
Questionnaire
- Intro
- 19 questions
- Thank you
03
Kit and preparation
- Getting ready
- What’s in my kit
- Your kit is ready
- Prepare your space
- Remove jewelry
- Remove clothing
- Skin preparation
04
Practice session
- Position yourself
- Test patch
- Practice complete
- Removing the patch
05
Right side setup
- Remove the first liner
- Position the anchor
- Secure the patch
- Enable camera
- Placement check
06
Device and audio
- Device pairing
- Final audio check
- Low battery
07
Left side setup
- Liner replacement
- Re-place
- Placement check
08
Scans
- Right breast scan
- Scan complete
- Left breast scan
09
Complete
- Session complete
10
Errors
- Patch disconnected
- Connection lost
- Something went wrong
Screen templatesEight templates carry the whole app
The app runs on eight screen templates, each with its own layout and background motion. Practice, right and left look the same on purpose: by the real scan, she has seen every screen once.
Visual languageNothing here is decoration
Each choice answers one question: what does she need to feel right now?
D6195C64A3FFFFF9F12A2B2D
LightRegularMediumBold
5minutes left
More screensThe rest of the session
From sign-in to the last confirmation.
System and handoffDesigned to be built
Built by Feminai’s own developers, so the file answers their questions before they ask. Motion and behaviour are written next to the screens.
Foundations
Colour, type, radius, glass and glow.
App behaviour
Navigation, keyboard, pop-ups, small screens.
States
Video player, progress tags, scan loader.
Dev notes
What is the source of truth, and what is only a reference.
QA
Test builds checked against the design, flow by flow.
How I got there · ResearchFirst the journey, then the screens
I mapped the medical journey, from self-exam to biopsy and the wait for results, to see where Feminai meets her.
Result anxiety
Fear of the result makes her avoid the test.
The monitoring gap
A long silence between yearly exams.
Low self-trust
Afraid of doing it wrong.
No control over results
Results go to her physician, not to her.
Other at-home products were either colourful and emotional, or informative and rigid. My note on the board: “Is there a middle in medical?”
App map · from the research board
Outside the appInside the app
- PrescriptionFrom her physician
- PurchaseKit ordered online
- 5 emailsSkin test, kit contents, instructions
- Kit arrivesUnboxing, app download
- Sign inEmail and passkey
- Questionnaire19 questions
- PreparationSpace, hair, skin
- PracticeTest patch rehearsal
- Right scan5 minutes, voice guided
- Switch sidesPeel, liner, re-place
- Left scan5 minutes
- ResultsFrom her physician within 24 hours, outside the app
The app owns only the middle. Results never pass through it, so the last screen has one job: confirm the scan reached the right hands.
What we want her to feelIn controlCuriousCapableLooked after
What she may arrive withAnxietyEmbarrassmentTech frustrationSelf-doubt
And often bothExcited, and worried
01
Medical journey map
Where the product meets her.
02
Benchmark
15+ at-home medical products.
03
Five personas
When she comes, and what she feels.
04
Interview guide
Trust in home devices, waiting for results.
05
KPIs
Placement accuracy, completed scans, calmness.
PersonasFive women, five reasons to open the box
One app for a woman who is curious and a woman who is terrified. What they share: none of them wants to feel alone in the room.
The aware worrier
Young, no family history, lives with health anxiety.
- What she feels
- Wants regular confirmation that all is well.
At risk
Family history or a genetic carrier, under close follow-up.
- What she feels
- Constant fear. The kit is a kind of digital bodyguard.
The tracker
Loves health data. Tracks sleep and steps.
- What she feels
- Curiosity and control. She wants trends, not one-off checks.
Too busy
Career and family. No time for long appointments.
- What she feels
- Guilt. She needs it to be effortless.
After treatment
Recovered from breast cancer, in remission.
- What she feels
- High alert. Every small change is stressful.
OutcomeWhat happened next
Feminai is in a clinical study, where its results are compared with mammography.
The company has raised $9.7 million in investments and grants. In October 2026 it won the $350,000 grand prize at MedTech Innovator. Read the announcement
Looking backWhat I would do differently
01
Learn longer before drawing
The learning phase was short, and I went straight to wireframes. What I missed here, I made up for on Gaia.
02
Warmer words
Many screens still read colder than I wanted, in the text and in the feel.
