MS - UX & Information Systems
EazyDoc - An Android app design that makes visits to the hospital easy
Responsibilities:
Project Duration:
The Product:
Team:
UX Researcher and Designer
March 2022 - May 2022
Individual
EazyDoc is an android app that enables users to manage medicines and schedule appointments with cost estimation and quick notes. Offer assistance and important information at each stage, from scheduling to medicine reminders. This will benefit patients who visit hospitals yet have concerns.
The Problem
According to the data sourced from ExpressScripts, PatientRightsAdvocate, and Kaiser.
85% of patients miss their medication due to forgetfulness, inertia, or the high cost of medication
~ExpressScripts
14.3% of the 1,000 hospitals are in compliance with all of the price transparency rule requirements by February 2022
~PatientRightsAdvocate
59% of healthcare debt is generated from lab fees or diagnostic tests
~Kaiser
To gain more clarity on these issues, I had conversations with healthcare professionals such as nurses, doctors, and patients. Their experiences were collected and analyzed to understand the factors that influence medication adherence, hospital compliance with price transparency rules, and healthcare debt.
The Challenge
How Might We Simplify and Improve Access to the Healthcare System for Patients and Caregivers?
The Process
Wait, but how did I get to the solution?
1. User Research: Summary
In order to acquire a range of viewpoints on a similar set of questions, I defined the user research goal and produced a brief with a few questions that I would be asking all the participants.
Following in-depth conversations with six individuals, certain viewpoints were reconsidered. It became evident that users had additional requirements beyond appointment scheduling and medication reminders.
User Research Findings : Pain Points
Finding 1:
Finding 2:
Every visitor is
concerned about how much money they will spend while visiting.
A working professional frequently overlooks the right time to take their medication.
Finding 3:
The majority of patients complain that by the time of the appointment, they had forgotten some issue to talk with the doctor.
Finding 4:
Most visitors have trouble deciding which doctor to see or what information to provide in particular fields.
2. Personas
I created user personas to develop a deeper understanding of my target audience.
3. Starting the Design
Crazy 8s
Initially, I felt uneasy about the challenge of creating eight unique displays within a set timeframe. The ticking clock only added to my anxiety, as I had never attempted this before. Despite this, I gave it a try and I was able to generate eight distinct concepts for the landing page and completed the task successfully.
In the initial stages while designing, I believed that a rectangle card with different categories would be the best solution for users to search for care providers. Later I thought I realized that a swipe card showcasing frequently used care providers would be a more effective solution. Despite this, I was not much satisfied I wanted to ensure that swiping/scrolling should not a hindrance to users. I iterated on the design, I focused on decluttering and removing any irrelevant information. In my final design I positioned the most used features at the top of the screen and prominently displayed the earliest available care providers with relevant basic information.
Low Fidelity - Wireframe
To capture initial ideas without investing too much time and to identify issues and flaws in current design, I created low fidelity wireframes to transform sketches that can be tested and refined.
High Fidelity
After ensuring low fidelity is good to go, I worked on high fidelity prototype designed all screens clearly and perfectly in order to conduct real user testing and generate final design. The primary objective of the high-fidelity design was to elicit valuable feedback during usability testing.
4. The Solution
Cost Estimation
To address very visitor's financial worries during their visit. I propose a cost estimation feature that offers visitors an estimated breakdown of their expenses. We can gather data from multiple sources on the costs of particular tests and procedures, furthermore, leveraging insurance data, we can determine the amount of coverage and present an approximate costs breakdown accordingly.
Quick Add Notes
A common complaint from patients is that they often forget to bring up important topics with their doctor by the time of appointments. To solve this problem, I have designed a feature that provides an instant prompt to add notes based on the doctor the patient has booked an appointment with. This feature ensures that patients do not forget to discuss any crucial matters by the time of their appointment.
Medication - Reminder
A working professional often fails to take their medication at the appropriate time. To address this issue, I created a feature that not only reminds them to take their medication, but also provides encouraging quotes. For example, they might receive a notification saying, "Hello Joie, great gift to keep you smiling is healthy you. It's time to take 1 pill of Vitamin D3 after meal"
5. Usability Study
I did an unmoderated usability study with five users on the Trymyui platform to understand how users will interact with my app and what changes I can accommodate to give a better user experience.
I set up three tasks for a user to complete, all the users were able to complete all tasks and the completion rate was 100%.
To assess the usability of the product and services, I put up the System Usability Scale (SUS) survey at the conclusion of the test.
Users said system was easy to use and they will use this system frequently
Users said functionality of the system was well integrated and it's easy to learn
Users felt confident while using the system
Affinity Mapping
Following the usability study, I organized the information I collected from users using sticky notes to construct an affinity diagram. I then identified a common pattern and came to conclusions about what worked well and what might be improved. I prioritized and repeated some screens based on the findings from the themes identified.
Priority 0:
Based on the theme, most users were interested in seeing the overall cost they would pay.
The insight was: Users need an additional label where they can view the final payable amount once all other data has been displayed.
Priority 1:
Based on the theme, words were a little confusing for some users.
An insight was: The wording can be changed to make it more acceptable.
What Changed?
Despite the fact that all three activities were successfully completed by 5 out of 5 users. My user shouldn't have felt lost, that was my goal. In addition, according to 2 users' suggestions and my own, I added a label to state how much the patient will pay after insurance.
Before
Users assumed that the app would show their final bill after insurance.
After
Added a label that shows the payable amount to the user after insurance is applied
Users Feedback
The app has a lot of potentials and covers all the different aspects of healthcare, from scheduling to medication to cost estimation. So, I can see myself using it frequently.
~Bertrand T
I found cost estimation, setting up reminders, and scheduling appointments very useful. I specifically liked the cost estimation feature because it gives me peace of mind about how much I will need to pay for the visit or the service.
~Hem P
Final Product
The app was finally ready once all the adjustments were fixed. A brief video of the finished item is provided below.
What I Learned:
During this project, I attempted the Crazy 8 exercise for the first time and was amazed at how quickly I was able to generate a variety of unique designs without being bogged down by concerns of making mistakes. This exercise proved to be an excellent tool for brainstorming as even with a small team of three designers, we were able to produce 24 distinct design solutions.
Furthermore, I utilized the TryMyUi platform for the first time to conduct usability testing and learned about the System Usability Scale (SUS), which is a scoring method used to assess usability.
What Next:
Up until now, I have solely focused on designing for patients within the system, but moving forward, I will also be dedicating my efforts to address the needs of caregivers. As part of this effort, I plan to incorporate user-friendly features such as report management and payment processing that cater to all types of users.
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