Punchcut · A Place for Mom
The challenge. A Place for Mom generates revenue by connecting senior users with care advisors. The business goal was to raise the completion rate of the care assessment and lower its high drop-off rate. The existing site had ad-like entry points and no map, and a complete revamp was not an option: the brand colors and typefaces were locked.
The goal. Users are fearful of a trap, but open to crossing a bridge. The goal was to build that bridge and meet them halfway.
The strategy. I treated those constraints as the brief. I took a welcoming approach, replacing intimidating stock photos with friendly illustrations, repurposed the mixed brand colors with clear psychological intent, and built a responsive map MVP from scratch in one week.
The delivery. A color strategy gave the cluttered, hierarchy-less site a clear order. I delivered the entry point that connects users with care advisors as a responsive card with its own color and visuals, and landing page designs for A/B testing. Within strict constraints, I set the typography for legibility for older users, and I did the UX and visual design for the map feature.
Project Overview
The core value of A Place for Mom is connecting families who are searching for senior living with expert care advisors. The whole web experience had to guide users gently toward that connection without feeling forceful.
01 Entry point
Visual design · Responsive card
The problem. The site suffered from a low click-through rate and high drop-offs. Entry points in many styles made the modules look like third-party ads, so users hesitated.
The decision. With a full rebrand off the table, I built one entry point as a responsive card that connects users with care advisors. I replaced heavy, realistic photos of people with approachable icons and illustrations to lower the barrier to entry. The card comes in small, medium, and large sizes for two contexts: text with a call to action, and illustration with text and a call to action. I delivered the current and new designs for A/B testing.
Ad-like entry pointsRandom color usage and disjointed UI made the calls to action look like untrustworthy ads, so users ignored them.
One unified entry pointApproachable illustrations and one unified entry point build a bridge of trust.
The client restricted any change to the brand typefaces, so I selected the best combination from the existing system for older readers. The serif headline feels human and approachable, and the high x-height sans serif keeps the small body text legible.
02 Color system
Visual design
The problem. The landing page had no clear primary color. Purple CTAs, randomly used green, and yellow highlights gave the site no hierarchy and little brand identity.
The decision. I separated the two conflicting brand colors. Primary green anchors the broader site in trust and a welcoming atmosphere, while the warm secondary purple is reserved for the care assessment flow. I also delivered landing page designs for A/B testing.
03 Map feature
UX · Visual design
The insight. A map view is a must-have for a localized senior living search, and auditing competitors such as Aegis Living and Caring.com showed that A Place for Mom was the only service without one.
Competitive auditFour steps of research: the feature audit, a map case study, a MoSCoW chart, and positioning.
I designed the entire map feature from scratch in one week. That meant designing the end-to-end UX flows, crafting the visual components, and iterating through daily client feedback sessions.
Filter states. Option A had good contrast between the selected and focused states, but the contrast between enabled and selected felt light on mobile when I tested it in the Figma mirror. Option B had more contrast between states. Option C, the final version, keeps every state well differentiated, which matters for a senior audience. I chose a darker green for the focused state because the primary green is already used for the bottom CTA of the filter sheet.
Applied filters. Option A showed the number of applied filters with a clear hierarchy, but the screen is already busy with map graphics and housing information, and the count matters less than the housing information. I chose option C and only added weight to the number.
Cards. The small card needed minimal information and simple interaction. Options A and B use a carousel, which adds complexity, and option C shows no pictures, so I developed option D. I put the price in its chip because price is the most important factor when users decide.
Tablet. The constraint was to reuse one card style from web or mobile. Option A, the web card size, did not fit well, and option B, the mobile card with a listing format, does not work in portrait. I selected option C, the mobile card size, because it balances the card and the map and shows more of the map. I designed at 1024 × 600, the smallest Android tablet size, because small screens have more UI restrictions.
04 Reflection
Seniors who use a service like this are often making difficult decisions in a vulnerable or urgent state. For them, good design is not just about aesthetics; it starts with something as fundamental as typography. The client wanted to minimize changes to their brand assets, so my role was not to reinvent the wheel but to make the existing one work. By maximizing readability and applying a welcoming tone, I made the interface more accessible. This project reminded me that designing care for the user starts from these small, foundational details.
Balancing these user needs with the client’s business goals required constant communication, prioritization, and scope balancing. Throughout the project I switched hats between UX designer, advocating for intuitive user journeys and building the map MVP in a single week, and visual designer, crafting one system within locked visual constraints.