Rebuilding The Village: a Space for Mums to Belong

Overview

Momsi is a mobile app designed to connect new mums with local support, shared wisdom, and emotional reassurance. The idea emerged from the founder’s own experience after the birth of his child. He and his wife realised how difficult it was to navigate early motherhood without a support network. They wanted to create a space where mothers could find community, speak openly, and access helpful resources—all in one place.

I joined the team as the UX designer, fresh out of a UX bootcamp. As a mum myself, living abroad and adjusting to a new baby, I deeply resonated with the mission. I had felt the same isolation, confusion, and longing for connection. It felt like a beautiful opportunity to bring that shared experience into a meaningful design.

The Problem

Motherhood is often idealised as intuitive and joyful, but the reality can be overwhelming, especially in the early months. Many mums face emotional and practical struggles in silence. This insight sparked the idea for Momsi - a space designed specifically for mums to connect, share, and support each other without pressure or judgment. The goal was to create a more meaningful alternative to traditional social platforms, grounded in empathy and real-life connection.

My Role

I was part of a small team of three, with the goal of designing the product before handing it off to a development agency for implementation. The team included:

  • Ionuț Turlea – Founder

  • Irina Ianculescu – Marketing & Growth

  • Myself – UX Design

As the sole designer, I was responsible for shaping the entire product experience — from early brand exploration to final design handoff. My contributions included:

  • Developed the app’s visual identity

  • Designed the user flows, navigation, and wireframes

  • Conducted usability testing with mums in Romania

  • Collaborated closely with the team to ensure feasibility

  • Delivered High Fidelity Designs

Understanding Our User

Spreadsheet displaying three columns labeled 'emotionale,' 'functionale,' and 'si si,' with various topics such as depression, anxiety, lack of sleep, and social life issues, accompanied by numbers.

When I joined the project, initial research had already been completed, and Ionut had outlined a long list of features and ideas to explore. To ground the design process in empathy and stay focused on real user needs, I created a persona representing our target audience — mums in the early stages of motherhood.

This persona helped capture their day-to-day emotional and functional challenges and became a reference point for making thoughtful design decisions throughout the project.

👩‍🍼 Ana, First-Time Mum

  • Age: 32

  • Location: Bucharest, Romania

  • Family: Married, one 6-month-old baby

  • Occupation: On maternity leave from her marketing job

Mindset & Emotions

Ana is caught in a whirlwind of love, anxiety, and exhaustion. She misses her pre-baby life, struggles to feel competent, and feels isolated even when surrounded by others.

Needs

  • To feel normal in her struggles

  • A place to share vulnerable feelings anonymously

  • Support in rebuilding her identity as a mother and a woman

Pain Points

  • She’s sleep-deprived, foggy, and often feels she's not doing enough

  • Her relationship with her partner feels strained

  • Her previous friendships seem to fade

  • Returning to work feels uncertain and far away

Goals

  • Meet local mums who understand

  • Access advice without being overwhelmed

  • Carve out guilt-free time for herself

Tech Habits

  • Uses Facebook but finds it too noisy

  • Craves something focused, calm, and honest

Competitor Analysis

To better understand the landscape, I conducted a quick competitor analysis of digital platforms for mums. I focused primarily on Facebook Groups, which are widely used in Romania and serve as the default go-to app for many mums seeking support. I also reviewed apps like Peanut, Mush, and WeMoms — while not available for download locally, they offered valuable insights and inspiration.

Facebook Groups are deeply embedded in Romanian users’ routines, but they come with some drawbacks: they lack emotional safety, conversations get easily buried, and the experience often feels impersonal. There’s little transparency about who sees your posts, and the structure doesn't support building a close-knit, local community — something we felt was essential for new mums looking for connection and reassurance.

Comparison of Facebook Groups, Mush App, Peanut App, and We Moms App, featuring text boxes and app screenshots.

Feature Definition, User Stories, Core Journeys

Ionut brought a long list of feature ideas, many of which were supported by the initial research. Building on that, I focused on shaping a core set of features that aligned with the everyday needs of new mums. I wrote user stories to help frame each feature in the context of real-life situations, making sure our decisions stayed grounded in empathy.

The intention wasn’t to create just another app, but to explore how a digital space could gently encourage real-world connection — moments of generosity, local meet-ups, and emotional support. We hoped the experience would feel less like a product and more like a quiet companion for mums navigating early motherhood.

Each journey was grounded in a clear user goal. These were the key flows we mapped:

  • Create Local Village
    “I want to find mums nearby I can actually meet.”
    A location-based feature that surfaces mums within walking distance — not just static profiles, but invitations to real-life connection.

