Fathers with Postpartum Depression: A Problem Space Exploration

Postpartum depression (PPD) for men is a significant but little-understood public health concern that affects ~14% of men in the US. It has not received adequate attention from society, researchers or health practitioners. This paper describes results from problem space exploration for this concern as the first step in a design science research process. Following the double-diamond model of design thinking, we describe two iterations. The first relies on qualitative analysis of data obtained from a social media platform to extract themes that describe pain points of new fathers. The second uses a participatory design exercise to identify personas and meta-requirements. Member-checking and triangulation efforts following the two iterations validate our findings that provide a rich understanding of this public health concern. A secondary contribution of our work is a demonstration of how design thinking techniques can be used within a design science research process to enhance the relevance cycle. We conclude by pointing to next steps for developing design science solutions in response to the problem.