FindMeCare App

In the fall of 2016, after almost a decade of living the life of hardcore finance, I embarked on a 180 degree career change and enrolled in Springboard Academy, an online, mentor-based User Experience Course. I have a love for storytelling and for looking at any situation and trying to make it, better! This passion led me to User Experience (UX). Over the past few months, I channeled that passion and designed FindMeCare!

FindMeCare is an app designed to match users with Medical professionals for their emergency medical needs!

Have you ever had a medical situation in an unfamiliar location and needed to see a Specialist or go to an Urgent Care facility?

We all have been there or at the very least know of someone who has. Your in an unfamiliar area and you are having an emergency medical situation. How would you determine which Doctor or Urgent Care facility is best suitable for you?

Some people settle for the closest hospital and have to endure a long and grueling wait in the ER.

But who really wants to do that? Most people will make this decision based on a lack of alternatives. Is there a better way?

Background

FindMeCare is a mobile app I designed to help anyone find a local doctor or a local Urgent Care facility when medical help is needed but a visit to the hospital is not quite necessary.

The initial plan for this app was to help and encourage users to sign-up for healthcare services. However, after conducting awesome User Research, an amazing thing happened, the scope of this design shifted. The Power of Surveys and Video Interviews!!!!! Subjects wanted something much simpler and direct. We will further delve into this shift later. FindMeCare is GPS-based. It is designed to not only provides the user a list of specialists/care facilities in close proximity, but also contains Doctor/Urgent Care facility ratings and reviews which breeds a community of user engagement. This allows new users to make a more informed decision on what doctor or location they would like service from.

Challenges

The main challenge, albeit a few of course, of this design had absolutely nothing to do with the design itself. Even in today’s evolving world of tech, there is a level of anxiety when it comes to sharing medical information online. Most people are terrified of the thought of some teenage kid in a basement with dark shades and a neon green visor stealing their personal info. The thought of such an act will turn people off from the process as a whole.

So overall, the key challenge? TRUST! This became apparent as I conducted User Research. A need for a mobile experience was expressed, but a human element to the sign-up process (Phone/face to face interaction) was and still is embraced. This played a factor in what primary service I wanted FindMeCare to provide.

Different users have different needs. A general app for healthcare can take you in a plethora of directions. Catering to a one size-fits-all strategy will surely lead to an unhappy User Experience. So I decided to drill down on a need that everyone can relate to but at the same time would not threaten their sacred information.

User Research

To conduct user research, I wanted my target audience to be everyone! Let’s face it. We all need healthcare! I looked at all from the employed to the unemployed and also those who were and were not tech-savvy. No one can escape the need for healthcare. We all have an expiration date. However, good health is wealth and keeps us living longer! To conduct initial research, I used a 10 question survey. From my survey, I received 71 responses. I entered the survey process with an open-mind and wanted to find out what would be the most important feature for the user of this app. Think about it, in general people don’t really think about if a healthcare sign-up process is good or bad. They just do it. I wanted to figure out what was really valued.

Survey Results

· 10 Questions

· 71 Respondents

· 79% of respondents took survey on mobile phones, the balance on Desktop/Laptops

· 60% of respondents were between the ages of 36–45.

· 90% of respondents stated the Healthcare sign-up process took no more than 1 hour.

· 77% of respondents made less than $100,000

· 70% of respondents use either used Desktop or Face to Face Consultants to sign up for Healthcare at their place of employment.

· 76% of respondents rarely check their insurance policies after they have enrolled.

· 60% of respondents Agreed and Strongly Agreed that an app created for Healthcare would be beneficial for them.

· Respondents voted that the top 3 features for a Healthcare based app was:

1. Local/Urgent/Emergency Location services

2. Ease to change insurance companies at any time after enrollment

3. Populating previous given info (time-saver)

I began to THINK! Hence the awesome Thinking Man image above.

What could this app provide that would give users the most value-add?

Most respondents who had jobs were already fine with the healthcare sign-up process and for the most part, did not make changes during the year. At the same time, those who were unemployed, appreciated the presence of an app but wanted to actually speak to a consultant in case they had questions.

There was a clear demand to have Doctor/Urgent Care information available. Of all the user preferences for FindMeCare, having the ability to find Medical care quickly was a priority. To sign-up for healthcare is a quite lengthy process. Through this research, I found that with the limited space on a smartphone, signing up for healthcare would be burdensome in comparison to using a desktop which has much bigger user space.

Interviews

To dig deeper and have specific information, I conducted 3 user interviews with people in varying circumstances about what they would want from an app that provided or gave information on healthcare/medical services.