  • Community Forum
    “I need to talk to someone who gets it.”
    A space for honesty. Anonymity optional. Women only for privacy and safety.

  • Profile Pages
    “Where is the me that I know?”
    Imperfect, human. More than a username: a space to show who you are, what you need, and what you can offer.

  • Marketplace
    “We’re drowning in stuff — someone else could use this.”
    A circular economy for baby items. Less waste, more generosity. A swap/sell/share system designed with safety and ease in mind.

  • Expert Services
    “I need real help, not just opinions.”
    Curated access to qualified professionals, from lactation consultants to perinatal therapists. Integrated booking and filtering.

  • Events
    “I want to meet other mums — but I don’t know where to start.”
    A calendar of online and offline events to re-humanise digital connection and reduce the barrier to showing up. Anyone can initiate meet-ups.

With so many features to consider, structuring the information architecture was a challenge. I needed to work within the constraints of a 5-tab bottom navigation, and find a balance between what would be most helpful for mums and what made sense from a business perspective — all while aiming for a navigation that felt simple and intuitive.

My goal was to keep key actions easy to access, using clear, familiar language that reflected how mums naturally speak and think.

I started by drafting the IA based on my own judgment and understanding of the users. To test these early assumptions, I ran an open card sorting exercise, which offered valuable insight into how users grouped tasks and understood different labels. It also helped surface subtle differences in how terms like “support” or “services” were perceived — small but meaningful distinctions that helped guide the structure.

Flowchart of various tasks and actions with colored lines connecting them on a white background.
Flowchart depicting website navigation structure with categories like "Home," "Meetups," "Bazaar," "Account," and "Chat," each linked to various sub-sections indicating functions and features in boxes connected by lines.

To ensure alignment with the team, I created quick paper wireframes to communicate my design ideas and make sure they were in line with the founder’s vision. As more questions arose and we identified opportunities for improvement, we worked together to refine the design across a few versions. Mapping out the experience helped us revisit the user stories and prioritize features that would best meet the needs of mums, while also staying focused on our goals.

UI design sketches for a community app featuring sections on community posts, adding members, user profiles, bazaars, meetups, and expert login. Includes handwritten notes about mandatory hashtags, prime information for nearby moms, coffee mornings, workshops, and online chats. Various pencil-drawn layouts on grid paper.
Hand-drawn app wireframe sketches showing various sections like Community, Bazaar, Meetups, Chat, My Account, and Other's Account with text boxes, icons, and diagrams on a grid paper background.

Visual Branding and Style Guide

As we moved into high-fidelity designs, we focused on creating an app that felt welcoming, uplifting, colorful and bold, without relying on typical “baby” pastel shades. Our design choices included:

  • Warm tones and bold accents - to bring warmth and a sense of empowerment

  • Typography - clear and easy to read, even with tired eyes

  • Logo and iconography - soft shapes and fluid lines to feel supportive and comforting. My talented friend, Iulia Jurca stepped in to help design some beautiful custom icons to help give the app a unique feel.

The idea behind the brand was simple: We’re here for the messy process, and you’re not alone. Find others to share the journey.

Once we had the team aligned, I created a minimal style guide to help maintain consistency as the design developed.

Collage featuring illustrations and photos promoting diversity and positivity, including colorful abstract art, drawings of diverse people, motivational text "This is a safe space to be who you are," and photos of friends together.
Design system documentation featuring sections on grids, elevation, icons, typography, and colors, with examples and guidelines displayed on each page.

Early Testing & Feedback

For our first round of testing, we created an interactive prototype and shared it with an engaged Facebook group of mums. Their insight was invaluable—they helped us validate core navigation decisions, prioritize what content should be surfaced, and highlight the features that needed more clarity.

We focused primarily on the initial layout, main navigation, and how information was structured. Our goal was to see if users could easily understand where to find what they needed and how to complete basic tasks like creating a post.

Key Learnings:

  • Initially, anonymous posts were hidden within the navigation, and mums didn’t understand why they were in a separate section. This made us rethink the structure - why separate anonymous posts and help requests from the message feed? We merged anonymous posts and help requests into a single feed and renamed it “SOS” to easily mark posts that need immediate attention.

  • The early design looked too overcrowded and lacked warmth. It didn’t feel like a space that welcomed mums or reflected their emotional world. so we re-designed the layout, adding imagery that sparked tenderness and familiarity. This small shift brought a surprising amount of emotional delight.

  • While we had originally planned to include expert-led content and features, we realised early on that we wouldn’t have enough traction to support it meaningfully.
    We decided to pause this feature and focus on building strong community connections first.

