Design Research & Strategy / iOS App
Patients First: Investigating the Canadian doctor shortage
Patients First is a fictional government-led initiative aimed at improving healthcare for patients. The initiative aims to place people and patients at the center of healthcare by more deeply understanding patient needs and experiences while improving patient outcomes.
Project
Academic, UX Design Research & Strategy
My Role
UX Researcher, UX & UI designer
Duration
3 weeks (April - May 2023)
Tools
Figma, Illustrator, Pencil, Pen, Paper
1 in 5 people do not have a family doctor
The problem spaceIn Canada, there is a shortage of licensed doctors. 1 in 5 people do not have a family doctor. Some people have been searching for over a year and many people have lost hope in their search for family doctor. They end up visiting ERs or Urgent Care clinics to be seen for management of on-going issues and non-urgent issues.
Hypothesis
I believe that by connecting patients to family doctors, nurse practitioners or telehealth in a timely fashion will help to reduce the load on our ER and Urgent Care clinics, reduce anxiety and rebuild confidence in our healthcare system.
I will know I’m right when i see the following feedback from the market:
the number of British Columbians without access to a reliable healthcare decreases from 60% to 30%.
Assumptions
I believe my customers have a need to:
easy access to healthcare without excessive wait times
These needs can be solved with/by:
more options than what is available locally
My initial users are (or will be):
busy families who work full time and often need to see a doctor fairly often
Secondary researchWhat’s happening?
Nearly 60% of British Columbians find it difficult to access a doctor or have no access at all.
cbc.caNearly 1 in 5 patients across Canada who went to an emergency room could have been treated elsewhere.
Canadian Institute for Health Information
Canada will be short approximately 44,000 physicians before the end of the decade
financialpost.comFamily Doctors in BC are the lowest paid in all of Canada.
-bchealthcarematters.com
Interviews
Participant criteria
Canadian citizens in BC
Living in Metro Vancouver
Between the ages of 30-55
Have a family doctor or currently looking for one
Have experienced a significant health issue
Health and Safety
Hip replacement
J, 41yrs
Works part time & stay-at-home mom
Emergency C-section, skin cancer
C, 43yrs
Recruiter
2 C-sections
A, 33yrs
Compliance Analyst
Emergency C-section, autoimmune issues
J, 44yrs
Affinity mapSynthesizing results
After synthesizing my data of four interviews into pain points, motivations and behaviours within an affinity map, I identified 5 key themes of trust & confidence, new doctor search, telehealth, recruiting new doctors including my chosen theme: availability & timeliness—a massive pain point for patients.
Theme: Availability & Timeliness
Insight: It can take too long to see a family doctor resulting in 4+ hour wait times at the ER to be seen and often using up vital staff & resources that are needed for more urgent cases. Telehealth can be great for many issues and can be a quick solution for follow ups and prescriptions for known issues.
HMW
With my key theme of Availability & Timeliness and its insight in mind, I wrote an HMW statement to frame my problem to be solved. I could now ask the question:
How might we focus on connecting patients in a timely fashion with a healthcare provider to allow all British Columbians to have access to the medical care they need and restore their hope in Canada’s health system?
PersonaMeet Chloe
Having consolidated all my research findings about my primary users during previous steps of interviews and affinity mapping, I next created a persona who represents the core attributes of my target user.
In the following section, we’ll learn more about Chloe Wilson’s behaviors, motivations and goals and then explore the functional needs and tasks she would want to perform.
“I’ve had to go to the ER many times for myself and my young kids because my doctor is too busy, and she only works a few days a week”
Click image to enlarge
Epics
User StoriesI chose to move forward with the epic Online Appointment Scheduling, as it can be a common frustration and pain point for patients in BC.
Tasks under this category could be:
Access healthcare services near me
View wait times
Book an appointment
Receive notifications for upcoming appointments
Click image to enlarge
What would Chloe do?
