PATIENT ENGAGEMENT PLATFORM
Purpose
Client project for an Austin start-up healthcare patient engagement platform focused on making tasks and outcome measures more efficient at physical therapy clinics.
Objective
We were tasked to solve a problem on measuring outcomes for one specific audience, Silent Generation seniors over 75 years old who have no smart phone or computer. Our deliverables were to focus on user flows within a physical therapy office and design a mobile app for a tablet. The app includes a dashboard for the Physical Therapist or Administrator to securely attach forms, and create an accessible online form for the senior user to complete on-site.
Approach
Our approach was focused on research, interactions, information hierarchy and content strategy, while concentrating on Inclusive and Service Design thinking best practices and strategies.
Project duration
Two weeks - Spring 2017
My Team
My Roles
Research, IA, Content Strategy, Interaction Design, UI, Usability, Service Design, Inclusive Design/Accessibility
Link to interactions
Gif of form attachment process
KeetHealth Overview
A client project for a start-up healthcare patient engagement platform focused on making tasks and outcome measures more efficient at physical therapy clinics. Their goals are also to be a service to Physical Therapist clinics to increase communication with patients and send outpatient programs and patient forms via their app used by both the clinicians and the patients.
The Challenge
How to get online surveys filled by physically-impaired 75+ year old seniors who do not own or use smart phones or computers?
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Tasked to solve a problem on measuring outcomes. A small but significant population who is hard to retrieve digital data
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Scope was for one survey (CARE) for one specific group
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Survey is the CARE survey given once after the first visit about patient/provider relationships
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User group is non-tech using seniors who are 75+ years old
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Asked to consider user flows for other surveys for the future
The Process
Research
Information Architecture/Content Strategy
Interaction Design/Service Design
Accessibility/Inclusive Design
Research
Getting to know our users
Business and Competitive Analysis
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Growing market - growing PT patient are the baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964
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Aging population is increasing and pressing need for a focus on Accessibility and Inclusive Design.
Whiteboarding from contextual inquiries
Behavioral and Task Engagement Research
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Zeigarnik Effect - behavioral psychology from early 20th century that states interrupted or incomplete tasks are formed in our memory more than completed tasks
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Good Form Design - researched best practices by form guru Luke Wroblewski - A form is a conversation; we should think less about forms as a means of filling a database, and more as a means of creating a meaningful conversation between the user and the company.
Contextual Inquiry
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Interviews with seniors - they don’t want to stick around and fill out a form after PT though don’t mind filling them out if meaningful. Patients do not want to fill out in front of PT because they will not be truthful
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Ethnographic research - shadowing PT clinic to understand all flows and the need for Service Design
Information Architecture and Content
How is the information organized?
Journey experience mapping: Patient and Admin mapping iterations including user flows
Persona: Grace of the Silent Generation
How and Why?
User flows
Where, why and how was the user(s) going to use the app
How do we simplify the experience with the least amount of clicks and interactions
Affinity Diagram
To understand key user concepts, and to organize them by the users thoughts, feelings and actions.
Personas
Provider/Admin - A priority user is the provider or admin because this user is creating, determining, attaching forms. The admin has real and digital interaction with the patient.
Patient - The patient is a priority user because she is completing the survey but the tasks are dependent upon the provider so we created two users.
Journey Experience Mapping
We wanted to understand emotions and pain points tied to users during interaction. This was the beginning of our Service Design thinking.
Wireframing - 1st iterations
Laying out the initial design concepts
Whiteboard sketching: how the admin was to access and interact with a dashboard and attach forms to a patient.
Wireframes: dashboard iterations
How and Why?
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Conduct a midpoint client meeting going over initial wireframes
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Showed initial PT dashboard design to have multiple areas for the provider to reach the forms; client preferred a more efficient system where forms are attached from one location
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We recommended that the app be the first interaction at the clinic to help with engagement - as a form of a sign in (Zeiginark Effect idea)
Insights
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Focus on creating one location for form attachment
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Work on filtering and notification system
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Continue to brainstorm privacy and how the forms are viewed and allocated to patient from the dashboard
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Brainstorm how Admin will interact with forms
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Table sign-in idea for now
Interaction Design
Service Design, Bodystorming and Story Boards
Service Design blueprint with opportunities of interaction at the PT office entry points,
Site map with order and descriptions of interactions and story board of entry point for context during user testing.
How and Why?
Service Design
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We used the cross channel Service Design principles that each patient and admin is the center of their world experience and designed with the consideration of their entire environment at the PT office
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Created three service blueprint templates to better understand interactions. We changed the templates to create additional interaction areas after shadowing the care coordinator
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Documented four areas within the patient’s service at a PT clinic--
1) the patient 2) their touch-points 3) the journey behind the scenes and, 4) the support system not directly connected to a specific patient journey
Body Storming
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Engaged in a structured creativity that involves using body to simulate interactions and understand pain points
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Body storming helped us build ideas and increase empathy
Storyboards
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Three drawings to visually tell the story of the patient and provider at 3 major interactions areas (before, during and after)
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Visually gives context during our user testing
Insights -
- Chose a drag and drop to attach forms because it gives the Admin more personal control visually. It also gives the Admin a sense of accomplishment and motivation to have more forms completed. The forms are always in sight, just in different placeholders. We used some gamification principles on engagment.
- Many interactions, both physically and digitally; focus on minimizing clicks and designing necessary interactions to be fluid
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Learn more about designing for people with low vision
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Test users in groups of people to role play the clinician and patient and pass iPad back and forth
Usability and User Testing
Do the interactions and flow make sense?
User testing simulation with iPad being passed back and forth between two people role playing.
Iterations of patient privacy modal. From user testing, we created a timer and stronger headings, and the admin now has control to start survey for senior patient.
How and Why?
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Designed mid-fi mock ups on Sketch and created interactions in Invision for testing
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User tested with two people interacting with each other and iPad because that is a real world situation between the admin and patient
Insight and necessary changes from user testing
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Better inline help
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Tutorial slide on the drag and drop function
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Stronger headings and more cohesive grouping
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Work on sizing and colors of primary and secondary Call to Actions
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Reevaluate patient privacy modal for better understanding by patient
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Design an option for an automated phone survey on patient form
Accessibility and Inclusive Design
Making sure people of all abilities can use our app
Iterations of the CARE form with a concentration on accessibility and user freedom to change position, background color, font size, and contrast.
How and Why?
Our user group has low vision and limited physical ability.
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Heuristic-driven design - good heuristics = good accessibility
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High contrast in colors - changable font size and background color
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Tolerance for errors - all text and buttons are hyperlinked
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Clear labels and text with expandable font and brightness
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Accessibility features button for saved preferences on dashboard
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Option for a CTA button to take the survey at home by automated phone if user does not want to take at clinic
Insight
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There is a social need for designing with accessibility in mind. People with disabilities form the largest user groups in the world
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Allow user freedom and control even though user is mostly dependent on others to complete the task
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Stay focused on the senior user and end goal of form completion and privacy
Retrospective
I enjoyed the depth of Interaction, Inclusive and Service Design that this project encompassed. I hope KeetHealth succeeds because it is a valuable amenity to the healthcare businesses and focused on keeping people and communities healthy and strong.
In hindsight, I would:
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Create more features for accessibility
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User testing on seniors going through PT and design more iterations
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Design an interactive gif to ensure interactions are complete
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Re-evaluate all aspects of the app with the UX honeycomb in mind - useful, usable, desirable, valuable, credible, findable, accessible
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Have the opportunity to take project to the end while working with a Web Dev team
Some Final Artifacts
