Genetic Personalization

— highlighting personalized facts for an enriching journey of genetic discovery

— length & type

4 months
Product Design
Interaction Design
Visual Design

— role

Product Designer

— team

1 Product Manager, 1 Lead UX Designer, 4 Mobile Engineers

— context

Behind a few taps, AncestryDNA provides a multi-layered experience to discover where you come from and who you are genetically. From finding DNA matches to understanding your ethnicity, the amount and richness in information to your personal discovery is ever-changing and always evolving.

— problem to solve

Ancestry customers interact with the product in a behavior triggered by a curiosity spark. (see image) This spark drives the first interaction and creates the continuity for the next. However, when a customer enters the information receipt stage, digesting complex and emotional insights can become challenging to continue this loop of discovery.

Additionally, large amounts of information can be incredibly overbearing and difficult to decode, especially when it speaks to an individual's genetic identity. This often results in an abandonment of the journey.

— customer insights

"Like social media apps, there’s always something new and they’re always updating with new content. In this case, I found out my results from the AncestryDNA app and it had done its job, so I was like ‘great, bye!’ and deleted the app.

This was a common sentiment across customers who were curious about their genetic makeup. Once they received their ethnicity estimate results, they perceived that was the end of the journey rather than the beginning.

However, their ethnicity results represent a small part of a larger DNA Story comprised of ethnicity estimates, DNA Matches, DNA Traits, and more.

How might we provide a platform that connects with its customers' values to prioritizee unique genetic insights to their journey of personal discovery?

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As a user help me make discoveries, even if I only have a few minutes on my phone.

The AncestryDNA Discoveries is a dynamic home tab with personalized content right at your fingertips.

— concept

Surfacing content from the collection of traits for users to explore to viewing an array of featured DNA Matches, the new home tab provides a personalized experience that brings insights to the primary level to alleviate user exhaustion from taking longer to dive into their unique inisghts about their DNA composition.

We launched the first version of the home tab in the first quarter of 2019.

In Detail

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— process

In order to achieve a holistic experience, the team targeted multiple updates to refresh the native app overall.

In the Home Tab:

Prompts to encourage user profile completion encouraging trust and discoverability in the platform
Personalized surveys and user profile builder tasks while awaiting for DNA results stage
Allocated marketing spaces to expose ongoing marketing campaigns

In the Native App:

Improved perceived loading performance
Refreshed the look and optimized the main navigation to accommodate for different types of accounts with personal, shared and/or minor DNA tests
Created the Helix Native Design Standards to harmonize across the app for a cohesive brand experience

— pre results home

After a customer first purchases an AncestryDNA kit, there is regularly a 6-8 weeks waiting time period while the DNA sample is extracted and analyzed. Through the Pre Results Home Tab, we introduce the customer to a series of activities and content that can help them get a better understanding of the power of their DNA. From their DNA kit status to fun and light surveys from the Personal Discoveries Project to a Profile Buider, this stage of the home tab serves as a kickstarter for the customer's journey of personal discovery.

Ancestry customers are 3 times more likely to engage in conversation with one another about their family discoveries when they have a photo, location and real name visible on their profile.

At both stages of the Home Tab, we encourage Ancestry customers to complete their Ancestry profile to promote trust and transparency in the platform.

— post results home

After a customer has received their Ethnicity Estimate, which is a visual and numerical representation of where they come from genetically, this is merely the beginning of their genetic journey. Their DNA gives them access to people genetically related to them from all over the world called DNA Matches as well as a break down of sensory, nutritional and appearance traits unique to them and their family. All of these combined compose their DNA Story.

The Post Results Home gives them quick access to a new set of featured DNA matches daily to explore and a direct link to dive into a different type of genetic trait from wellness to nutrition in order to learn more about themselves through science.

— Given the nature of this project, further insights and design process can only be revealed in an interview setting.