This group of mums helped shape everything from full flows to copy tweaks. They were quick to respond, generous with their time, and their enthusiasm made us want to fast-track the launch, so they could finally have the village they were promised.

A series of mobile app interface screens displaying a community platform. The screens show features like "Help Requests," "Meet Moms Near You," and "Buy & Sell" with profile images, text posts, and options to interact. Each screen has navigation icons at the bottom for home, meetups, bazaar, chat, and account settings. The design includes a search bar and colorful buttons for user actions.
two black chevron arrows pointing right on a white background
A mobile app interface displays three screens for a community app for moms. The first screen features the 'Ask Moms' section with a search bar and a button to ask the community. The second screen is the 'Bazaar' section with items for sale like toys and clothing, and a button to sell an item. The third screen shows 'Moms, Meet-Up!' with details on upcoming meet-ups, including time, date, and an option to create a meet-up.

Back to mapping flows in detail

  • Onboarding Flow

  • Community Flow

  • Meet-up Flow

  • Bazaar Flow

  • Chat Flow

  • My Account Flow

Onboarding and the AHA! Moment

The goal of onboarding was to collect enough meaningful information upfront to enable accurate, relevant matches between local moms. We also wanted to end the process with personalized suggestions—helping each mom discover nearby connections right away.

To enable rich, personalized matching and community building, we asked moms to share:

  • Location - Essential for surfacing nearby moms and local activities.

  • Children's details - Including age and gender, which helped tailor suggestions and conversations.

  • Fun, relatable personality tags – Tags like “Mom of Dragons”, “PhD in Patience”, or “Playground Medic” made the experience playful and allowed moms to express themselves quickly and delightfully.

  • Interests and needs – From “Everyday Support” to “Buy & Sell”, this helped us understand their priorities while creating smart filters for matching.

  • A women-only community: while we were pretty clear about introducing this step as a filter to only allow women in the app, we left it aside until we got the technical information from the development team.

We debated how much information to ask upfront, aware that long forms often lead to drop-off. But we found that by embedding humor, emotion, and visual play into the flow, we could ask for more without it feeling like more. Each screen was crafted to feel like a conversation, not a form.

  • Mobile app introduction screen for a mom community with fields for first and last names and a continue button.

    Onboarding Step 1 - Prompting for identity information that is real (mandatory step).

  • Smartphone screen displaying a map with a search bar labeled 'Enter your address.' The map shows street names and a location labeled 'Rubys Little Bakery.' A 'Continue' button is at the bottom.

    Onboarding Step 2 - Asking for location information for matching with other local mums (mandatory step).

  • Mobile app screen displaying options for adding or selecting children's age and gender, including buttons for adding a child, 2-year-old boy, 3-year-old girl, 23 weeks, and 24 weeks. Navigation options include skip and continue.

    Onboarding Step 3 - Asking for Children Information for better matching with other mums with similar needs (optional step).

  • Mobile app screen titled "Strengths" featuring various humorous "mom strengths" options like Drama Queen, Mother of Dragons, Playground Medic, and others, with an option to continue at the bottom.

    Onboarding Step 4 - Playful way to show their personality through choosing funny motherhood tags to display on their profiles (optional step).

  • Onboarding Step 5 - Asking for useful information to contour mums’ needs when joining the app.

  • Mobile app interface showing a list of nearby moms with names, distance, and child details. Includes profile pictures and buttons to 'Add to My Village.' Search bar and filter icon at the top.

    Onboarding Final Step: Aha! Moment - Mums are directed to a list of other local mums that they can be-friend.

Homescreen: A Place for Shared Experiences

The home screen was designed to be the emotional and functional hub of the app, priming moms for a sense of community and support. We split the experience into two key tabs:

  • Community – A wider discussion forum to ask questions, share experiences, and support one another.

  • My Village – A more intimate, curated group of local or friend-moms that each user connects with.

Key Design Decisions:

  • Visual First Impression

    We used a large, welcoming photo of mums together to set the tone for inclusion and warmth.

  • Default Tab: Community

    We made Community the default open tab to surface fresh content and encourage interaction.

  • Emotional Support Through Quotes
    We experimented with inserting rotating quotes about motherhood—light and relatable messages to normalize struggles and reduce stigma. These aimed to foster reassurance, especially for new moms.

  • Anonymous Posting
    To allow moms to share sensitive issues without fear of judgment, we included the option to post anonymously. Many users expressed a need for this to talk about things like postpartum anxiety, relationship struggles, or burnout.

  • SOS Tag for Urgent Posts
    We introduced an SOS tag for posts requiring urgent emotional or practical help. These posts were prioritized in the feed to draw attention quickly. While we were initially concerned about potential misuse, we decided to monitor behavior and respond accordingly if needed.

