AncestryDNA Health
Project Overview
As part of the Ancestry and AncestryDNA suite, the Health product aimed to deliver complex genetic information in a way that felt clear, responsible, and empowering to non-scientific users. The core experience centered on the carrier conditions report, which provided users with personal health-related genetic insights. Our goal was to make the experience simple, safe, and supportive, helping users understand potentially sensitive data with confidence and care.
My Role – Lead Designer
I led the UX and UI design for the health reporting experience, collaborating with cross-functional partners across science, research, content strategy, and engineering. I defined the product’s design direction and worked to ensure the experience struck a balance between clarity, scientific accuracy, and emotional sensitivity. I also contributed to tone and language frameworks in partnership with content strategists, focusing on trust, accessibility, and empowerment.
Design Process • Discovery: Partnered with product, science, and research teams to understand regulatory constraints and user needs. Reviewed qualitative research on user concerns and comprehension around health data. • Exploration: Sketched early concepts for how to display genetic results clearly and responsibly, including visual models for risk and carrier status. • Testing: Partnered with the user research team to conducted user testing to validate how people interpreted genetic terms, probabilities, and emotional cues. Adjusted layouts, language, and color usage based on comprehension and trust signals. • Design & Iteration: Created wireframes and high-fidelity mocks for the reporting experience. Defined scalable UI patterns for future health content. • Delivery: Partnered with engineering for implementation. Supported QA and provided design documentation for handoff and long-term maintainability.
Challenges • Translating Scientific Data: Communicating complex genetic information in a way that was understandable without oversimplifying or alarming users. • Tone and Trust: Designing an experience that built trust through tone, visuals, and structure—especially for sensitive or emotionally charged results. • Cross-Functional Complexity: Navigating legal, medical, and business perspectives, while ensuring a user-first approach remained central. • High Stakes: Small design choices (like word selection or icon use) had the potential for big emotional impact, requiring precise, thoughtful decisions. Impact • Successfully launched a high-stakes product that was well-received for its clarity and approachability. • Set foundational design principles for communicating health-related DNA data across the platform. • Helped establish a scalable pattern language and tone framework for future health-related features.
We conducted multiple rounds of user interviews to deeply understand the emotional journey customers experienced after receiving their health results—from initial surprise or denial to eventual understanding and acceptance. This empathy-driven research informed both the tone and structure of the experience to ensure it felt supportive, clear, and empowering.
AncestryHealth flow
Content hierarchy outline
Mobile content hierarchy
