Creating a healthcare resource that works for everyone.

Creating a healthcare resource that works for everyone.

finding quality healthcare is complicated and daunting, how can we make the search easier?

finding quality healthcare is complicated and daunting, how can we make the search easier?

finding quality healthcare is complicated and daunting, how can we make the search easier?

Timeline:

2.5 Weeks

Role:

Designer

Team:

3 Designers

Timeline:

2.5 Weeks

Role:

Designer

Team:

3 Designers

Project Overview

Project Overview

Our team found that many people needed improved access to finding and scheduling appointments with healthcare specialists due to many different factors including lack of insurance, shortage of area doctors, lack of company outreach, etc.
During our survey process, we discovered that 100% of users access healthcare options virtually. Therefore, we believe there's a significant need for online assistance accessing healthcare information including healthcare providers, specialist availability and appointment setting for both insured and uninsured users.
For this reason, we aimed to develop an app that will enhance accessibility and convenience in accessing healthcare services.
Our team found that many people needed improved access to finding and scheduling appointments with healthcare specialists due to many different factors including lack of insurance, shortage of area doctors, lack of company outreach, etc.
During our survey process, we discovered that 100% of users access healthcare options virtually. Therefore, we believe there's a significant need for online assistance accessing healthcare information including healthcare providers, specialist availability and appointment setting for both insured and uninsured users.
For this reason, we aimed to develop an app that will enhance accessibility and convenience in accessing healthcare services.

Addressing the "why?"

Addressing the "why?"

Users needed better access to healthcare providers and specialists due to challenges like a lack of insurance, a shortage of area doctors, and limited outreach from healthcare providers.

With 100% of users in our survey accessing healthcare virtually, the demand for online healthcare services is high, making a digital solution essential for meeting users' needs.

Our app is designed to provide healthcare options for both insured and uninsured users, addressing the needs of those who often struggle the most to access specialist care.

Users require assistance not only in finding healthcare providers but also in scheduling appointments, which the app will streamline, improving convenience and user experience.

Users needed better access to healthcare providers and specialists due to challenges like a lack of insurance, a shortage of area doctors, and limited outreach from healthcare providers.

With 100% of users in our survey accessing healthcare virtually, the demand for online healthcare services is high, making a digital solution essential for meeting users' needs.

Our app is designed to provide healthcare options for both insured and uninsured users, addressing the needs of those who often struggle the most to access specialist care.

Users require assistance not only in finding healthcare providers but also in scheduling appointments, which the app will streamline, improving convenience and user experience.

Initial User Research

Initial User Research

The user research phase had our team create 2 user personas following young to middle aged users that we believed our app would best cater to.

We then worked on a competitive analysis to gauge the offerings of 4 direct and indirect competitors adjacent to our project.

Our team then created an interview plan and script to guide us in gathering feedback and further information on our users.

We began by conducting 9 user interviews to discover what problems users were experiencing when accessing healthcare resources and booking healthcare appointments for both insured and uninsured users.

All of these users had insurance but some were able to share about a time that they were uninsured. We were also able to interview people in the healthcare field and a subject matter expert who has assisted many uninsured people access healthcare.

We found that insured users did have more access to resources than uninsured. Even then, the resources available to insured users were limited and information was often scattered and that uninsured users had very limited resources when compared to insured users. We also found that the majority of users were booking appointments by calling providers directly.

We surveyed 16 participants, ages 24 - 60+. We found that 75% of users had health insurance and that 56.3% accessed resources through their insurance.

User survey feedback:

“The last couple times I've used the app for my insurance, UnitedHealthcare, and gone through their website to find somebody.”

“I typically just use my phone and google the best providers and if I like what I’m seeing, I’ll give them a call and talk about their services. I also like to ask about if my insurance is in their network and make sure that’s good before I move on.”

“I am about to be 26 and not have insurance anymore and I am stressed because my resources will be limited and things will be expensive.”

Our key takeaways from user research:

Insured Users Have Limited Access to Scattered Information

Uninsured Users Face Significant Barriers

Manual Appointment Booking is Still Prevalent

Users Rely on Both Insurance Apps and External Searches

The user research phase had our team create 2 user personas following young to middle aged users that we believed our app would best cater to.

We then worked on a competitive analysis to gauge the offerings of 4 direct and indirect competitors adjacent to our project.

Our team then created an interview plan and script to guide us in gathering feedback and further information on our users.

We began by conducting 9 user interviews to discover what problems users were experiencing when accessing healthcare resources and booking healthcare appointments for both insured and uninsured users.

