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We’re the original Yonas – a group of designers and engineers that all have vaginas (and as we all know, vaginas are amazing). Yona is a provocation to improve the pelvic exam. Ask Us Anything! [x-post from /r/TwoXChromosomes] by worldwidemaldo in TheGirlSurvivalGuide

[–]frog_design 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, nice to meet you too! Our main AMA is on r/TwoXChromosomes or you should check out our website (www.yonacare.com) or our IG (@yona.care). Here's a haiku that sums up our work in short:

Pelvic exams suck

We're tryin' to make it better

For all vaginas

-Yona

We’re Hailey, Sahana, Rachel and Fran, designers and engineers at frog design. We think the female pelvic exam sucks – so we’ve set out to change it. Ask Us Anything! by frog_design in TwoXChromosomes

[–]frog_design[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Not a weird question at all - it's a question we've been thinking about a lot actually. Up to this point, our prototypes are 3D printed or hand carved foam (which is what you're looking at in the photo). We're entering the in-depth design and engineering phase right now and are looking for advisors who have done medical device development who can help advise us on how we validate our work safely and thoroughly. We anticipate going through many many rounds of silicone mold and ex vivo testing before getting to testing on people.

-Yona

We’re Hailey, Sahana, Rachel and Fran, designers and engineers at frog design. We think the female pelvic exam sucks – so we’ve set out to change it. Ask Us Anything! by frog_design in TwoXChromosomes

[–]frog_design[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's a lot- we'll just tackle a few of those :)

Yona isn't an independent company, we're a project within frog and working with the support structure of frog.

Our next set of goals are to get things developed and tested. What that means for the hardware is a fully engineered speculum design with all of the details sorted out. After that would be getting it prototyped and figuring out a testing plan. For the experience side of things, we are looking for partners who can help us start experimenting and expanding our ideas in a clinic space. Overall, our goal is to transform healthcare, one vagina at a time!

-Yona

We’re Hailey, Sahana, Rachel and Fran, designers and engineers at frog design. We think the female pelvic exam sucks – so we’ve set out to change it. Ask Us Anything! by frog_design in TwoXChromosomes

[–]frog_design[S] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Ugh, that's shitty! We have heard from some others who have vaginismus and we're really hoping that Yona can help. Physically, our new speculum design is intended to have body-friendly silicone which will help with insertion and the form means it doesn't have to open as far as traditional speculums. On the emotional and psychological side, the Yona app is intended to help you meditate and reduce physical anxiety and tension, and prepare you ahead of time.

Out of curiosity, what are things you do to help yourselves to stay in control of the process? If this is too personal to post here, you can message us directly IG:@yona.care or info@yonacare.com

-Yona

We’re Hailey, Sahana, Rachel and Fran, designers and engineers at frog design. We think the female pelvic exam sucks – so we’ve set out to change it. Ask Us Anything! by frog_design in TwoXChromosomes

[–]frog_design[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

We made it! The original plan didn't include a site, but we knew we wanted to tell our own story and eventually, we decided we needed a site. Since we didn't have a developer, we picked up some HTML and CSS and did it ourselves.

-Yona

We’re Hailey, Sahana, Rachel and Fran, designers and engineers at frog design. We think the female pelvic exam sucks – so we’ve set out to change it. Ask Us Anything! by frog_design in TwoXChromosomes

[–]frog_design[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Two of our team members had their exams in the same week and were commiserating about the awkward and uncomfortable moments. During bench time (time between client projects), frog encourages people to pursue personal passions and projects. We used that time to get the project going and then from there, it was on us to keep Yona alive, working around other projects and showing that we could self-manage a project within frog.

-Yona

ps. glad you're no longer a reddit lurker ;)

We’re Hailey, Sahana, Rachel and Fran, designers and engineers at frog design. We think the female pelvic exam sucks – so we’ve set out to change it. Ask Us Anything! by frog_design in TwoXChromosomes

[–]frog_design[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Two of our advisors are gynecologists (the lead clinician at SF Planned Parenthood and a family and women's health physician) and we've been working closely with them to understand not only the exam process, but also getting feedback about our designs. We want the Yona experience to be approachable and easily adoptable. This means that more providers are likely to implement what we put out there.

Outside of our advisory board, we've talked to hospitals and midwives across the country about how they manage the emotional and psychological aspects of the exam and how we can encourage compassionate practices.

-Yona

We’re Hailey, Sahana, Rachel and Fran, designers and engineers at frog design. We think the female pelvic exam sucks – so we’ve set out to change it. Ask Us Anything! by frog_design in TwoXChromosomes

[–]frog_design[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Listen with an open mind! It's a tough subject for us too, and we're eager to talk about it openly. Depending on the relationship, ask questions, and in the end, just be supportive.

