Hey Dad! An application to help new fathers connect, learn and build community
In 2026 I had my first child. A beautiful baby girl, I was so excited for this new adventure! I was ready to take on new responsibilities and challenges that came with it. Little did I realize that it was not only the physical responsibilities that were important. It was a very challenging time mentally. I felt disconnected, overwhelmed and exhausted those first few months. I felt like I could no longer connect with friends without kids or relate to the same things I could before. I needed some new dad friends and some advice!
My wife was doing great connecting with other moms and seeking advice. She was open and honest. She joined meet ups and events, she met a great community of other moms. I, on the other hand, was struggling. There wasn’t nearly as much support for new dads. It felt like dads were just expected to figure it out. That's when it hit me that I couldn’t be the only dad feeling this way.
I thought of the idea for “Hey Dad!” out of necessity. A way to not only help solve my problems in this new life chapter but also a way for other dads to get the support they need! This application could help minimize that feeling of loneliness that new dads had. A way to connect, get advice and become the best father we can be!
The first research I conducted was a post on the application “Next Door”. I figured this would be a helpful resource to find local dads and ask some questions. I reached out to ask if any new dads would be interested in getting a coffee to connect. I formed some questions that asked other dads about parenthood and their experiences with loneliness and connection in the early stages of parenthood.
I was able to connect with 5 other fathers who were up for getting a coffee. They were open and willing to answer the questions I had. It was clear that they also struggled in this new stage of life. Using what I found I was able to start creating mock ups of what features this application should have.
After this I would conduct another round of questions with another 5 new dads to have a broader round of data to go off of. It was important to not only ask the same questions but also dig deeper to best understand why dads will use this application.
The insights I observed provided some clear information as well as some new information. Each dad seemed to want to be more connected. They all felt disconnected with friends and were eager to meet other dads. 30 percent felt supported and the other 70 felt they needed a better network for advice and connection.
These findings helped prove that this is an application that would be useful to the majority of dads surveyed. It gave me the initial feedback I need to keep moving forward.
Another bit of information that was useful was how each dad would use this application. 50 percent said their primary goal was connection. 30 percent were looking for advice on parenting. The last 20 percent were looking for community events and also a way to give advice to other dads.
This information was pivotal in helping me think about all important functionality and also prepare for wireframing.
After completing the low fidelity mock ups I asked all 10 dads if they could help me test this prototype. I had them complete a series of detailed tasks and gathered feedback on how they interacted with the screens. This taught me a lot about how they thought about the functionality and what needed to be improved or changed.
After gathering all user insights I was able to start making changes to my mockups. A common change that was observed was how the dads interacted with the community function. It seemed that they were confused on how to best connect with other dads using the application. I needed to create a more intuitive way for them to connect with each other. It needs to be clear and easy to do.
The final solution had changed a lot from my original mockups. I had learned a lot from my user research, changes and findings. This application was now something I could be proud of. It is not only a resource to help other dads but also a way to build community and help ease the transition for dads in this huge life change. “Hey Dad” was the tool to make sure that all dads could easily navigate life with the confidence to do better and the reassurance that they are not alone. They can with confidence that they are the best version of themselves they can be for their family.
I asked the dads to provide final feedback on the high fidelity mock ups.Their results were very positive. 90 percent claimed the app would help them in this phase of life and they would plan to use it. They claimed a lot of the new changes were very helpful to ease of use. 100 percent said that they felt confident navigating the application. It was amazing to see how this application had changed from an idea to something that was now working and helpful for other dads. I know this application will continue to change when there are more people using it.
My wife was doing great connecting with other moms and seeking advice. She was open and honest. She joined meet ups and events, she met a great community of other moms. I, on the other hand, was struggling. There wasn’t nearly as much support for new dads. It felt like dads were just expected to figure it out. That's when it hit me that I couldn’t be the only dad feeling this way.
I thought of the idea for “Hey Dad!” out of necessity. A way to not only help solve my problems in this new life chapter but also a way for other dads to get the support they need! This application could help minimize that feeling of loneliness that new dads had. A way to connect, get advice and become the best father we can be!
The first research I conducted was a post on the application “Next Door”. I figured this would be a helpful resource to find local dads and ask some questions. I reached out to ask if any new dads would be interested in getting a coffee to connect. I formed some questions that asked other dads about parenthood and their experiences with loneliness and connection in the early stages of parenthood.
I was able to connect with 5 other fathers who were up for getting a coffee. They were open and willing to answer the questions I had. It was clear that they also struggled in this new stage of life. Using what I found I was able to start creating mock ups of what features this application should have.
After this I would conduct another round of questions with another 5 new dads to have a broader round of data to go off of. It was important to not only ask the same questions but also dig deeper to best understand why dads will use this application.
The insights I observed provided some clear information as well as some new information. Each dad seemed to want to be more connected. They all felt disconnected with friends and were eager to meet other dads. 30 percent felt supported and the other 70 felt they needed a better network for advice and connection.
These findings helped prove that this is an application that would be useful to the majority of dads surveyed. It gave me the initial feedback I need to keep moving forward.
Another bit of information that was useful was how each dad would use this application. 50 percent said their primary goal was connection. 30 percent were looking for advice on parenting. The last 20 percent were looking for community events and also a way to give advice to other dads.
This information was pivotal in helping me think about all important functionality and also prepare for wireframing.
After completing the low fidelity mock ups I asked all 10 dads if they could help me test this prototype. I had them complete a series of detailed tasks and gathered feedback on how they interacted with the screens. This taught me a lot about how they thought about the functionality and what needed to be improved or changed.
After gathering all user insights I was able to start making changes to my mockups. A common change that was observed was how the dads interacted with the community function. It seemed that they were confused on how to best connect with other dads using the application. I needed to create a more intuitive way for them to connect with each other. It needs to be clear and easy to do.
The final solution had changed a lot from my original mockups. I had learned a lot from my user research, changes and findings. This application was now something I could be proud of. It is not only a resource to help other dads but also a way to build community and help ease the transition for dads in this huge life change. “Hey Dad” was the tool to make sure that all dads could easily navigate life with the confidence to do better and the reassurance that they are not alone. They can with confidence that they are the best version of themselves they can be for their family.
I asked the dads to provide final feedback on the high fidelity mock ups.Their results were very positive. 90 percent claimed the app would help them in this phase of life and they would plan to use it. They claimed a lot of the new changes were very helpful to ease of use. 100 percent said that they felt confident navigating the application. It was amazing to see how this application had changed from an idea to something that was now working and helpful for other dads. I know this application will continue to change when there are more people using it.
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