Unpaid Labor, Made Tangible

The Challenge

Unpaid labor — think caregiving, household tasks, emotional work — is often invisible but hugely impactful. We wanted to shine a light on this hidden effort and help users understand and communicate its value.Women do the unpaid labor to keep their household afloat, even if they're the breadwinners of the family. The teachings that enable this division of labor begin in early childhood. Behavioral change is needed to restructure existing home dynamics.

Note: This tool is meant for dual income, millennial couples. There are far too many complexities and nuances, societal and otherwise, for this tool to capture audiences beyond this demographic.

My Role

- Executed product discovery via a target user survey.
- Created the designs and clickable prototypes.

The Outcome

I solved the inequities of unpaid labor.

Just kidding, this is only a thought project.

The Solution

Must Have

Partner Up

Allow users to sync their account with their partner's account. Give them a way to keep tabs on their significant other.

Must Have

Say Cheese!

Human faces are motivating. Human faces of your partner are even more so. Profile pics are a must.

Must have

Easy Does it.

Give users a means of easily entering their tasks and time spent. Don't worry; this is more than a chore list. Keep reading!

Should Have

Time is Money

Convert chores into a dollar amount based on the type of task and time spent. "Money" then shows up in the
Add "money" to their account based on the value of their chores.

Should Have

Keep the Motivation

By comparing the user's balance to their partner's, they'll feel motivated to keep equilibrium - and then some! It doesn't hurt to add in research-guided facts about the importance of fairly dividing unpaid labor.

Could Have

A Weekly Clean Slate

Mitigate feeling "overwhelmed" or "underwater" by refreshing the balance every week. Users should still be able to see their household history, but not so prevalently.

The Output