FUSION ICS Project Competition • Best Overall ICS Project
MyBalikBox
A collaborative planning app that helps Filipino American families organize care packages sent to the Philippines (balikbayan boxes).
ROLE
Design Lead
TIMELINE
Jan 2026 - May 2026
TEAM
5 designers
8 developers
TOOLS
Figma
PROMPT
How can we help Filipino Americans preserve, share, and connect with their culture?
Context
What is a balikbayan box?
A balikbayan box is a care package filled with goods, gifts, and daily essentials commonly sent by Filipino-Americans to loved ones in the Philippines.
Balik: to return. Bayan: homeland.
Together: balikbayan.
?
?
?
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While receiving one is joyful, preparing one often isn't.
Planning is fragmented across Messenger, Notes, calls, and spreadsheets.
Problem Statement
So we asked…
How might we help families collaboratively organize and thoughtfully plan Balikbayan boxes within one shared space?
User Research
competitive analysis
Designing between the gaps.
We looked at general planning and logistics tools, but none addressed the specific, layered nature of Balikbayan box coordination, spanning family communication, budgeting, cultural meaning, and shipping logistics all at once.
Figure 1. Comparison of existing tools against Balikbayan box coordination needs.
3 User Interviews
Talking to the people actually living this problem.
We interviewed Filipino American families who regularly send balikbayan boxes, hearing firsthand how they coordinate, pack, and communicate throughout the process.
Figure 2. Interview protocol used to guide user research sessions.
affinity mapping
Sorting the noise.
We clustered raw interview notes into recurring themes, revealing patterns around meaning, budgeting, communication, and UI needs.
Figure 3. Affinity map clustering raw interview data into categories.
affinity mapping
Three pain points came up again and again.
01
Coordination happens without a system
02
Every item comes with a tradeoff
03
Once it ships, families are in the dark
Hover pain points to reveal key quotes
User flows
| Sender
1
Start the box
Create a box and pick a recipient.
2
Build the list
Choose items to include.
3
Check the limits
Confirm budget, weight, and shipping rules.
4
Add meaning & send
Include a message, then finalize.
Figure 4. User flow for the sender experience, from item selection to finalization.
| RECEIVER
1
Assess needs
Decide what's worth requesting.
2
Build the wishlist
Add and rank items.
3
Track status
Check updates as the box moves.
4
Receive & respond
Confirm receipt and share thanks.
Figure 5. User flow for the receiver experience, from request to confirmation.
2 User Personas
Research revealed two distinct user roles.
Jacob Dela Cruz
28 · Filipino American · Graduate Student
"I'm always worried I'll forget something someone asked for."
GOALS
Send a thoughtful Balikbayan box
Keep family members organized
Stay within the box's budget and weight
Make sure nothing important is forgotten
FRUSTRATIONS
Requests scattered across chats and calls
Hard to track what's already been purchased
Unsure what will still fit in the box
Last-minute packing feels stressful
SENDER
Maria Santos
30 · Mother · Cebu, Philippines
“I want to share what we need without feeling like I’m asking for too much.”
GOALS
Receive items that support everyday needs
Clearly communicate requests
Feel heard throughout the planning process
Stay connected with family abroad
FRUSTRATIONS
Requests get buried across messages
Unsure which items will be included
Feels guilty asking for too much
Limited visibility into planning
RECEIVER
Design Process
Low-Fidelity
Designing the foundation.
Figure 6. Low-fidelity wireframes representing initial design concepts.
Branding
Warmth at the heart of the brand.
Color Palette
#F2C572
#B58A5A
#8FACB8
#A03E3E
Inspired by the warmth and optimism of Filipino culture, the palette subtly echoes the Philippines' national colors through muted, earthy tones.
Typography
DM Sans
Clear, approachable, and built for readability.
Initial High-Fidelity Design
The product's fundamental screens.
Figure 7. High-fidelity screens for core product features.
7 Usability Testing Sessions
Feedback became the design process.
Four rounds of high-fidelity iterations challenged our assumptions and guided every major design decision.
Item management needed more control
Testers wanted to adjust item quantities, not just add items once, making this a key design priority.
Navigation bar lacked clarity and understanding
Users misread the "+" button. One noted it "feels like it would add items, not creating boxes."
Sender and receiver experiences felt too similar
Testers struggled to visually tell the two roles apart and suggested different colors.
Actions needed clearer feedback
Users weren't always sure an action succeeded. One suggested a confirmation after deleting an item.
Iteration
Testing revealed where our core experience needed more clarity.
Figure 8. Before-and-after comparison of sender/receiver color coding.
Figure 9. Before-and-after comparison of item management controls.
Final Solution
One box, two sides of the experience.
MyBalikBox gives senders and receivers a shared space to coordinate what goes into each box, stay aligned throughout the process, and manage the journey from planning to delivery.
For Senders — Plan with clarity from start to finish.
For Receivers — Share what matters from afar.
Contributions
What I brought to MyBalikBox.
As Design Lead, I wore a few hats—researcher, designer, mentor, and teammate—helping shape both the product itself and the process that brought it to life.
Key Takeaways
What MyBalikBox taught me.
Leadership is helping others grow.
Leading design taught me to delegate with intention rather than design everything myself. I focused on giving designers ownership of their work while keeping the team aligned.
Bring developers in earlier.
One thing I would change is communicating with developers much earlier and more often. Our team missed opportunities to catch technical constraints and shape solutions together.
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Sending love, one box at a time!
thanks for stopping by~
© emma narvaez 2026