Health & Wellness
Nara Baby & Pregnancy Tracker
App design for new parents, rated 4.9 stars across 25,000 app store reviews.
Client
Nara
Timeline
2018–Present
Service & Offer
Sector
Platform
When parents bring their newborn home, they obsessively track everything. Feedings, diapers, sleep. But most baby tracking apps treated tracking as the end goal. Parents weren't just trying to log data. They were trying to understand it. "Is she eating enough? Why is sleep so bad today? What changed?" They had all this information scattered and no way to make sense of it.
Challenge
Parents needed insights, not just logs.
Our initial research with parents revealed a gap between tracking and understanding. Parents were manually logging activities but had no single place to see the full picture of what happened that day or how it compared to yesterday. They were overwhelmed by existing apps that required too many steps and too many layers just to add a single activity. They wanted one place that showed them everything and helped them make sense of it.
The Approach
We worked with Nara's CEO to design a system built around helping parents think, not just log. The philosophy that emerged was: keep parents in control, remove friction (don't wake the baby with notifications or complicated flows), and design for different family situations (twins, breastfeeding, tube feeding, combo feeding) without bloating the experience.
The design process was research-led. We tested concepts with parents and adapted based on their feedback. They were vocal about what they needed, and we listened. The layered card concept emerged from this process: quick entry of activities without switching contexts, plus a bird's-eye view that let parents see the full day and spot patterns.
We steered the product toward being more guided. Not prescriptive, but helpful. Features like the activity tab that always showed elapsed time since the last sleep or diaper change turned passive logs into active understanding. Flexible activity categories let parents customize what mattered to them as priorities shifted (early focus on feeding, later focus on sleep patterns).
The design system supported both tired eyes and thoughtful design. Dark mode, playful illustrations, clear typography hierarchy. Everything optimized for quick scanning and understanding.
Key Design Decisions
Single source of truth
All activities visible on one screen. No tab switching, no fragmentation. Parents could see what happened today and reference yesterday.
Customizable, flexible tracking
Parents rearranged categories as priorities evolved. This required more sophisticated design but reduced the need for app updates every time parenting priorities shifted.
Multi-caregiver support
Designed from the start for shared caregiving. Twins, grandparents, nannies, co-parents. Different family structures, same experience.
Insights over logs
The interface highlighted patterns and comparisons. Elapsed time, progress visibility, context. Turning data into understanding.
Reduced friction to logging
Over 8 years, we added live activities, Siri integration, and an Apple Watch app. Each feature came from parent requests and research showing that busy, exhausted parents needed easier ways to log so they could focus on understanding their data.
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Outcome
The app launched in early 2019 to a 4.9-star rating across 25,000+ app store reviews. Parents showed 20-minute average daily engagement and 85% month-over-month retention. Organic growth was strong. Parents recommended it to other parents.
More importantly, the work landed strategically. We continued as Nara's embedded design team for 8+ years, helping them expand into pregnancy tracking. Each expansion maintained the core philosophy of helping parents understand their data, not just collect it.
We conducted multiple rounds of research including long-term studies with parents who used the app over time. This research informed the roadmap and helped Nara understand what mattered as the app evolved. We built out their web presence, guided product strategy, and ensured every feature served the original insight: parents don't need more logs. They need to understand what they're logging.
“Everyday Industries is my ride or die for digital design and research, and I'll work with them on any and every company I'm involved with.”
Esther Park, Founder & CEO at Nara Organics
Interested in working together?
Whether you’re launching something new, scaling an existing product, or need a design partner who can navigate complexity and move fast without sacrificing quality — I’d love to hear about it.