HEALTH IS WEALTH | Case Study
Health Is Wealth is a one-stop app designed for busy individuals who want to improve their health. This app helps users find personalized health information and aids in booking appointments close to their time of search.
My Role
End-to-End UX Researcher and UI/UX Designer
Problem:
Tools
Timeline
Figma, Figjam, Optimal Workshop
Managing one's health is a topic that affects our daily lives whether we are aware of it or not. Yet keeping track is often a difficult and overwhelming process. It is oftentimes not one's main priority as one may be caught up with other responsibilities including work and family. Frequently, people do not know what tests to get at their age, causing stress and confusion.
“Too few people are getting the right tests. Overall, Americans get only half the preventative care-including screenings- that they should, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports. “Many other people are screened too frequently, at the wrong age, or with tests that aren’t very accurate"
The need for individuals to personally handle their appointments and conduct their research only adds to their stress. This leads people to neglect their health and put off seeing the doctors for health screenings and preventative care.
“We have a problem in this country where we both underscreen and overscreen,” says Susie Dade, M.P.A., deputy director of the nonprofit Washington Health Alliance (WHA).
16 weeks (April 2024 - July 2024)
part-time schedule between work and class
Objectives:
1
Determine what problems people face when knowing what type of health screenings or preventative care appointments to get.
2
Understand how people are currently managing their health and pain points to focus on.
3
Discover why patients feel overwhelmed with managing their health and booking appointments.
4
Learn about what people believe will help ease their concerns and motivate them to prioritize their health.
RESEARCH
User Interviews:
Secondary Analysis:
In order to understand the users’ needs, I conducted user interviews, including 4 participants ages 25-61, all of whom were interested in improving their health.
From there I was able to extract some key insights and similar pain points that these participants faced:
Information saturation makes it difficult for people to find the necessary information they need
3/4 interviewees admit their lack of knowledge of what type of preventative health appointments to receive, either booking unneeded appointments or failing to book the recommended on
Users end up not scheduling appointments when they are unable to find one
3/4 of interviewees experience difficulty with booking appointments close to the time of searching
“I would like to be able to schedule online rather than being forced to call, because it is difficult to call during working hours. Being able to schedule online would allow me the freedom to be able to book appointments at any time I am available without worrying about when office hours are.” -Michael Yiu
Current apps do not motivate people to stay consistent in managing their health
4/4 of the interviewees wish they had more reminders and information regarding how they should be taking care of their health at their respective ages
“I think maybe an app that adds more health tips or tricks that are easy to do and incorporate into daily activities. Especially for people who work long hours or have busy schedules.” -Madyson McCane
I also conducted some research on competing apps and services to discover what is currently working, and to explore future solutions and opportunities of improvement.
Stanford MyHealth
U.S. Preventative Medicine (USPM)
View Full Analysis here!
Pros:
Allows user to easily book appointments and clearly states whether or not provider is covered under insurance.
Cons:
App is only available to Stanford Healthcare patients/ not accessible for everyone.
Pros:
Provides tailored preventative health information and informs users of health screening appointments they are overdue for.
Cons:
Information overload/ difficult for users to navigate the interface.
DEFINE
How can we measure success?
Sitemap:
Flows:
Areas of Improvement:
After conducting my research, I created two user personas whose pain points I found to be the most important to solve.
Due to her busy work schedule, Jules needs an app where she can easily find all the necessary preventative health information she needs to feel in control of her health.
Sign In/ Create an Account
Find Out What To Get
Find Out More Information
Book An Appointment
Book From Overdue
In order to stay healthy to provide for his family, Henry hopes for a platform where he can easily book his preventative health appointments and easily access all of his information.
I then set out to map out the sitemap for the mobile app I planned to create.
Because of the scope of this topic and the timeframe I was given for this project of mine, my excellent mentor JJ advised me to narrow down the task flows that I should develop to really focus on the quality rather than quantity of work presented. For this reason, my design includes the following task flows:
View Task Flows here!
As discussed in the research insights, people struggled most with finding relevant information about preventative care and booking appointments close to their time of search.
Flows 2 and 3 plan to help users find specific information based on their age, gender, and concerns.
Flows 4 and 5 are aimed at helping users easily book appointments and includes:
shows close available dates
in-network provider information
sends notifications for sooner available dates
DESIGN
Low-Fidelity Wireframes:
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes:
Brand Style Guide:
High-Fidelity Wireframes:
After understanding the features from platforms and the areas that are currently working, I began to generate sketches of my own that included solutions and features that I wanted to include.
I aimed for a simple and consistent layout for this health app and included only the necessary information so users won’t have too many options to choose from (hence the lack of images, large texts, and limited buttons on each screen.)
I then began to fill in the designs accordingly as shown through the mid-fidelity wireframes:
Before moving on to high-fidelity wireframes, I created a brand style tile that includes the color palette, typeface selection, icons, and various components I plan to utilize. I wanted to include analogous colors blue and green in my palette as these colors evoke a sense of growth, trust, and empowerment, all while maintaining a peaceful, calming interface that relieves stress from users.
During this step, I implemented the brand style guide to my mid-fidelity wireframe:
I also added an extra step which will allow users to book their appointment directly from their overdue appointments so that they do not need to enter the information themselves.
TESTING
Priority Revisions:
Final Prototype:
As this project was an iterative process, I wanted to conduct further usability testing on my high-fidelity wireframes to catch any further issues that I may have missed. I presented five participants with a working prototype and four tasks that they must complete. I then followed up with some questions at the end of the testing. From there, I was able to formulate some areas of improvement and brainstorm ideas for each area:
Streamline the appointment booking process
Solution: remove unnecessary pages
Make the interface more cohesive
Solution: add more colors and images to
Prototype more features
Solution: fine-tune buttons, menu screens, pop-up screens, etc.
You can view the full analysis here!
You may notice that this prototype is designed for the iPhone 8 Plus display. I did not realize until late into my design that I should have designed for the most recent model. I found myself having to modify the home screen for the sake of having an up-to-date cover photo. This is a mistake that I will be sure not to make for my future projects.
You can view the final prototype here!
Conclusion
Takeaways:
This was my very first end-to-end project guided by Designlab, and I definitely learned and grew a lot throughout this process. Having to juggle a full- time job on top of taking this class truly pushed me to adapt and prioritize. It reminded me of the importance of time management and having a structured plan.
This was reflected in my user interview process, as I found that scheduling interview dates took longer than anticipated. In the future, I will plan for these interviews and usability testing sessions earlier in my design process. Another aspect that I hope to improve on is asking more clarifying questions during these sessions, which will allow me to have more information to work with.
Throughout this process, I found that I very much enjoyed UI design in particular (sometimes losing track of time with the details). Despite being intimated with conducting user interviews at first, I also enjoyed talking to different people, listening to their thought processes, and learning about new ideas that I would never have otherwise thought of.
I hope to improve my design skills in future projects, from developing key insights from research to my overall interface design skills to create more eye-catching and advanced designs. Overall, I feel that this project has allowed me to build my confidence in presenting and justifying my decisions.