Co-Care
Research Recap
The research showed that families manage recovery alone once treatment ends, caught in three loops that feed each other. Each loop became a design question.
Recovery needs a structure people can return to
Co-Care is built around three stages: Prepare, Align and Act.
Each one answers a question from the research. Prepare helps people put their needs into words, Align connects them with the right support, and Act turns the plan into daily routines. Families can return to any stage when something changes.
How might we
empower patients with rare
chronic conditions and their
caregivers through the move
from treatment to
rehabilitation?
The research showed that families manage recovery alone once treatment ends, caught in three loops that feed each other. Each loop became a design question.
How might we
provide vocabulary
that can help them
structure their
confusions
How might we
design for navigation
and guidance support
from emerging roles in
care
How might we
reduce the trial & error
and provide the right
structures to identify
the triggers
Interested to know the thinking behind the Service?
Ecosystem-Relations mapping, Value Proposition mapping, Service-Payment Channels and many more maps
Behind the Service
Finding Co-Care
Co-Care reaches families at the point where care usually stops
The research showed that no one hands patients over when treatment ends. So Co-Care is designed to meet them at that moment. It partners with doctors, clinics and hospitals, and appears at discharge or at the start of rehabilitation, through a doctor's recommendation or a brochure in the waiting room. Local campaigns and word of mouth reach families outside the hospital.
Prepare
Prepare is where families start. Through a set of themed questions, patients and caregivers choose the topics that matter to them right now, across the five dimensions of rehabilitation. They then narrow a topic into a specific focus, which the platform uses to recommend the right coach.
Patients often “do not know what
they don’t know” by the end
of their search
Research participants arrived at appointments unprepared and overwhelmed. They had questions, but no way to organise them.
Few people
to ask
Rare conditions have no support groups and little reliable information online.
10 mins to ask
it all
Specialist visits are short, so questions get forgotten or left unasked.
Too
overwhelmed
to think
Fear and confusion crowd out clear questions.
A clear starting point for patient and caregiver
Families arrive at their first coaching session knowing what they want to work on. The time between leaving the hospital and understanding what to do next gets shorter, and caregivers have a way to share their own needs, not only the patient's.
2. Align
Align connects families with the right person. Based on the focus they chose in Prepare, the platform shows a shortlist of matched, verified coaches and book a 30-minute session, online or in person. After the session, the coach writes a summary and sets up the trackers for the next stage.
Recovery became "more trial and
process of elimination"
With no one to guide them, families found experts by trial and error. Each wrong turn cost months, money and hope, and sent them back to the start.
No one to
point the way
Families didn't know which expert they needed, so they guessed.
No sense of
the timeline
Without knowing what's normal, every setback felt like failure.
Each turn
starts over
Every new expert meant retelling the story from zero.
From guesswork to a direction
Families are matched to the right expert for where they are, not the nearest or the first one found. Coaches help them make sense of their timeline and what comes next, so fewer wrong turns lead back into the spiral.
3. Act
Act is where the plan becomes daily practice. After the coaching session, the coach's summary switches on personalised trackers in the app, covering diet, exercise, sleep, mood, symptoms and medication. Families log what happens day to day.
"I did not have any tools. I just
had one goal."
Families built their own ways to track progress, from boards and journals to memory. Triggers took months to spot, and once pain eased, many stopped altogether.
Home-made
systems
Notes pinned to boards and journals kept by hand, with no expert reviewing them.
Triggers
found the
hard way
Flare-ups were linked to causes only after months of trial and error.
Felt better, so
they stop
Once pain eased, patients dropped treatment, and relapse followed.
From guessing to knowing what works
For patients and families, trackers set for their own focus, broken into small goals. Nudges keep them going after the pain eases, and patterns show triggers sooner. For Coaches, trends between sessions show what's working and what's slipping. When engagement drops, coaches can follow up before it becomes a relapse.
Making the invisible visible
In India, care coaching is offered privately and inconsistently, through some hospitals, wellness startups and NGOs.
There are no role definitions, no standard for quality, and no link to discharge or treatment plans. Co-Care defines who a coach is, verifies them before they join, and builds trust over time through feedback from the families they work with.
Who is a Care Coach?
A care coach is a trained, verified support person who works alongside patients and caregivers on the parts of rehabilitation that fall outside clinical care.
They help families understand information, set realistic goals, find the right resources and cope with the emotional side of long-term care.
Need for Boundaries
Without boundaries, a coach risks becoming one more source of conflicting advice. Doctors, who are the main route to Co-Care, need to trust that coaches support their treatment rather than compete with it. And with no official definition of the role in India, Co-Care has to set one.
A Care Coach does
A Care Coach does
Help families make sense of their condition and next steps
Turn goals into realistic, manageable steps
Connect families with resources and other specialists
Follow progress between sessions and step in when things slip
Diagnose conditions
Prescribe treatment or medication
Override medical decisions
Replace doctors or clinical care
How do we build the TRUST?
Trust is earned in three stages, not granted once
Families can't judge a coach's qualifications on their own, and in India nothing does it for them. Co-Care verifies every coach before they appear on the platform, then keeps checking through feedback from real sessions.
