Finch care: Request a hug
About
Finch Care is a self-care app that motivates people to meet their daily wellness goals through caring for their virtual pet.
To improve social connection for wellness, I designed the “Request a Hug” feature to help users reach out to friends for support, which expanded on an existing “good vibes” sending structure on the app.
Role
I was the product designer on the “Friends” team who collaborated with the founder and product engineer to deliver an MVP in 2 weeks.
Project outcomes
The MVP experiment successfully met key metrics
The experience will launch for all users, with design iterations to follow for continuous improvement and learnings
Design process
Overall flow
Design decision to keep friend selections anonymous in request
Eases expectations for the hug requester and reduces pressure on the receiver, with sensitivity to avoid making Finch feel like social media.
Research shows that asking for support can feel daunting, so focused on making the experience feel easy by minimizing decision-making. Plus majority of users with friends have only 1-3 friends.
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The system selects friends most likely to respond, with a backup hug from the Finch team
I worked closely with engineering to refine the friend selection logic:
Defined a 'close Finch friend' based on behavior (e.g., good vibes exchanged in the last 7 days).
Incorporated diversity to prevent overwhelming hug receivers (e.g., frequency of requests from the same user).
Implemented a Finch team backup hug if no friends responded within 12 hours.
For the MVP, chose an entry point that builds off an existing banner shown after low mood picks
Used existing banner treatment for “Request a Hug”, and created logic for when “Request a Hug” appears over “First Aid” depending on user behavior.
Ultimately for launch, the experience showed for all mood picks in efforts to open up the top of funnel for more learnings.
Other explorations
Show both Request Hug & First Aid: Decided not to proceed with the option since it pushed user goals lower on the page.
Embed within “First Aid Kit”: Exposure is low. Only 4% of visitors visit First Aid.
Permanent location: To safeguard against high frequency of requests, shifted away from a prominent permanent location.
System status: Opt-in rate and privacy concerns.
Positive feedback validates direction & iteration opportunities ahead
Team plans to send out survey in 2 weeks when there’s less novelty for further feedback
Based on immediate feedback, the next iteration will introduce a permanent entry point and disable options, both initially considered but deprioritized in the MVP.
“I’ve been having such a hard month lately. The hug features has helped me a lot. It helped me to feel not so alone anymore. So thanks for this! <3 ”
“I love the new feature and I have used it. The option came up during a difficult day and it was appreciated.
Also, I like how my little bird was sent off ‘to find a hug.’ It sounds very heartwarming.”
“It’ll be nice to give and receive a little extra support when it’s needed. I also think the hearts in the background are cute and make it feel extra sweet when giving a hug.”
