Socially Innovative Design for Breast Milk Donation Inventory, For the Future of Children
Interactive Design
Service Design
Product Design
NurtureBOND
Timeline
Mar 2023 – Jun 2023
(4 months)
Project / Role
Breast Milk Donation Service Experience / UX Designer
Focus Areas
User Research
Service Design
Journey Mapping
UI Design
Tools
Overview
In modern China, many breastfeeding mothers have excess breast milk that is often wasted, while others struggle with low milk supply and turn to formula. Breast milk is vital for newborns' growth and development. Our goal is to create an innovative, systematic breast milk bank. This will ensure that surplus breast milk is effectively used by mothers who need it and given to premature babies who rely on it for their health.
Problem
Concerns of Mothers Regarding Breast Milk Donation
Many mothers do not see the benefits of donating breast milk and have concerns. Women who cannot breastfeed or produce insufficient milk are not actively seeking donated breast milk. Similarly, those with surplus milk are often hesitant to donate.
Breast Milk Donation lacks widespread popularity due to limited channels
China has only around 20 breast milk banks. A survey by Liu Xihong and other founders found that during the preparatory stage, only 25.1% of mothers were willing to donate breast milk, while 8% were willing to receive donations.
Currently……
Only 5.6% of breast milk donations come from social mothers, with 92% donors mainly from hospital maternity wards and recovery centers
Situation
Flow
Listening to our Users
Who are our users
We focused on two main user groups:
Mothers who have excess breast milk but lack awareness or access to safe donation channels.
Mothers who need donated milk for their babies, especially premature infants.
user interview
To better understand their needs, we conducted semi-structured interviews with seven mothers from local hospitals and recovery centers.
We explored their motivations, emotional struggles, and expectations of the milk donation system.
From these conversations, we identified key insights such as trust in medical supervision, fear of milk contamination, and the desire for community support and recognition.
What did mothers say
“I want to help other moms, but I’m not sure where to start or how the donation works.”
“I’m worried about safety… I don’t know how the milk is stored or transported.”
“I’ve heard of milk banks, but I don’t really understand what they do.”
“If the process were simpler, more people would be willing to donate.”
Persona
These personas helped us empathize with both sides and guided our later design decisions in balancing empathy and practicality.
User Journey Map
We visualized the milk donation journey to uncover pain points and opportunities.This process helped us identify where our design could simplify decision-making, build emotional trust, and support smoother donation flows.
RECIPIENT: She's a new mom with limited milk, mostly using formula for her baby
DONORS: A new mother with abundant breast milk, storing frozen milk, eager to help other mothers and babies in need
Explore what we can do
Brainstorming
To generate actionable ideas, we organized a brainstorming session with team members.We clustered insights from interviews into opportunity areas.
Motivational Feedback
Breastfeeding Socialization
Book a Home Pickup for Breast Milk
(Autonomous Vehicle)
Experience Prototype
Based on the workshop outcomes, we created a low-fidelity experience prototype to simulate interactions among key roles — donors, hospitals, and delivery systems.
This process helped validate our assumptions and guided us to refine the overall service flow before moving to system-level mapping.
System Map
To ensure the ideas could work across stakeholders, we mapped out how different actors, services, and resources connect within the donation system.
Service Blueprint
Building on this, we detailed a service blueprint to visualize how the system operates through both front-stage and back-stage processes.
From Vision to Reality
APP & WEB
Enhance donation via app for scheduling and social networking. Enable hospital connections for unified management through the web interface.
Breast Milk Delivery Vehicle & Advanced Breast Milk Packaging
Autonomous vehicles ensure safe and efficient breast milk delivery. Develop specialized packaging for storage containers, bags, and breast pumps to enhance safety and comfort.
Breast Milk Home & Breastfeeding Activity Center
Hospital's Breast Milk Home manages donations and health checks, while the community's Breastfeeding Activity Center promotes donations and provides a mother-baby care space.
Final Concept
Based on the system logic and user journey developed earlier, we defined a final concept that integrates digital, physical, and spatial touchpoints within the breast milk donation ecosystem.
This concept aims to make the donation process safe, transparent, and emotionally supportive, connecting mothers, hospitals, and communities through a seamless experience.
How the Final Concept Works
The service operates across three layers - App & Web Platform, Breast Milk Delivery Vehicle, and Breast Milk Home - each supporting a different part of the user journey.
These flows illustrate how users interact with the service across different scenarios, supported by the integrated design components above.
Breast milk donation
Seek breast milk
Breast milk vehicle delivery
Shaping the Interface Experience
Building on the system logic and flows defined earlier, this section presents how the service takes shape through structured wireframes and refined interface design. From mapping interactions to crafting visual details, our goal is to create an experience that feels warm, clear, and genuinely supportive for new mothers.
Wireframe — Structuring the Foundation
For new moms
Mobile App — Crafting a Warm and Supportive Experience
Nurture Bond
Nurture Bond, representing the connection inspired by motherhood, showcases an orange-red logo with a circular motif suggestive of breastfeeding. The intertwining of circular lines and dots in the design symbolizes the bond, capturing the spirit of breast milk donation.
Web — For Breast Milk Home administrators
Design Implications
Through this project, several key implications emerged for designing supportive and scalable donation services for new mothers:
Designing for clarity and trust
Clear information, transparent processes, and visible feedback loops are essential to reduce anxiety and build confidence among first-time donors.
Lowering the barrier to participation
Streamlined flows and intuitive interfaces can significantly improve usability, making breast milk donation feel manageable within everyday life.
Supporting emotional needs beyond functionality
A warm, empathetic interface can help transform donation from a stressful obligation into a meaningful and reassuring experience.
Balancing system scalability with human-centered experience
While the service can be expanded across regions, maintaining a personal and emotionally supportive experience remains critical to long-term adoption.
Thanks for being here! Here’s a little more about me :)
SIDE WORK