Kito Nzingha

“Hardly do I ever find what I really want when I go on any of these sites”

Kito recently left her job in Upstate NY to take care of a sick family member in Virginia. Although she was unemployed, Kito needed health insurance. When she got on the Affordable Care site, she was met with frustration and confusion. Kito feels as though there needs to be an “ease of utility” element that anyone can use the platform no matter how tech savvy there are, find what they want and be satisfied with the experience. Her important factors are finding Premium prices, Doctors and Doctor information/reviews. Kito also, helps her mother with her healthcare business. Kito feels as though if a process is created it has to be efficient enough for someone who is not familiar with computers to use it with no problems.

Tunde Mendes

“A mobile app should definitely be created for healthcare to make process less cumbersome and make it easier for me to find specific things that I need”

Tunde is a successful married businessman with 2 kids. Tunde is a man always on the move. With the responsibility of caring for his family, Tunde understands the importance of having healthcare coverage.

However, Tunde wants to have experience the ease of using a mobile app to participate in some of the more mundane task such as finding a doctor in his area, setting up an appointment, reading doctor reviews and also receiving useful notifications. The more complicated aspects of healthcare will surely take up his time. However, Tunde would like to have a simple and easy experience to handle the less-intense duties of healthcare.

Priya Permaul

“I have a lot of medical issues and I found going on the Affordable Care site to be very frustrating. Even to find the most basic information like the doctor grid and information about monthly premiums. God, I would love if they had an app. I use apps for just about everything. We are going into 2017, there needs to be a better way to manage this process or receive information.”

Priya is a married part-time airport agent and mother of a 3 year old. Priya is woman with a lot of responsibilities. Over the past 3 years, Priya has had multiple hip surgeries. Therefore, Priya is fully aware of the healthcare process. Prior to starting her job as an Airport agent, Priya tried to use the Affordable Care Act website. Priya found the website to be hard to navigate. Even the “find a doctor” platform she found very difficult. She stated an app would be on her phone and checked on a regular basis due to her medical needs.

User Empathy Maps

Empathy Maps are a necessity to the design process because it helps break down a specific User to the core. Design is focused on Human Interaction with a product. This interaction deals with not only the product itself, but with internal and external emotions. Let’s take a look at the empathy maps for my interview subjects.

Kito is in her mid-30’s and getting older and knows she has to take better care of herself. Whatever is created she wants to be easy to use. For example, simple enough for her 70 year old mother to use it and not need to ask for help.

Tunde is a married man with 2 young kids and works in finance. He is fine with how his healthcare is set up via his employer. He would value better Doctor information. Tunde’s time is very limited.

Priya is married with a young child and has health issues. Her main issue is to find a doctor that will accept her insurance and not have to deal with the time-consuming run around.

Michelle is a late 20’s single UX Designer with no kids. She is detached from mixing her healthcare with the internet and would like to keep it that way. She does not trust security information when it comes to keeping her medical and financial information private.

Competitive Assessment

After conducting User Research, I now had a solid foundation on what kind of service my users wanted and in turn what I would want FindMeCare to be! To build a better application, I wanted to see what other competitors where in this space.

The sole competitor was ZocDoc. ZocDoc is an online medical care search facility for end users by integrating information about medical practices and doctors’ individual schedules in a central location.

The splash screen gives you a decision on what type of doctor you want, your specified location and date. With that said, at first glance, I did not see an urgent care option until I scrolled all the way down to the letter “U”. It is obviously understandable since Urgent care does start with the letter U. However, it would be easy for a non-tech savvy user to not be able to locate this specific want. Not everyone will appreciate or notice the visual design. What I learned from my User Research was that people want to be able to find specifically what they are looking for with ease in regards to healthcare during an emergency situation!

User Flows

‘Find a Doctor’ User Flow

‘Find Urgent Care Facility’ User Flow

Creating User Flows is key during the beginning of the design process. Once I conducted my interviews and received survey feedback, I came to a consistent conclusion. The user did not want to spend an unnecessary amount of time finding whatever they wanted. I want FindMeCare to be an app that people would use to find what they need and go about their way. After conducting User Research and deciding that I wanted to focus on finding local Doctors and Urgent Care facilities, I wanted to make the process as seamless as possible for the user to get desired information. Obviously, from a business standpoint, I would like users to sign-up and register for FindMeCare. However, users finding Doctors/Urgent Care was just as, if not, even more important than users signing up.

So I decided that the “Continue as Guest” icon would still get the user the information that they needed. A new user would enter via the “Guest” button. However, to incentivize signing up, in order to read patient reviews and ratings, the new user would need to sign-up for the app. At the bare minimum, during an emergency situation, the user would be able to identify doctors or care facilities that are in their area via scroll down. Doctor/Facility info such as hours of operation, specialization, phone numbers and address would be provided.