Behind the app is a Service that has to hold together
The three stages describe what families experience. This working shows what makes that possible: how people, tools and organisations connect, what value Co-Care offers each side, how families first hear about it, and how the service pays for itself. It covers the ecosystem and relations maps, the value proposition, the business model, adoption pathways, channels and the payment model.
Ecosystem relations map
Mapping what had to be built, defined and connected
I used this map to work out what the service needs: what to build, what to define and what to connect. It also traces how information moves, from what a family selects in Prepare, to what the coach sees before the session, to the plan and trackers that follow.
Ecosystem relations map
One loop, with the coach and the system working together
This map shows how patient, caregiver, coach and platform connect across the three stages. Families can move between them as their needs change. The system keeps them engaged with nudges, reminders and visual indicators, while the coach helps them interpret what's happening, decide what matters most, and feel supported.
Value Proposition
Defining what Co-Care solves, for whom, and what changes
Co-Care brings a structured way through rehabilitation, with a verified coach to guide them and tools to follow the plan at home.
Business Model
How does Co-Care make money?
Co-Care is paid for by families, in a country where most care is already paid out of pocket. The model keeps the cost of starting low and the door open after the programme ends.
Layer 1: Why a try-out form
Families new to coaching shouldn't have to compare plans they don't yet understand. The form recommends one based on their situation, so they start in the right programme.
Layer 2: Why these plans
Rehabilitation takes months, so longer plans cost less per month. Instalments never cost more than paying upfront. Families who can't pay at once aren't penalised for it.
Layer 3: Why support continues
Setbacks are part of living with a rare chronic condition. After the programme, families can get help when they need it without committing to a new plan, and the free app keeps them connected, so coming back is easy.
Layer 4: Why later
Hospitals and NGOs will only fund a service with a track record. This layer is how Co-Care would scale, not how it starts
This is part 2 of Co-Care.
The research behind it, including interviews, market analysis and the three loops, is on a separate page.
Research - Co Care
Co-Care
Designing a care coaching service for patients with rare chronic conditions and their caregivers in India
Role
Product Designer
Team
Design Director
Development Team
Business Team
Tools
Figma
Sketch
Confluence
Jira
Timeline
2023 - 4 weeks
Full Time
Project
MA Service Design thesis
Supervised by
Prof. Jan-Christoph Zoels and Dr. Andrew Polaine
Role
Service Designer
Timeline
Oct-Apr 2026
OVERVIEW
The research showed that families manage recovery alone once treatment ends, caught in three loops of confusion, emotional strain and relapse.
Co-Care is the service designed in response.
It connects patients and caregivers, as one unit of care, with verified care coaches working in a non-clinical capacity. Families move through three stages: Prepare, where they put their needs into words; Align, where they are matched with a coach and agree on a plan; and Act, where the plan becomes daily routines, with support when things slip. They can return to any stage when something changes.
Beyond the app, the work defined the coach role and how coaches are verified, mapped how the service connects people, tools and organisations, and built a business model for families who pay out of pocket.
OVERVIEW
The research showed that families manage recovery alone once treatment ends, caught in three loops of confusion, emotional strain and relapse.
Co-Care is the service designed in response.
It connects patients and caregivers, as one unit of care, with verified care coaches working in a non-clinical capacity. Families move through three stages: Prepare, where they put their needs into words; Align, where they are matched with a coach and agree on a plan; and Act, where the plan becomes daily routines, with support when things slip. They can return to any stage when something changes.
Beyond the app, the work defined the coach role and how coaches are verified, mapped how the service connects people, tools and organisations, and built a business model for families who pay out of pocket.
This is part 2 of Co-Care.
The research- part 1, including interviews, market analysis and the three loops, is on a separate page.
Research - Co Care
Research - Co Care
Co-Care
Designing a care coaching service for patients with rare chronic conditions and their caregivers in India
Role
UX Researcher
Product -
Service Designer
Team
Design Director
Development Team
Business Team
Tools
Figma
Sketch
Confluence
Jira
Timeline
2023 - 4 weeks
Full Time
Project
MA Service Design thesis
Supervised by
Prof. Jan-Christoph Zoels and Dr. Andrew Polaine
Role
Service Designer
Timeline
Oct-Apr 2026
OVERVIEW
The research showed that families manage recovery alone once treatment ends, caught in three loops of confusion, emotional strain and relapse.
Co-Care is the service designed in response.
It connects patients and caregivers, as one unit of care, with verified care coaches working in a non-clinical capacity. Families move through three stages: Prepare, where they put their needs into words; Align, where they are matched with a coach and agree on a plan; and Act, where the plan becomes daily routines, with support when things slip. They can return to any stage when something changes.
Beyond the app, the work defined the coach role and how coaches are verified, mapped how the service connects people, tools and organisations, and built a business model for families who pay out of pocket.
This is part 2 of Co-Care.
The research- part 1, including interviews, market analysis and the three loops, is on a separate page.
Research - Co Care