  • Adding Local Moms to “My Village”
    Through the Add Mom feature in the My Village tab, users could explore and connect with nearby moms. Filters supported relevance and personalization, allowing moms to build a local support network over time.

  • Mobile app screenshot showing a group of smiling people at the top, a search bar, and blue button labeled 'Ask the Community.' Below, a user named Maria Jucaus asks a question about finding a large teddy bear, with an image of teddy bears in a store.

    Homepage Community Tab - Meant to host and display the latest messages posted in the app.

  • A smartphone screen displaying a social media app. The main image shows a person hugging a large teddy bear in a store. The hashtag #SleepingTechniques is visible, along with user reactions. A post by Maria Jucaus from Bucharest is asking where to find a similar bear for a birthday.

    We would insert playful and reassuring messages from time to time to create a feeling of inclusiveness (eg. - “No one knows what they’re doing… “).

  • A mobile phone screen displaying an app interface for creating a community post. The top shows "Community Post" and a publish option. An anonymous profile icon is visible. Three images show toy trains and blocks. A keyboard with a hashtag symbol and various keys is present at the bottom.

    When posting a message, multiple tools were available, like posting anonymously, tagging your post with an SOS label for increased visibility and adding hashtags.

  • Mobile app view of a woman holding a large teddy bear in a store, with a post asking for recommendations on where to find similar teddy bears. Hashtags include #SleepingTechniques.

    Mums could use the search bar on the homescreen to look for specific topics.

  • Smartphone app interface displaying a community platform for moms. The screen features a search bar, a group of diverse women, and a prominent "Ask the Community" button. Below are tabs labeled "Community" and "My Village" with profile icons. A message from Maria Jucaus about finding a teddy for a birthday is visible at the bottom.

    “My Village” Tab would host messages posted by mums in ones village only.

  • Mobile app profile screen for Cristina Constantin, featuring a header image of her with a child outdoors. Profile details list location in Oradea, Romania, and "Best known as" titles like "Drama Queen" and "Mother of Dragons." It notes she is a mother of a 23-week-old, a 2-year-old boy, and a 3-year-old girl. "Moms in common" section shows five circular profile pictures.

    One could check another mum’s profile and see if they have other mums in common - as an incentive to connect. The CTAs from Pofile would be to DM or to Add to My Village

Meet-ups: From Online to Real-Life Connections

The Meet-ups feature was designed to bring the community offline—giving moms a way to connect beyond chats and comments. We envisioned a space where real-life support networks could grow naturally, not just through formal events but through everyday meet-ups sparked by any mom in the village.

Most parenting meet-ups tend to be run by professionals or structured around formal topics. We wanted to break that mold. With Meet-ups, any mom can suggest a gathering, whether it’s a park playdate, a coffee catch-up, or a baby-friendly walk, and invite others to join.

Core Goals:

  • Empower moms to take initiative—not just join, but host.

  • Reduce friction around organizing: no complex signups, just a quick form and a link.

  • Flexible sharing: share with a few selected moms, invite all moms in the village or open the event to anyone using the app.

Just like with the Bazaar, we couldn’t build end-to-end event infrastructure (video and bookings) so instead, we focused on incentives and visibility. Meet-ups helped make connections feel accessible, casual and local, it gave mums a reason to come together.

  • Mobile app interface for a mom's meet-up, featuring a search bar, "CREATE A MEETUP" button, and details of an upcoming outdoor meet-up. The background shows a group of women hugging.

    The Meet-ups tab was designed to show upcoming local meet-ups. One could use the calendar feature to filter the events.

  • Screenshot of a mobile app interface showing details for a weekly virtual coffee meeting on Zoom for mothers. The event is scheduled for Tuesday, 23rd at 19:00. The description encourages energy boosting and connection through shared experiences of motherhood. It lists several participants and is hosted by Ilinca Ursaru from Bucharest.

    Mums could see details of a Meet-up, location, details, who else is coming, and confirm their participation.

  • Mobile app screen showing a "Your Saved Meetups" list with three events, two online and one offline. The first meetup is an outdoor event at 11:00 on Tuesday, 23/08. Icons and navigation bar are visible at the bottom.

    Mums could save the meet-ups they were interested in and also RSVP if interested in participating.

  • Mobile app screen displaying meetup setup options with choices for 'Virtual' or 'In person' events and a 'Continue' button.

    We created simple steps for mums to create an host meet-ups. We wanted them to be percieved as opportunities to come together rather than formal occasions like webinars or workshops.

