Family safety, intuition-driven parent app + kid smartwatch
Role: Lead Product Designer + Team Lead - MHCID @ UCI teammates
Timeline: 2.5 days - 2026 Official Figma Design-a-thon
Tools: Figma, FigJam, Figma Make, prototyping, UX research, interface design
Type: Mobile, Wearable (Apple Watch), Interaction Design
Tingl does this by pairing an Apple Watch for kids with an iPhone app for parents. When something is wrong, mom gets one clear alert, even if her kid says nothing.
OFFICIAL PROJECT DEVPOST LINK
A mother's gut feeling had no outlet, so it turned into anxiety ᴖ̈
In the comics, Spider-Man's spidey sense, a tingle that warns him of danger before it happens.
Mothers feel it too: a sudden intuition their child may need help.
I started by listening to mothers talk about it online.
My thoughts immediately raced around trying to figure out why I was feeling like this. I blurted out my oldest son's name and just then my cell phone rang. He had just been in a car accident. He was only 18 at the time, 26 now, and he was hit by a vehicle that had launched across the road recklessly, totaling his car.”
@aletsenehciets
TikTok
A mother's intuition is the oldest technology in the world, but without the right tools, this superpower turns into anxiety, so we chose the spidey sense to make it seen and acted on, as our challenge asked:
Design Challenge: Design a tool that tracks, measures, visualizes or quantifies an aspect of human sensory experience. Within the tool, provide the ability to detect, enhance, or manipulate those same sensory inputs.
Success meant confidence for mom and independence for the kid
Two personas from our research show why success meant two things at once.
Laila wants to trust her gut. Matteo wants to handle things on his own.
Laila needs confidence and Matteo needs independence, so our goal was to turn a mother's intuition into clear, actionable signals she can see and act on, guided by one question:
How might we translate a mother’s instinct into confidence that their children are healthy and safe?
What we designed for, and within
Alerts must say who, what, where, and why
Three findings shaped the product. I gathered testimonials from Reddit, TikTok, and Instagram, along with parenting and safety data.
Sketching solo, and with a 9-year-old, narrowed us to two flows
We ideated in FigJam, and every idea started as a solo sketch. Each team member drew their own vision for the app independently. We also used participatory design: a 9-year-old sketched potential watch flows and screens for us.
We then came together to pick the strongest ideas across all the sketches. That narrowed everything to two flows that best addressed the problem: an iPhone flow for the mom and an Apple Watch flow for the kid.
My Sketches + Votes
Tingl had to feel friendly to a 10-year-old and steady to an anxious mom, so the system leans on a few simple pieces:
The watch is quiet. Matteo can tap a mood check-in or send a virtual hug. If he feels unsafe, he can alert mom without drawing attention, and his location is shared.
The alert is clear. When Matteo falls at the playground, Tingl's sensing detects it and Laila gets a High Priority Alert. She can tap Send Tingl (a way to tell Matteo he's on her mind) or Call Matteo.
Everyday peace of mind. The dashboard reassures Laila unless something is wrong, which cuts down the anxious checking. She can browse The Web, a parent community (Safety, Support, Advice, Verified only).
We tested the alert screen A/B with three participants. Both versions led with "Something feels off...," and showed why that didn't work. Three findings changed the screen:
Future consideration, the Intuition Log: it logs a mother's body signals next to what actually happened, then shows how often her intuition was right over 30 days. We used Figma Make to prototype it.
Balancing safety with autonomy
Safety vs. autonomy. This was our hardest design problem. We had to give Matteo independence while giving Laila confidence, without either one feeling surveilled or dismissed. It shaped three decisions:
Hugs and check-ins are child-initiated.
Parents see emotional summaries instead of raw biometrics.
Alerts trigger only in meaningful safety situations.
Four designers, one FigBuild 2026 submission, and a pitch you can watch
Pavithra Ramakrishnan: Product Manager + Designer. Led product management and designed both flows, from research and ideation through UX design. Devpost profile