All of these users had insurance but some were able to share about a time that they were uninsured. We were also able to interview people in the healthcare field and a subject matter expert who has assisted many uninsured people access healthcare.

We found that insured users did have more access to resources than uninsured. Even then, the resources available to insured users were limited and information was often scattered and that uninsured users had very limited resources when compared to insured users. We also found that the majority of users were booking appointments by calling providers directly.

We surveyed 16 participants, ages 24 - 60+. We found that 75% of users had health insurance and that 56.3% accessed resources through their insurance.

User survey feedback:

“The last couple times I've used the app for my insurance, UnitedHealthcare, and gone through their website to find somebody.”

“I typically just use my phone and google the best providers and if I like what I’m seeing, I’ll give them a call and talk about their services. I also like to ask about if my insurance is in their network and make sure that’s good before I move on.”

“I am about to be 26 and not have insurance anymore and I am stressed because my resources will be limited and things will be expensive.”

Our key takeaways from user research:

Insured Users Have Limited Access to Scattered Information

Uninsured Users Face Significant Barriers

Manual Appointment Booking is Still Prevalent

Users Rely on Both Insurance Apps and External Searches

Defining our user

Defining our user

Our team created an affinity diagram and empathy map to better categorize and understand the feedback we had received from our interviews.

We then created a customer journey map with a newly created user persona to create a path for what we though our potential users might follow/experience.

Using the data we collected from the research phase we created both a user insight statement and a problem statement to better narrow our projects scope and mission. We created a feature prioritization matrix so we could weed out the most important aspects of our potential app design and created a value proposition to better communicate what our team was able to bring to the table with our project.

User Insight Statement

Samantha requires improved access to finding and scheduling appointments with healthcare specialists due to the shortage of specialists in her area that accepts her family's insurance.

During our survey process, we discovered that 100% of users access healthcare options virtually.

Therefore, we believe there's a significant need for online assistance accessing healthcare information including healthcare providers, specialist availability and appointment setting for both insured and uninsured users. For this reason, we aim to develop an app that will enhance accessibility and convenience in accessing healthcare services.

Value Proposition Statement

Insured and uninsured users are experiencing frustration when it comes to accessing and booking healthcare appointments that suit their needs- particularly when seeking specialist and finding availability in their area. There is a need for enhanced information and accessibility regarding healthcare providers, availability and services. 

Our team drafted a user scenario and storyboards for both insured and uninsured users of our potential app and also created a user flow so we could begin prototyping our application from it

User Scenario

Insured Storyboard

Uninsured Storyboard

User Flow

Prototyping

Prototyping

Beginning prototyping our team created sketches of potential screens/pages for our app and then converted those into a clickable prototype, afterwards iterating on this prototype with wireframes and then both lo-fi and mid-fi versions.

Initial Sketches

Wireframe

Lo-Fi Prototype

Mid-Fi Prototype

User testing and feedback

User testing and feedback

Our team created a guerilla testing plan with tasks for our users to complete given the app prototype. We analyzed the results of our user tests, noted key takeaways and then iterated on our design based on the feedback we had received.

Our Lo-Fi User Test Criteria:

Six users were tasked with testing a low-fidelity prototype. They were given two tasks to complete:

  1. Create an appointment.

  2. Navigate the application using the bottom navigation bar.

Key Takeaways:

✓ Users liked the option to sign in with Google or Apple

✓ Users enjoyed Color scheme and feels that it is inviting.

✗ Users found themselves not being able to get back to the previous page

✗ Users desire time of appointment shown in appointment creation dialogue box

✗ Users desire a section of the app dedicated to after visit summaries as well as billing information

Iterations made based on user testing:

✓ Added “x” buttons in top right corners for users to easily navigate to the previous page

✓ Added a background biography for the providers

✓ Added a time slot when booking appointments

✓ Added time slot information to appointment creation dialogue box

✓ Created more consistently sized buttons

Reflection

Reflection

Pain Points

  • At first, we had a hard time deciding what was important for our app. After the user interviews, we were able to learn that many users wanted a inclusive, safe, reliable and welcoming platform when it came to accessing healthcare. After we realized this, our group was able to focus on the true needs of our users.

  • Our team could have benefited from more data, specifically from survey responses.

  • We could have spent more time figuring out exactly what features we wanted and managed our time better.

New Discoveries

  • Our group started this project with zero user experience skills, which allowed us to learn from our mistakes and grow as designers. We were able to learn from one another and our instructors to work effectively in a collaborative environment while managing our work and class schedules.

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