Flourish is a mobile & web app for tracking chronic conditions and communicating them with healthcare providers.
Flourish
Timeframe
Sep - Nov 2021
(3 months)
Team
2 designer, 2 developers, 1 pm
Scope
graduate prototype to Alpha stage
Tools
Google Suite, Zen Hub, Figma
Role
project manager
Role
I worked on Flourish as PM during a 10-week sprint at the Digital Applied Learning & Innovation Lab (DALI) at Dartmouth. When I joined, Flourish had been in the lab for ~2 years. My primary objective was leading the team to move the app from prototype to Alpha testing.
Objective
Move app from prototype to Alpha testing
Process
I ensured we achieved our main objective, moving to Alpha testing, within 10 weeks by breaking down the challenge into smaller deliverables organized in 1-week sprints, while constantly revisiting the bigger picture goals. These are the main deliverables that contributed to my team’s success.
Maintaining project roadmap
Creating and maintaining a project roadmap was essential to attain our overarching goal.
Deliverable breakdown:
Co-created project roadmap with CEO and team, which I revisited as needed
Organized deliverables in weekly sprints using google Docs and Zen Hub to ensure accountability
Had 1-1 meetings with CEO, team members, and a DALI PM mentor to gain their perspectives on strategy and roadblocks
Building consensus on product direction
When I joined Flourish, the developers and designers were working on the Flourish app to track chronic conditions and visualize trends for better patient-doctor communication, as well as building a research portal for a partner hospital in exchange for future access to data. The portal was going to allow hospital researchers to visualize trends related to chronic patients’ conditions in a similar way to how the app operates.
Following a couple confusing meetings with the partnering hospital and sensing general unease on the team, I realized we were drifting towards feature creep and away from our original mission. I held a meeting with the team and Flourish’s CEO, and revisited the product’s mission and timeline.
We decided to move focus on app development and push the development of the research portal to a future term. We shifted our focus on the patient-doctor relationship, uncovering the need for user research with healthcare professionals. This development was an important step in assuring we were prepared for Alpha testing in time. It allowed us to:
Prioritize features that strengthen doctor-patient relationship, which aligns with Flourish’s original mission
Refocus designers’ attention on designing Flourish’s website and user research with doctors, to improve design in preparation for Alpha testing
Flourish was initially developed using insights from patients alone, but a core aspect of the Flourish experience is the ability to provide doctors with quantitative information and trends regarding illness progression for improved diagnosis and treatment
Team management & conflict resolution
All members of my team were full-time students at Dartmouth, which implies ever-busy schedules and the occasional conflict. I made sure the members of my team felt comfortable coming to me with any issues or conflicts by displaying active listening and checking in with them regularly. We held a team feedback session where we discussed the progress of the project as a whole, as well as team dynamics and concerns. A concern was brought up about one of the designer’s attitude towards the team and project. I solved the issue with the other designer by checking in more & making sure they worked on aspects of the project they enjoyed.
Handoff Document
I was in charge of writing a handoff document, following DALI tradition, to report the progress in the 10 weeks and ensure future teams - especially new members - have proper documentation. The document included:
Overview
App Description & Functionality
Prior Work
Dev & Design Progress during the 10 weeks
Future Developments (i.e. Alpha testing)
Access Flourish’s website or check out the Figma mobile prototype below!
Key Takeaways
With only 10 weeks to attain our goal and working on Flourish as a full-time student, I learned about leadership in a fast-paced environment and prioritization.
I also learned about joining a project that’s been ongoing for years (2 for Flourish) and gaining the team’s respect through timely deliverables, clear communication, and empathy.
Finally, working on Flourish helped me realize I really enjoy shaping a project’s direction, which was more or less already set for Flourish. If I work as PM at DALI again, I will join a project in its incipient stages to play a bigger role in shaping its strategy.