Skimm Well: Designing for Market Fit

Skimm Well: Designing for Market Fit

Skimm Well: Designing for Market Fit

Turning audience insights into a wellness experience that felt actionable, strengthened theSkimm’s brand promise, and built user trust in a new category.

Turning audience insights into a wellness experience that felt actionable, strengthened theSkimm’s brand promise, and built user trust in a new category.

The Goal

In Q3–Q4 2022, theSkimm set a key OKR: find product/market fit in the wellness space. My team was tasked with defining what this product could be, validating our assumptions through research, and shaping an MVP to test in-market. Our goal: Design a product that women find useful, delightful, and habit-forming. Something that seamlessly fits into her life and wellness goals. To do that, we needed to:

  1. Define the target user

  2. Understand her needs and motivations

  3. Create concepts with distinct value props

  4. Build and test an MVP

  5. Iterate based on feedback

Note: Confidential information has been omitted in accordance with my NDA.

In Q3–Q4 2022, theSkimm set a key OKR: find product/market fit in the wellness space. My team was tasked with defining what this product could be, validating our assumptions through research, and shaping an MVP to test in-market. Our goal: Design a product that women find useful, delightful, and habit-forming. Something that seamlessly fits into her life and wellness goals. To do that, we needed to:


  1. Define the target user

  2. Understand her needs and motivations

  3. Create concepts with distinct value props

  4. Build and test an MVP

  5. Iterate based on feedback


Note: Confidential information has been omitted in accordance with my NDA.

Discovery & Ideation

We kicked off by mapping assumptions about our audience and identifying themes through team ideation sessions. These helped shape early hypotheses and guide our research strategy. Emerging themes:


  • Trust & Expertise: She wants wellness advice from credible, expert-backed sources—and a safe space to ask questions, ideally anonymously.

  • Community & Accountability: She’s short on time but values motivation from others. Goal-setting, peer stories, and shared challenges help her stay engaged.

User Research

I led exploratory interviews with 20 women (ages 26–44, across the U.S. and Paris) to validate our assumptions and uncover needs. Key insights:


  • Wellness is holistic: Most women defined it beyond physical health—mental and emotional wellness were top priorities.

  • She values credibility: Reddit, Instagram, and friends were common sources, but she prefers info from experts or firsthand experiences.

  • She wants anonymity: Many hesitate to ask doctors personal questions. An anonymous, judgment-free space would increase engagement.

  • Biggest barriers: Time, motivation, and cost.

  • Preferred formats: Short-form content, podcasts, and infographics. Long videos were a turn-off unless captioned.


These findings helped us create detailed personas and sharpen our concept directions.

Concept Development

Using our personas and a PRFAQ from Product Management, we defined three potential directions:


  1. Experts & Anonymous Q&A: A space to submit questions, read expert-backed answers, and advocate for mental/physical wellness. Problem: Wellness questions feel too personal to ask in traditional settings.

  2. Health Advocacy Hub: A platform to help her navigate the complex, inequitable healthcare system. Problem: She knows she needs to advocate for herself, but doesn't know how.

  3. Dashboard & Community Journeys: Custom wellness journeys + community-driven goals and support. Problem: She needs structure, tangible progress, and accountability.

We prioritized two concepts for testing: Dashboard & Journeys and Experts & Q&A

Using our personas and a PRFAQ from Product Management, we defined three potential directions:


  1. Experts & Anonymous Q&A: A space to submit questions, read expert-backed answers, and advocate for mental/physical wellness. Problem: Wellness questions feel too personal to ask in traditional settings.

  2. Health Advocacy Hub: A platform to help her navigate the complex, inequitable healthcare system. Problem: She knows she needs to advocate for herself, but doesn't know how.

  3. Dashboard & Community Journeys: Custom wellness journeys + community-driven goals and support. Problem: She needs structure, tangible progress, and accountability.

We prioritized two concepts for testing: Dashboard & Journeys and Experts & Q&A

Using our personas and a PRFAQ from Product Management, we defined three potential directions:


  1. Experts & Anonymous Q&A: A space to submit questions, read expert-backed answers, and advocate for mental/physical wellness. Problem: Wellness questions feel too personal to ask in traditional settings.

  2. Health Advocacy Hub: A platform to help her navigate the complex, inequitable healthcare system. Problem: She knows she needs to advocate for herself, but doesn't know how.

  3. Dashboard & Community Journeys: Custom wellness journeys + community-driven goals and support. Problem: She needs structure, tangible progress, and accountability.

We prioritized two concepts for testing: Dashboard & Journeys and Experts & Q&A

We tested both concepts with 18 women (ages 24–46) via moderated sessions on usertesting.com. What we learned:

  • Strong interest in both directions (many wanted a hybrid.)

  • Key features users loved: Anonymous Q&A with experts, Personalized dashboards, Community wellness events or challenges

  • Preferred flexibility in format: live Q&As, podcasts, articles, and courses.

  • Least exciting element? Newsletters.

We tested both concepts with 18 women (ages 24–46) via moderated sessions on usertesting.com. What we learned:

  • Strong interest in both directions (many wanted a hybrid.)

  • Key features users loved: Anonymous Q&A with experts, Personalized dashboards, Community wellness events or challenges

  • Preferred flexibility in format: live Q&As, podcasts, articles, and courses.

  • Least exciting element? Newsletters.

We tested both concepts with 18 women (ages 24–46) via moderated sessions on usertesting.com. What we learned:

  • Strong interest in both directions (many wanted a hybrid.)

  • Key features users loved: Anonymous Q&A with experts, Personalized dashboards, Community wellness events or challenges

  • Preferred flexibility in format: live Q&As, podcasts, articles, and courses.

  • Least exciting element? Newsletters.

The MVP

We launched an early version focused on high-interest features:


  • Ask an Expert: Anonymous question submission with expert responses

  • Expert-backed content

  • Two-way communication (Q&A threads, not static content)


We tested and iterated while simultaneously exploring the future-state vision.

Impact & Reflection

This was one of my favorite projects at theSkimm. The open-ended brief allowed us to think big, and speaking with users about their wellness journeys was incredibly meaningful.


While the full future-state product was paused due to company reprioritization, the MVP’s Ask an Expert feature became the most engaged-with module on both the wellness homepage and in newsletters. It later evolved into a cross-functional content franchise that still lives on in theSkimm’s ecosystem today.

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What I’d Do Differently 💡

Run a Design Sprint: This project was a perfect candidate for a sprint. After establishing our personas, I would have facilitated a cross-functional design sprint to quickly align on direction and prototype early concepts.


Start Smaller with Research: While the 20 exploratory interviews were valuable, they were also time-intensive. Starting with just 5 would have surfaced strong signals early, giving us a chance to iterate faster before scaling

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