convo.

In my final year of IXD, over the course of nine months I completed my major project. The final outcome was a digital product which allows people living with MND to continue their conversations, with their own voice. With features such as text to speech, voice and message banking all available on one platform, Convo aims to prevent the communication barrier that a MND diagnosis creates.

Work from 2025

The Story Behind Convo.

Motor Neurone Disease is a terminal and progressive condition that kills motor neurones - leading to the wasting of muscles, affecting a person’s ability to walk, breathe, swallow and speak. Progressively losing your ability to speak and use your voice is detrimental to those living with MND. Not only in terms of communication, but also impacting their connections with others and themselves.

My inspiration for Convo came from a personal connection. My uncle Neil was diagnosed with MND when he was only 32, and my Nanny, Margaret, was his primary carer. I saw first hand the impact it had on him, Nanny and my family. One challenge they faced, daily and hourly, was the communication barrier that MND created. So during the brainstorming process, I thought if there was anything I could create that could have helped them, but also help others who are facing a similar situation.

And that was how the concept for Convo was born.

The Problem.

Finding the problem was key in my development of Convo. MND creates a range of complex problems for the people affected, so it was impossible to try and solve them all. So I considered where I could make a small intervention that would have the largest impact - this was how MND takes a person’s voice.

To solve this problem, Convo aims to change the narrative that everyone living with MND will lose their voice - to giving people the tools they need to keep their voice.

Research.

To create a strong foundation for my project, I carried out weeks of research where I started with a deep dive into the subject area, the people affected and the problems that MND creates. Some of these methods of research included:

  • Articles

  • Websites

  • Documentaries

  • Interviews

  • Case Studies

This gave me a good understanding of the problem and how it impacts the people affected.

User research was vital to the development of Convo. I wanted the users to be at the heart of Convo, so understanding what is important to them was key.

The methods of user research I carried out included:

User interviews | Surveys | User personas | Empathy maps | User stories | Customer journey maps | Card sorting

Sketchbooks.

This includes what I consider to be the backbone to my project. My development work was mainly carried out in my sketchbooks. I brainstormed ideas, worked out problems and planned my project through sketching.

Content within my sketchbooks range from idea generation to user flows to brand exploration to information architecture and wireframes.

Once I had finalised the features to be included through brainstorms, mind maps and research, I moved to create user flows and sketch wireframes. From this I created more detailed aspects like information architecture and sitemaps.

Redesign Sprint.

I carried out a redesign sprint around the mid-point section of my project. I felt there was aspects I could improve, so I took two days to go back to my research and ideation. I brainstormed and explored new ideas. I feel this improved the final outcome significantly.

Mockups.

Following the redesign and referring back to my sketched wireframes I created mid-fidelity wireframes. I developed these further into high-fidelity mock ups, after finalising my brand and building out my design system.

Worth a read.

  • Over the course of the project I did face some challenges which I had to overcome.

    During the ideation process, I struggled to narrow down the problem I wanted to solve. I felt a bit overwhelmed by the amount of issues I found during my user research. Looking back, the challenge was that I tried to address everything, but I overcame that when I decided to focus on one specific issues.

    I struggled to carry out user testing with people living with MND. I did reach out to some groups and charities, but unfortunately it wasn’t possible. So, instead I based my user testing on the age demographics - with the aim to make it as user friendly as possible for all ages

  • Over the course of the project I carried out three rounds of user testing, along with an accessibility audit and interactivity audit.

    The first was definitely the most insightful as it highlighted how people used the product and if there was any concerns. From here I made changes to improve the user experience and I created this rainbow sheet which grouped the observations together and visually showed which was the most common problems people were having. 

    In my second round, I tested the individual flows for the main three features of speak now, voicebank and favourite messages - as these are the main parts users would be using, so I wanted them to be as seamless as possible.

    I took learnings from all my rounds of user testing and made the necessary changes if needed.

  • While creating Convo, I created a design system during the wireframe and prototype process.

    It includes colour styles, made up of primary and secondary colour palettes, along with text styles.

    The component library contributes to the main section of the design system, with elements used across Convo’s wireframes. Examples of these include:

    • Buttons

    • Icons

    • Modal windows

    • Tool tips

    • Headers

    • Illustrations

    The design system was vital in building Convo and maintaining visual and brand consistency.

The Brand.

As part of my major project, I created a detailed brand guidelines for Convo. These outlined the brand identity, brand visuals and brand application.

You can view the full brand guidelines here.

Prototype.

By the end of my project, I had a fully functional prototype. This was a time consuming process, and at times frustrating, due to the large scale size of my prototype. Due to the nature of the keyboard and software limitations, I incorporated ‘mini demos’ within the main prototype to showcase all that Convo has to offer.

Want to know more?

To have a more in depth review of my Convo project, take a look at Building Convo. It includes the brand guidelines, launch strategy and personal reflection

Next

Rooted Beauty