Centralise care tasks
Create a single source of truth for daily responsibilities and resident needs.
Care coordination & shift handover platform
Carah
Carah is a digital care management app built to help care teams organise daily tasks, manage shift handovers, track progress, and keep every caregiver aligned around the people they support.
Industry
- Care homes
- Family care
- Health and social care
- Operations
Platform
- Mobile app
- Care dashboard
- Role-based workflows
- Family care mode
Services
- Product strategy
- UX/UI design
- Brand direction
- App design
- Workflow design
- Prototype design
- Product storytelling
Project type
- MVP concept
- Digital product design
- Care operations platform
01 // Overview
About the project
Carah was conceived as a digital care management platform to bridge the gap between fragmented care systems and the frontline workers who use them. In the care industry, communication breakdowns during shift handovers or task updates can lead to missed care requirements or increased stress for workers. Carah aimed to digitize these analog processes into a seamless, intuitive experience that feels less like administrative software and more like a helpful companion.
The core idea was simple: a centralised app where care teams can view daily tasks, track progress, log critical updates, and smoothly hand over responsibilities to the next shift, ensuring continuity of care and peace of mind for both caregivers and families.
02 // The problem
The problem
Care teams often rely on a disconnected web of tools to manage daily operations, leading to inefficiencies and risks to care quality.
- closePaper task sheets that get lost or damaged
- closeWhatsApp groups for unofficial updates
- closeVerbal handovers that miss crucial details
- closeClunky legacy software meant for billing, not caregiving
03 // Strategy
Strategic goals
Streamline handovers
Digitise the shift handover process to ensure no critical information is lost between shifts.
Improve visibility
Provide managers and families with real-time updates on care status.
Reduce admin burden
Minimise the time spent on paperwork so caregivers can focus on people.
Enhance communication
Replace ad-hoc messaging with structured, secure in-app communication.
Humanise the tech
Design an interface that feels warm, accessible, and supportive, not clinical or intimidating.
04 // Constraints
Key challenges
Emotional workflows
Caregiving is highly emotional work. The UI needed to reflect empathy and calmness, avoiding the sterile look of traditional enterprise software.
Access levels
Designing distinct but cohesive experiences for different user types: managers needing high-level overviews, caregivers needing quick task execution, and families needing gentle updates.
Constant change
Care environments are dynamic. The system had to handle last-minute schedule changes, urgent tasks, and shifting priorities gracefully.
Simplicity vs depth
Balancing the need for detailed medical/care logging with an interface simple enough for staff with varying degrees of tech literacy.
Product in motion
ashwrk's work
Product strategy
We began by mapping the daily journey of a caregiver, identifying friction points and moments where technology could genuinely help. We defined the core moments that the app needed to support:
- Start of shift (handover review)
- Active care (task execution and logging)
- Incident management (urgent updates)
- End of shift (handover creation)
UX/UI design
The design concept focused on clarity, approachability, and speed. We utilised a card-based UI to make tasks feel manageable and distinct. Key screens designed included:
- Dashboard: a quick glance at the shift's progress.
- Care cards: detailed views of individual resident needs.
- Task lists: interactive checklists for daily duties.
- Handover flow: a guided process for wrapping up a shift.
Care card system
The 'care card' is the central UI component. Each card represents a person receiving care, consolidating their daily tasks, mood logs, and critical alerts into one easily digestible view. Features include:
- Quick-action buttons for common tasks (e.g. medication administered).
- Visual indicators for urgent needs.
- A timeline view of recent care activity.
Shift handover flow
We designed a structured handover system to replace messy notes. It guides the caregiver through:
- Reviewing completed tasks.
- Flagging incomplete tasks for the next shift.
- Adding critical qualitative notes (e.g. "Mary was feeling restless today").
- Signing off digitally.
Modular interface gallery
Role selection
Frictionless onboarding flow.
Notification states
Clear, actionable alerts.
Task interaction
Satisfying micro-interactions.
Role-based access
Owner / manager
Views high-level analytics, staff scheduling, and overall care compliance.
Caregiver
Focused on immediate tasks, resident profiles, and logging care delivery.
Family mode
A read-only, sanitised view showing gentle updates (e.g. "Dad had a good lunch") and photos, providing reassurance without breaching privacy or overwhelming them with medical data.
Brand direction
The visual language was designed to be soft, human, and reassuring. We moved away from clinical blues and harsh whites, opting instead for a palette of warm neutrals, soft greens, and calming tones. The typography is highly legible, and iconography is rounded and friendly.
Product features
Daily care cards
Centralised profiles for each resident.
Task tracking
Interactive checklists for daily duties.
Shift handover
Structured digital sign-offs between teams.
Family view
Secure, gentle updates for relatives.
Smart alerts
Notifications for urgent care needs.
Manager dashboard
High-level oversight of facility operations.
Role-based access
Tailored views for different staff levels.
Secure comms
In-app messaging to replace WhatsApp.
08 // Outcome
Outcome
The Carah concept successfully visualised a modern, humane approach to care management. It demonstrated how thoughtful UX can untangle complex operations into a simple, reassuring interface.
What the project delivered:
- A comprehensive product vision and strategy.
- High-fidelity MVP prototypes for core workflows.
- A distinct, empathetic brand language.
- A compelling narrative for stakeholder buy-in.
Impact
Product impact
While a conceptual project, the design framework established for Carah illustrates significant potential benefits for real-world care teams:
- check_circleReduced time spent on administrative paperwork.
- check_circleImproved accuracy and continuity in shift handovers.
- check_circleIncreased transparency and peace of mind for families.
- check_circleA more organised, less stressful environment for caregivers.
09 // Final thoughts
Final thoughts
"Carah is proof that operational software doesn't have to feel operational. By putting empathy at the center of the design process, we can build tools that support the caregivers just as much as the people they are caring for. It's about designing for the human on both sides of the screen."