What does it look like to turn a scattered, solo caregiving struggle into structure any family can trust?
In this episode of Designing for Dignity, Erin Young speaks with Hema Ramaswamy, founder of Sunlit Live. This platform gives family caregivers the same structure professional geriatric care managers build for their clients.
Hema shares how caring for her mother after her father's death revealed how scattered her family's information was. The conversation covers applying an engineering mindset to caregiving chaos and why she built a platform instead of a program.
She emphasizes that real caregiving insight only comes from staying close to the people living it, not from assumptions made at a distance. She also offers advice for founders doing early customer validation work and shares what comes next for Sunlit Live.
What you’ll learn
How caring for her mother after her father's death led Hema to found Sunlit Live
Why scattered, disconnected information was costing families the ability to make good decisions
How building structure one piece at a time turned personal chaos into something her whole family could use
Why nobody raises their hand and says "I'm a family caregiver," and what that means for reaching them
What shifted when she realized the people who said they needed her product wouldn't use it
Key themes
Family Caregiving • Caregiver Burden • Engineering Mindset • Data Ownership • User Research • Elder Care • AgeTech • Care Coordination • Dignity • Designing for Dignity
About the Designing for Dignity podcast
Designing for Dignity is a podcast from Slide UX that explores how thoughtful design can enhance autonomy, connection, and quality of life for people navigating aging or brain change. Each conversation spotlights innovators, caregivers, researchers, and individuals with lived experience, offering insights that bridge technology, empathy, and impact.