Designing a Live Service
Qualitative & Quantitative Investigations
As part of the LEO Innovation Lab’s cutting edge approach to skin care, CIID helped design a service to improve the everyday life of people with a skin condition. We partnered together to evaluate and refine the concept Klikkit, a Bluetooth button to help people with skin disease control their treatment.
Over a six-week trial, we launched a very early prototype and ran a shoe-string service. Collaborating closely with the LEO Innovation Lab and people using the service, we combined both quantitative and qualitative data to test, experiment, and iterate the concept. It was an incredible opportunity to apply the power of combining these types of data during an early prototype.
Klikkit and managing skin conditions
Experimentation is a key factor in managing skin conditions. Sufferers from eczema or psoriasis will often take a trial & error approach to their treatment, trying numerous creams, ointments, and routines. They move to a new treatment when one starts losing its efficacy, and decrease usage of a product due to concerns about side effects. Throughout all of this, sufferers balance lifestyle choices like diet and exercise with environmental factors such as weather or allergies.
Amidst this experimentation, dermatologists are concerned about adherence. They rarely understand the complete routine their patients go through and they doubt that patients stick to prescribed medication plans. This can lead to friction as patients try to get the best help to treat their individual cases.
Klikkit is a service to help people with skin disease navigate this experimentation and control their treatment. It is a Bluetooth button that can be put on any product (creams, prescriptions, vitamins, etc.) or used to represent any activity (exercise, light therapy, etc.). People can press the button each time they use a certain treatment and then track their treatment data over time. They can also use the service to receive reminders or share information with their dermatologist.
The power of combining quantitative & qualitative
Our aim throughout the study was to use a combination of qualitative and quantitative data to fully test, experiment, and iterate the concept. Our hope was to identify patterns in the quantitative data and then put this data into context by building a rich layer of the stories behind the data points. The quantitative insights also helped inform research questions and gain quick insights.
Qualitative Approach
Our qualitative research was based on traditional people-centred design methods. We conducted home interviews with 11 of the users, once at the beginning when they were setting up the service, and once in the middle of the trial.
In the first sessions we were able to understand people’s motivations for trying the service and their hopes about how it could help them — we developed an understanding of our users’ background and how they perceived their treatment. We were also able to test the basic user experience: how people attached the buttons, pairing issues, etc.
In the second sessions we learned about people’s experience, putting stories to the data points we had collected through the app. We heard about daily routines, complications from traveling, and technical issues. During these sessions we also co-created dashboards with people. Using their actual data we presented different visualisations and messages, testing our hypotheses about incorporating skin tracking and setting goals.
With this group of people we also tested possible features of reporting skin progress and reminders. We manually sent them ‘notifications’ via SMS messages and then followed-up with conversations to understand how these features affected their service experience.
At the end of the study we invited users to a workshop, both people we had met with frequently and some we hadn’t met throughout the entire trial. We wrapped up the study by understanding how the experience had been for those without any engagement or additional features, gaining a better perspective about what was critical. We also gained insight into people’s hope for the next iteration of the service.
Quantitative Approach
For the quantitative approach, data was collected through two surveys and captured through in-app activity. We wanted to understand actual behaviours of our users and build a base of data about demographics and the general experience.
All users completed a first survey at the beginning of the study and then a second at the end of the six week trial. The first survey provided demographics and built a baseline starting point for how people described their control over their treatment. The second survey captured the change people perceived about their treatment control after using Klikkit and provided an overview of the benefits and challenges they had encountered during the trial.
Through the app we tracked how many buttons each user used, and which treatments people paired with buttons (over the counter creams, prescription drugs, activities, etc.). We could also track use, frequency and time of day / week that people treated their condition.
Greater Confidence in Outcome
The key power of combining qualitative and quantitative data is that it provided a full perspective the value of Klikkit and the critical elements. Our study showed that not only did Klikkit provide data for people to keep track of their experimentation and consistency, it also increased their awareness and reflection about their treatment.
“It’s the insight you get over time that makes Klikkit worth it. I’ve learned that I’m less consistent in the weekends.” — Jonathan, Psoriasis
“I can see improvements because I’ve started remembering things related to my treatment.” — Emma, Psoriasis
The positive results of the study allowed Klikkit to move into the next phase of development and secure funding for a full pilot. We were also able to identify the critical features that would enable a robust and valuable experience for their users, and how to prioritise their development.
The innovative structure of the LEO Innovation Lab allowed us to move quickly and they provided excellent service support to all people using the trial, making for a fantastic trial experience.
Learn more about Klikkit and the LEO Innovation Lab.