  • Screenshot of a mobile app interface for setting up a meetup. It shows a step titled 'Set Details' in the 'Meetup Setup' process. An option for 'Virtual Coffee' is selected, with a description encouraging coffee meetups. Details include the meetup title, date set for Tuesday, 23/8, time at 18:00, and a Zoom link provided. There is a 'CONTINUE' button at the bottom.

    We have created some “types” of Meet-ups for virtual and in-person to help with easy labelling and set expectations when listed and seen by other mums.

  • Mobile app interface for setting up a meetup, showing options to share the meeting with "Everyone" for virtual meetings, "Moms in My Village" for in-person meetings, and "Invite individually" for selective invites. Navigation options include "Set Details," "Confirm," and "Invite."

    To accomodate everyone’s needs, Meet-ups could be shared with other individual mums, with one’s Village or made public in the whole Community.

Bazaar: A Personal Marketplace

The Bazaar was designed as a marketplace where moms could buy, sell, and exchange gently used items—from baby clothes to toys and gear. The name “Bazaar” was intentionally chosen to evoke a sense of warmth, informality, and peer-to-peer connection—something more personal than a standard “marketplace.”

One of our biggest constraints was technical as we couldn’t build a full e-commerce infrastructure with payments and deliveries. Rather than compromise on a clunky or half-functional checkout experience, we leaned into the community ethos of the app. Our solution?

Let moms handle the transaction details.

Each listing featured a “Contact Mum” call-to-action. This opened a private 1-on-1 chat between buyer and seller, enabling them to arrange pickup, payment, or swap details on their own terms.

This decision aligned with our broader product values—encouraging trust, reducing friction, and enabling flexibility.

Key Features:

  • Clean, scrollable feed of items for sale, surfaced by relevance and location.

  • Search and filter to help moms quickly find what they need (e.g. toys, clothes, books).

  • Saved Items for favorites they might want to revisit.

  • Lightweight listing process to encourage participation and reduce cognitive load.

  • No-pressure selling: Moms could post used items knowing the app would not force prices or logistics.

We wanted the app to feel more like passing things along to someone who needed them, rather than doing business.

  • Mobile app interface for a marketplace named 'Bazaar' displaying a search bar, selling option, and items for sale such as jeans and colorful toys. It encourages reusing items for moms and babies.

    The Bazaar tab would host a list of items for sale or give away.

  • Mobile app display showcasing search results for children's products, including toys, clothes, and decor items, all priced at 45 RON in Bucharest. Each product has an image, a brief description stating "Little Trains perfect for imaginative...", and a heart icon for saving favorites.

    A mum could search for what she needed in the list.

  • Toy wooden train set with tracks, green trees, and traffic light, displayed in a shopping app interface.

    Each listed product would have an individual page with extra photos and more details.

  • Mobile app page displaying toy boats for sale, with product images, description, price, seller details, and contact option.

    The CTA for Bazaar Items would be to contact the mum that has created the listing.

  • Mobile screen displaying a messaging app conversation about a wooden train. The conversation involves two people discussing the availability and pickup details of the item. The interface shows message bubbles with text and navigation icons at the bottom.

    Mums could use the Chat feature to inquire about the listed items.

  • Mobile app screen displaying a user account page with options for "Edit Profile," "Wisdom Pot," "Hosted Meetups," and "Bazaar Listings." Includes profile picture of nature scene with adults and child hiking.

    One could use their Profile page to edit all the Bazaar listings they have created.

Reflections

This project was a truly meaningful first experience—one I both enjoyed and deeply believed in. It felt incredibly rewarding to build something from scratch: defining the brand, articulating design decisions, collaborating closely with my team, testing with real users, creating a website to market the app (https://momsi.app/) and eventually handing off designs to a development team.

While I didn’t manage to complete every high-fidelity screen in time (still learning the ropes of time management!), I partnered with the in-house designer at the dev agency to ensure a smooth handoff. Together, we ran working sessions to align on component behaviour and layout rules.

It was a hands-on, collaborative transition, and it gave me a great understanding of how design becomes real in code.

I'm incredibly grateful to the team who trusted me with this but also to some external voices who have consistently supported and cheered for us, especially:

  • Iulia Jurca (Illustrator), for her thoughtful iconography and peer-to-peer support;

  • Alex Matei (Digitalya), for taking over my unfinished work and teaching me all the Figma tips;

  • Paulo Ertero (Dropbox), for his strategic mentoring and guidance;

  • Ioana Teleanu (UI Path), for her design review and cheerleading;

  • Our supportive group of mums who constantly helped us test, improve our work and believed in our idea of rebuilding the village.

Note: I used AI to help organise and polish the writing in this case study. The work, thinking, and decisions are entirely mine.