Task FlowWith user tasks identified, I designed a task flow that my primary user Chloe would take and that aligned with my chosen user story.
Epic: Online Appointment Scheduling
User story: As a Patient, I want to access convenient healthcare services online so that I can receive quick medical care when I need it.
Task flow: Schedule an in-person appointment
Click image to enlarge
Ideation
Inspiration
To cater to users with varying needs, I explored multiple search options for both known item and exploratory seeking.
I took inspiration from various UI examples to influence my sketching process with an aim to enhance the user experience and make their search process more effective.
Playing with ideas
SketchesExploratory Sketches
During my ideation phase, I took inspiration from my UI board and sketched out some exploratory concepts to bring my User Task Flow to life.
Solution Sketches
I redrew my key screens to hone in on the important features and components on the Home, and Search screens.
With my UI inspiration and competitive research it became obvious that the searching is integral to seeking and booking a provider in a quick and simple way.
User input of clicking in the address bar, choosing any Symptom chip or Specialty section would trigger Location Services in order to load local providers in a user’s default radius.
Digitizing sketches
WireframesAfter sketching out my ideas, I converted them into grayscale digital wireframes to emphasize functionality over design.
For the purpose of this prototype, I chose to name the app Care Finder, as it aligns with the main objective and purpose of the app and adds some context for user testers.
Here’s a set of wireframes that illustrates the user flow from adding their address dynamically to finding a clinic then choosing an appointment time.
This section of the flow asks for more user input from choosing an appointment type then coverage type, logging in and finally confirming their appointment.
Initial Prototype
User testingFollowing the creation of the wireframes, I next connected my primary user flows into an interactive prototype that would simulate the journey of my persona, Chloe Wilson, as she books an appointment with Care Finder.
As part of the app design process, I conducted 5 usability tests to obtain practical, real-time feedback to help improve the design and provide a more optimal user experience.
Each user was asked to follow a scenario while they conducted their test. A script was used to describe the test plan and guide the testers about what was expected of them. The sessions were conducted over Zoom and were recorded. Each test took approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.
Usability Issues
User testingAlthough all testers were able to complete all 5 tasks they were asked to perform, there were some usability issues that could benefit from improvement.
Round 1 user testing issues:
Appointment confirmation - More back buttons or exits from screens
Home - Hesitation/unsure what section to complete the task of finding a med clinic
Home/Search by Symptom and Specialty - confusion about what happens when clicked, have to click search button under the dynamic address now?
Hamburger menu not connected
No tab bar added yet, add useful links such as ‘home’
Allowing more interactivity and visibility other days/times. Adding a calendar could be helpful
Adding a screen to access appts and can edit from there as well
Removing other paths to book an appointment (however they do provide users to explore)
Better helper text and better visual hierarchy
Bypassing the location alerts and login screens after they are already set and logged in
My time edit didn’t update (missing wireframes screens)
On clinic times page, is the book button needed? Or should time be toggled or click to the next booking screen?
No back button from the appointment screens
Why am I logging in again? (missing wireframes)
No access to appointment history/profile
Revised Wireframes
Design PrioritizationHere’s a comparison of the top changes comparing of initial vs revised wireframes.
Revised Prototype
Design PrioritizationUsing my design prioritization matrix and user testing feedback I created an updated prototype with a set of revised wireframes.
Changes were made to the layouts, user flows as well as some UI updates.
Key learnings
This project allowed me to practice the collection of primary and secondary research with the purpose of identifying relevant insights.
Through the process of sketching, finding UI inspiration, then next designing wireframes from my ideation process, I developed a meaningful interactive prototype to show product functionality based on my users stories and task flow.
From the result of my user testing, I discovered areas of improvement in not only my wireframes but my task flow. With this feedback I created a revised, improved prototype.
I learned how to use my insights to build a persona and then extract their user stories and flow and identify tasks and opportunities that would be find useful in my app.