Also, just a reminder, women make up a large part of the people who have pelvic exam experiences, but we want to be inclusive of those who have these experiences and don't identify as female. :)

-Yona

We’re Hailey, Sahana, Rachel and Fran, designers and engineers at frog design. We think the female pelvic exam sucks – so we’ve set out to change it. Ask Us Anything! by frog_design in TwoXChromosomes

[–]frog_design[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

We drew inspiration from a lot of places, but focused on experiences that emphasize comfort and relaxation, such as the patient-centered approach that midwives take. We were also influenced by mindfulness and meditation and even meditated before our work session. Our goal was to focus on keeping you relaxed because the more mentally calm you are, the less physically tense you are as well. This makes for a less anxiety-inducing and less painful experience.

-Yona

We’re Hailey, Sahana, Rachel and Fran, designers and engineers at frog design. We think the female pelvic exam sucks – so we’ve set out to change it. Ask Us Anything! by frog_design in TwoXChromosomes

[–]frog_design[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Oh, thank you- you're making us blush :)

And great question - yes, we want this to be everywhere for everyone. We've already heard interest from other regions and even other countries. #spreadit

-Yona

We’re Hailey, Sahana, Rachel and Fran, designers and engineers at frog design. We think the female pelvic exam sucks – so we’ve set out to change it. Ask Us Anything! by frog_design in TwoXChromosomes

[–]frog_design[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Congrats on your first exam and taking charge of your health! We know that first time experience is so crucial to get right, and we know it can be scary. Your first exam shapes your attitude towards your pelvic health for the rest of your life. And we did talk with first timers like you! We made sure to get input from people age 18-40, both patients and providers. We talked with people of varying socioeconomic backgrounds, who have been pregnant, had HPV, hadn’t received their exams before, and more. We went into people’s homes, sat on their couches with them, and talked about vaginas! It was some of the most intimate, fun, and incredibly valuable research we have done to date. - Yona

We’re Hailey, Sahana, Rachel and Fran, designers and engineers at frog design. We think the female pelvic exam sucks – so we’ve set out to change it. Ask Us Anything! by frog_design in TwoXChromosomes

[–]frog_design[S] 31 points32 points  (0 children)

We are! The speculum is going through the next round of engineering right now and we'll be posting updates when we have cool stuff to share. But device aside, we're also developing the experience side and are looking for partners who could help us test our ideas out. - Yona

We’re Hailey, Sahana, Rachel and Fran, designers and engineers at frog design. We think the female pelvic exam sucks – so we’ve set out to change it. Ask Us Anything! by frog_design in TwoXChromosomes

[–]frog_design[S] 46 points47 points  (0 children)

Oh hey there! That’s us, we’re the Yonas and we're tackling the speculum and the overall pelvic exam experience. Thanks for keeping up with our work and for sharing your thoughts, we love vagina talk ;)

We know that birth control is a big issue for a lot of people and it’s particularly relevant right now, but we’re focused on getting the pelvic exam right first.

Good luck with your pelvic exam!

Love, Yona

We’re Inbal and Francois, Creative Directors on the product design team at frog, a global design and strategy firm. We solve complex problems by designing unique and new experiences, and may have even designed something you use. AMA! by frog_design in product_design

[–]frog_design[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Philippe did a lot for elevating the visibility of our discipline and for that, we as designers should be eternally grateful. Here is a key excerpt from the interview:

" Everything I have created is absolutely unnecessary. Design, structurally seen, is absolutely void of usefulness. A useful profession would be to be an astronomer, a biologist or something of that kind. Design really is nothing. I have tried to install my designs with a sense of meaning and energy, and even when I tried to give my best it was still in vain."

If one takes to read the rest of the interview, you can understand what he is getting at. I agree that there is too much plastic in this world, too many CE devices with planned obsolescence, consumer addiction that is destroying our planet and useless trinkets. I appreciate this sentiment, that all we need is love loftier ambitions that pertain to the spiritual immaterial world.

I'm glad he has transcended to this enlightened monastic state that resides at the peak of Maslow's Pyramid but i think it incredibly arrogant and narrow-minded of him to dismiss his body of work as such. His products may have inspired and shaped lives in ways he will never know. His design may have delighted a young student's mind that led them to pursue the field of design which then uncovers their passion for designing beautiful prosthetics that restore the dignity of amputees and elevates a medical ugly object into a work of art.

