Friends and family of someone with a cancer diagnosis often feel frustrated because they don’t know how to help. You might be surprised to find out that making someone feel better and improving their health can be simple: Let them know that you’re thinking about them.
At Flower we often talk about the challenge of knowing what to say or do when a friend is in crisis. After all, it’s one of the main problems we want to address with the app.
When I first started college I thought I would become a doctor. I majored in physics and chemistry, and I had great plans one summer to spend all my time studying for the MCAT and getting ready to apply to med school. However, my roommate was heavily into computer science and game design, and I was intrigued. Instead of studying for the MCAT I ended up teaching myself programming and how to get around a linux console. And I was hooked.
When someone tells us they’re sick or facing a crisis, our natural tendency is to want to help in some way. We want to say the right thing, be comforting, but all too often words escape us. I suspect we’ve all heard stories about cancer patients saying “please don’t call it a battle”, or of friends shying away because they just don’t know what to do or say.
We all have moments of stress, and sometimes those moments can grow to seem overwhelming. How we manage those moments can sometimes tear us apart, or if we’re lucky, bring us closer together.
Hi. I’m Skye.
I am a designer who has worked in the advertising, fashion, and outdoor industries.
I met Palmer and Jean, founders of Dogpatch Tech, through a friend who had engaged me to develop an app. To my surprise, Palmer and Jean needed a designer and we began working together to develop a number of early iterations of an app that we now call “Flower”.
At some point in our lives, we may all face the challenge of caring for someone we love, whether it be an ill child or an aging parent. It can be stressful and difficult work, and all too often we find the need to give care forces us to set aside other parts of our lives. Without help, it becomes harder and harder to maintain balance in your life.
When Dogpatch Tech first approached me about doing user research to help them build an amazing mobile application for community support, I thought, “That sounds like something that people could really use, but most of my research looks at people and gaming; what do I know about finding support among friends and family?”
There is so much information swirling around us, across multiple screens and coming from hundreds of sources. It’s not possible (or even healthy) to try to take in all that information. We try to read it all on the off chance that we will capture the one true nugget, and in the end all we usually have is a headache. That’s where ICYMI — in case you missed it — comes in.
Every once in a great while, if you’re lucky, you get this moment where you know, in your heart, in every cell of your body that you are exactly where you are supposed to be and doing what you are supposed to do. Whatever your belief system is, if you’ve experienced this, you know what I’m talking about. Some people call it finding flow. And it’s not always a happy moment in life. But above all, it’s a peaceful moment.
