Exploring the Ease and Challenges of Practo: A Usability Review
In current times, visiting a doctor has become more hassle-free and just a few clicks away, thanks to healthcare start-ups like Practo. Founded in 2008, Practo was way ahead of its time in leveraging technology to make health care accessible and affordable for all. It has grown from a mere startup idea to a healthcare technology giant, with a valuation of $310 million and over 200,000 healthcare providers on its platform [a]. Claiming to have its presence in over 20 countries, it has made an impact on the lives of billions of people and is responsible for over 50 million appointments per year [b].
It is true that despite earning recognition for its innovative approach to healthcare, Practo is not without challenges. In recent times, it has faced a backlash from many users who are dissatisfied with their experience. According to an online source [c], only 22% of over 3600 users (as on Feb 07, 2023) believes that Practo is actually solving their issues with respect to services, support, content, the information provided, and user-friendliness.
On one hand, booking online appointments and consultations may have seemingly reduced the wait time for patients, but on the other, it wastes both time and money when they have to face unexpected issues like poor service and support, leading to frustrations and dissatisfied users.
This, along with the added criticism from the user highlights the need for Practo to prioritize the user experience and address these issues. However, there are some areas that we really appreciate about the application that has helped in shaping the good experience from a user’s perspective as mentioned below.
- The application has a robust and user-friendly search functionality that allows users to find the right healthcare providers based on their needs and requirements.
- The appointment booking process is simple and straightforward, and the users can view their upcoming appointments in the “Appointments” section.
- The medical records feature allows users to store and manage their health information, including prescriptions, test results, and medical history, which can be easily accessed for ease of diagnosis.
- The app also offers a safe and secure in-app pharmacy service without charging for delivery, allowing users to easily and conveniently order their prescribed medications and health products, directly without having to use a separate delivery service.
- The in-app chat feature allows users to communicate with the doctors they have consulted with, ask questions or receive advice, and book follow-up appointments.
- The app is also a useful resource for health and wellness content, including articles, guidelines, videos, and expert advice that helps users to remain informed and educated about their health concerns.
- To provide a personalized experience, the app offers reminders and recommendations, including appointment reminders, prescription refills, and health check-up reminders.
- Users can also shortlist and save a list of preferred doctors for future reference and their previously consulted doctors are automatically saved in that list for easy access.
- The app has a comprehensive directory of healthcare providers/doctors, making it easy for users to find and book video/in-clinic appointments with specialist doctors.
Even with such features that solved the users’ real-time problems, it was surprising to know why so many of them were not happy with the overall app experience. This led us to explore more into Practo’s UX design and examine its flaws. Evidently enough, a few areas were identified that needed to be worked upon in order to significantly improve the user experience. Let us look through them in the following section-
1. Information Architecture
Initially, Practo started as a simple directory of doctors and clinics in India. Thus, its IA was quite simple and lucid. But with time and added complexities, it becomes really important to declutter the IA by appropriately defining its breadth and depth. It can be improved by establishing a clear hierarchy and removing unnecessary and repetitive sections, such as those found on the home page (Instant Video Consult, Book Appointment, Surgeries, Medicines, Lab tests, and Insurance), and when we use the search bar.
Another such example on the Home page is ‘Book Appointment with an Expert Surgeon’ with different types of surgeries listed and below that there is the same option provided with different title ‘Surgeries’ (Image 1). So, while the reason for doing so may be to provide users with ease of use and convenience, it is not serving the purpose.
2. UI Design
To enhance the visual language of the system, there are several things that can be done to create a more consistent and cohesive design:
a. A consistent color scheme should be used across all CTAs, plans, illustrations, and icons. They can gain the trust of their users by using consistent color schemes. CTAs of various cards in the Best Offers, for example, differ from each other (Image 2.a).
b. The app’s icons and images should be consistent throughout to reduce confusion and make the system more user-friendly. For instance, some of the menu’s icons are filled, others are outlined, and some have dual tones (Image 2.b).
3. User testing
Currently, if we consult a doctor today on Practo and follow up in five days, the entire User Interface, the buttons, the flow, and the navigation get changed. Due to such frequent major updates, the learnability of the users goes down nearly to zero again, and it takes time to figure out everything, cognitive load is also increased in familiarizing yourself with the app.
Testing scenarios and user stories can help to identify areas of error and inconsistency in the system. By doing thorough testing & iterations in-house, better & informed decisions can be made about how to improve the visual language and make the system more user-friendly with less frequent updates.
4. Usability Heuristics
a. Visibility of system status should be clearly and immediately visible to users. In the case of booking a doctor’s appointment online, it is important to highlight and make visible to patients the information about which doctor has been assigned to their appointment, so that they are aware of the status of their booking (Image 4.a). Failure to do so causes frustration for users & often leads to confusion and quitting the app.
b. The principle of the match between the system and the real world suggests that the language and symbols used in a system should be consistent with the user’s mental model of the real world (Image 4.b). In the case of the medicine tab on the home screen, the absence of a category of medicines can create confusion for users, as it does not match their mental model of how health products are categorized. This lack of consistency can lead to frustration and errors, which can negatively impact the user experience.
c. The principle of consistency with standards suggests that a system should follow established conventions and standards to ensure that users can understand and use it easily. In the case of the search function on the home page, the inconsistency between the category name, “In-clinic Consultation” (Image 4.c (01)), and “Book Appointment” (Image 4.c (02)) can confuse users and make it difficult for them to find what they are looking for. By using established standards for category names, the system can be made more consistent and user-friendly, improving the overall user experience.
d. The principle of error prevention suggests that a system should be designed in a way that prevents errors from occurring in the first place or allows users to easily correct errors when they do occur. In the case of the Surgeries section, the use of the label ‘book appointment’ for a button that actually initiates an inquiry call (Image 4.d), the action is not reversible and gives an idea that you’ve actually made an appointment is misleading for users. By providing clear labels and prompts, as well as options for correcting mistakes, the system can be made more user-friendly and less prone to errors.
e. The principle of flexibility and efficiency of use suggests that a system should be designed to accommodate users with varying levels of experience and expertise. The fact that the in-app chat feature is hidden and not available in the appropriate place limits the app’s flexibility and efficiency of use (Images 4.e (01), (02)). This can be a challenge for users to figure out where the help section could possibly be who may need assistance at any point while using the app. By making the chat feature more readily accessible and available throughout the app, the system can be made more flexible and efficient, accommodating users with varying levels of experience and expertise (Images 4.e (03), (04)).
Summing up, Practo is a remarkable company and it is true that it has made a revolutionary impact on the global healthcare industry. However, there is still room for improvement, and the company must work to address the changing needs and expectations of its users to continue to succeed and grow significantly. Where everything else has been working great for them, paying attention to providing an exceptional user experience through its mobile application, can add to help them continue to lead the way in healthcare technology and make a positive difference in the lives of people around the world.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts & reviews about the article and experience of using the Practo app. How your experience was different/ similar to ours?
Special thanks to Pratik Rajpara & Tejas Rathod for contributing to the blog.
