Healthway Mobile Prototype
In a nutshell...
Mobile App Design. Self-Initiated Project 2024.
Summary
The user problem was how can user interactive and user experience design help with patients and caregivers who may have mild anxieties when it comes to receiving medical care at a hospital.
I was the sole designer and had two rounds of usability testing.
Results
Before this project, I had assumed my research would reiterate specifics I had already known about color psychology, but I was surprised about the results of the gamification within the prototype that many were interested in.
Constraints
I gave myself 2-3 months, so there were time constraints when it came to usability testing specifically, as users were using surveys to complete tasks on their own time.
I love design. All design.
I really am living the dream! I get to solve problems visually and interactively and I think that is literally the best feeling in the world. Nothing beats the adrenaline and excitement of getting to the end of a project successfully as a designer.
Because designers are so full of passion, we have a tendency to take on projects, either from supervisors or clients, we complete it and then we get to the next one, then the next one, and the next one... you see where this is going, huh?
I found that I was getting so focused on the next project (etc.) that I was starting to only focus on results. Results are great, we love results! However, we also love process because without process, the results aren't as understood. People ask why and we can't really answer.
So for this project, I wanted to keep the tension of the timelines to the right a bit more so that I could also do some deep diving into the process. To keep myself on my imaginary track, I started with my Gantt chart.
In my research...
I dove into psychology and other design research, as well as exercises people have done in the past. I found that when people, both staff and patients feel better about their environments, they have less anxiety, which doesn't only reduce symptoms of stress - which everyone feels - but also helps with important pillars in health situations, like remaining calm, the ability to wait to make sure higher priority emergencies are seen first, and ensuring respect goes both ways from patient to professional.
I found that in previous evidence that was design-based, color choices could help patients in their anxiety-prone states, which is something we learn of in color psychology in school; but what surprised me was how important it was for staff to have good color psychology as well for their own mental health. It makes sense when thinking about how long staff spend in hospital compared to patients, but it took me by surprise. Not only color matters to staff, but facility design also matters, as well!
Other research found that waiting times for Emergency Rooms along with pleasantness from staff and anxiety and fear from patients could improve by the process in which patients are checked in (along with light and color).
Wayfinding was another aspect that adds a lot of anxiety on patients, and while there have been digital solutions that have improved during multiple studies - along with the payback period of one year with good benefit-cost ratio, the digital solution powerhouse in the medical field is Gozio Health, and not every hospital uses that.
B.A.D Analysis
This was also a unique opportunity to use a new deck that I had bought to understand more business oriented research and analysis aspects called B.A.D. What a name, right?
Don't be fooled, though, this handy little tool has been huge in a lot of my cross-thinking in broaching certain things from a business mindset.
After thinking and playing with the processes in B.A.D and conducting the research, I realized that while there were multiple tools for navigation for hospitals, one of the main focuses of my goal was reducing anxiety when visiting for appointments, and one unique value proposition came to mind: gamification.
Gamification helps people focus on something outside of themselves, reduces anxiety, and allows a pause from the mundane. Using gamification, we could design a mobile application that helped with navigation in hospital and allowed users to gain points, allowed caregivers or people waiting on the patient augmented reality journeys in the waiting room, and also allowed users to do all of the normal hospital/health things they do in their phones currently, almost marketing the product as, what business-minded people like to call 'blue ocean'.
Wireframes UP!
My low fidelity wireframes and earlier versions of the low-fi wireframes were created with Illustrator so I could dive a bit deeper with shape and design exploration.
User testing was conducted through a few friends and a few people from the Design Buddies discord which has a really great user survey section for such a person. The main feedback I got was regarding some of the different ways people would get to the navigation game, which was difficult because of verbiage confusion.
I created my high fidelity wireframes and prototype in Figma. The feedback I got was the gamification idea was not only a great idea, but the usability route was very clear and concise. Things were easy to find and clearer this time than the earlier wireframes.
This is me!
Thanks for reading (or skimming) this far!
I am passionate about helping organizations and clients shape their user problems into amazing user experiences. Human oriented design is most important to me, and I think whatever the solution, no matter what it is, is important.
So, why 'buzybee'? I've been asked this a few times. All my life, I have had a hard time sitting still, even now that I have disabilities and am not consistently shifting in my seat. I keep my life busy with design, new projects, and new passions of the month - like gardening, or reading!