Sketching

Now with the information I had in tow, it was time to put these great research and ideas of mind to pencil and pad! I started with a simple 8x11 notebook. I got smart and upgraded to a sketch book and started laying down the format I wanted FindMeCare to have!

The sketching process allowed me to Think. It sounds simple and cliche but putting pen to paper can be daunting if you are doing sketching for the first time. So I decided to use a process. I would sketch, draw and write down as many ideas of possible (ideas derived from user research and competitive analysis), whether text or images within 2 minutes. I would take a 5 minute break and sketch as many ideas that come to mind during another 2 minute interval. Once I started using this timed strategy, I was better equipped to put my ideas on something tangible. At that time, I was able to visualize and everything became clearer in lieu of staring at a piece of paper and trying to figure out everything all at once.

Wireframes

My next step was creating wireframes! It was time to take those fantastic sloppy awesome sketches and start putting them into form. I used UXPin and started crafting out screen by screen how I wanted FindMeCare to flow from section to section. From my User Flow design on to the sketching process, I was slowly building FindMeCare into fruition. While creating this wireframe, the thought process was, how can I make this seamless for the user? I put myself in the shoes of the people surveyed and those I interviewed. I pretended to be Kito’s 70 year old mother and wanted FindMeCare to cater to everyone’s needs and make the process effortless, if that is even humanly possible in UX!

I took what Kito said about the “Ease of Utility” comment to heart. Unlike ZoomDoc, I decided to separate Urgent Care Facilities from Doctors. I wanted care facilities to be easy to find if that is what a user wanted.

In the first wireframe I have attached above, after the user signs in, he will have a choice between finding a doctor or a care facility. I wanted to separate Doctor Specializations from Urgent Care facilities. This would decrease any confusion a new user would have while using FindMeCare. Once a user’s zip code is entered, they can now receive a list of doctors or facilities and then make appropriate decisions for their care.

For the top header, in the collage, I used the Home icon because it is a familiar symbol for the majority of internet users. It signifies that you are going to the initial page of FindMeCare after you either signed in or entered as a “Guest”.

For the Ratings section, I wanted it to be as in-depth as possible and not just rely on the star ratings. I wanted to know key factors of their experience such as if a patient was likely to go back to that doctor/facility. The motivation was to go a bit further in giving the user as much information as possible.

Prototype

And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, after intense sketching and mind-numbing wireframe activity, the Clickable Prototype is born!

Usability Testing Interviews

Karen Del-Moral

Yusuf Ransome

Usability Test Changes

After conducting testing, I found that each user found the app to be seamless and easy to work through when I gave them tasks to do. I gave each user the same tasks.

Sign in and make a doctor review.

1.Enter as a guest and sign-up for service

2. Make a Doctor appointment

3. Check what kind of insurance CityMD Urgent Care facility accepts

4. Each of these tasks were met.

However, I did receive some feedback and altered my design slightly.

Initially on my Doctor and Urgent Care List when you enter the app as a “Guest” I did not provide any star ratings. I wanted the user to sign-up in order to get that information. After the Usability Test, I realized that you have to give the user some type of patient information besides Name, Specialization, and address. This way the user can have something solid to help them make an informed decision. The user would receive an overall star rating on the doctor or care facility.

However, if a user wanted to see the ratings of all attributes, and to read patient reviews along with other in-depth information, they would need to sign-up.

I also changed the click icon for on a doctor’s/facility image when you enter the page. Initially I had a radio button that was hard for the user to see. I changed the radio button to a hand with index finger raised icon to let the user know to click on the image. This change was based on User feedback during Usability Testing. This gave the user a more clearer indication to click on the image to get further information about the doctor/care facility.

Outcome

Designing FindMeCare was an awesome experience! I was able to push myself mentally and creatively. The beauty of this project was that UX is an art and not a science. There is no set right or wrong answer when it comes to improving the user experience for a product. There are no rules essentially!

I wouldn’t have been able to create FindMeCare if not for the help of my peers, friends and family with User Research and Usability Test feedback and also last but not least, the creative guidance of my UX mentor, Fabio Muniz.

FindMeCare is my baby because Healthcare/Medical services is an area that I care deeply about. Therefore, I will continue to perfect and make amendments to FindMeCare as I work on other projects. Maybe one day not to long from now, ZocDoc will reach out and want to speak to me about improving their UX!

We shall see because only time will tell! In the meantime, the path to becoming a UX Designer, has officially BEGUN!!!!!!!!!!