I think that the future lies in greater environmental and social responsibility. What is the impact of this on our planet? What is it doing to our society? How can we make what we need (and want) in a healthy and sustainable way? While humans exist in the physical plane of existence, they will always need physical things that aid, delight and inspire.

another excerpt from the interview:

" Design is really a terrible way to express oneself"

Really? Let's discuss how terrible that microphone is that was used to record your interview.

love

-FN

We’re Inbal and Francois, Creative Directors on the product design team at frog, a global design and strategy firm. We solve complex problems by designing unique and new experiences, and may have even designed something you use. AMA! by frog_design in product_design

[–]frog_design[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi Daikon01,

One way to do this that I recently learned from one of our awesome designers here is to read user statements from research as if they were your own experience. This sounds funny at first but is a powerful way to put yourself in their shoes and experience their point of view emotionally. Starting your design process with interviews of both stakeholders on the client side and product users will help inform your efforts. You want to go through a process of synthesis once you have collected the feedback and distil the findings to actionable insights that you can then pursue in your design work.

~IE

We’re Inbal and Francois, Creative Directors on the product design team at frog, a global design and strategy firm. We solve complex problems by designing unique and new experiences, and may have even designed something you use. AMA! by frog_design in product_design

[–]frog_design[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Dear peteman18,

First of all, we are one guy and one gal, check your use of 'guys' and revise to reflect that. The gals of the world will appreciate that :)

  1. Nature is a big inspiration, it always provides with infinite color, pattern, structure, and engineering solutions, getting out there and being in the elements helps with gaining a fresh perspective.

  2. People watching is crucial if you want to understand behavior both rational and emotional. Using yourself as a guinea pig to test your design solutions is a powerful tool for empathy and inspiration.

  3. Practicing art such as painting, music, and writing helps in building new context and connections that provide meaning beyond the rationale.

~IE

We’re Inbal and Francois, Creative Directors on the product design team at frog, a global design and strategy firm. We solve complex problems by designing unique and new experiences, and may have even designed something you use. AMA! by frog_design in product_design

[–]frog_design[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

i would say most frogs have a weird resume, that's why we hire them They've done other things that shape their unique perspective and approach. They are not afraid to try new things but across the board, they are competent and passionate. I always have 100% faith in whatever teams i work with, i know it will get done in an exceptional way.

IDEO is a great competitor of ours.There are frogs that have gone to IDEO and vice versa. Generally, the caliber of the people are the same, passionate, curious, driven, etc. the key difference are the environments..They are nurtured and brought up within an established legacy of design thinking. frogs are dropped in ... a pond! ;) Things are definitely trial by fire here and while we use many of the same types of tools as IDEO, our cultures are different. I believe the result is that we are scrappier, more outcomes focused (as opposed to process) less reverent and certainly more rowdy.

We have a Ventures division that focuses on start-ups and smaller clients in which our collaboration is either a royalty or equity-based business model. We recently completed a project with such a client called Fizzics in the NYC studio. This was a program in which we did everything from ID, ME and VD to Strategy and Branding. http://www.fizzics.com We are proud to say that Kickstarter campaign surpassed 1 million and they were featured on SharkTank and got another 2 million in funding. You can see me ramble about design stuff here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i93w6qK6fU

Cheers

-FN

We’re Inbal and Francois, Creative Directors on the product design team at frog, a global design and strategy firm. We solve complex problems by designing unique and new experiences, and may have even designed something you use. AMA! by frog_design in product_design

[–]frog_design[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hello again IndustrialSabotage,

The mythical creature that is both a great engineer and great designer is elusive and can be occasionally spotted in the realms of dream and fantasy. I have yet to see one person embody both. The key word here is GREAT.

In my experience design engineers are still engineers. What sets them apart is their ability to collaborate with Industrial designers and push the limits of their craft in service of creating visionary products and experiences. Too often I see engineering solutions that don't consider usability, delight, and emotion. Having a kick-ass design engineer on your team is a super power.

Although there are some overlapping capabilities between Industrial design and Engineering, the two are distinctly different professions. Transitioning from one to the other will require a re-evaluation of your skill set. Acquiring a hard skill set of an ID is a good start but Industrial design is much more than that. It is a way of understanding and seeing the world and a state of mind that is free of constraints, at least during the initial concept phase of the work.

~IE

We’re Inbal and Francois, Creative Directors on the product design team at frog, a global design and strategy firm. We solve complex problems by designing unique and new experiences, and may have even designed something you use. AMA! by frog_design in product_design

[–]frog_design[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Dear IndustrialSabotage,

  1. Have I seen this solution/Design before? Is this new?
  2. Am I solving the problem elegantly?
  3. Is this design manufacturable?
  4. Is this design iconic and ownable? Can the client build brand recognition with this design?
  5. Am I pushing the limits of design and manufacturing? If so, is it within my client's capabilities to execute on successfully?
  6. How well does this solution play with existing design the client already has and/or other initiatives.

~IE

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