Medicon: a language-independent app to access medical help
A UX design case study on overcoming language barriers in healthcare
Many people around the world are either illiterate or speak a regional language or dialect. This can make communicating their healthcare needs very difficult.
Doctory is a web-based platform providing access to quality healthcare for the underserved through a hotline to connect with a doctor immediately, regardless of background language, location, or literacy level.
Challenge: How can we think outside the box to remove language as a barrier to healthcare needs?
Objective
Build a standalone design solution (mobile application) that focuses on solving the issue of literacy and language dependency, which prevents millions of people worldwide from finding the medical help they need.
Research
The first step of the design process was to conduct research and interviews to better understand the needs of the user. I didn’t quite capture the demographic the challenge was geared toward due to time constraints and COVID-19 chaos but I was still able to draw some useful information from my interviews. The key pain points I discovered were misdiagnosis due to difficulties communicating symptoms and issues accessing healthcare professionals. I also conducted some competitive analysis and realized that there were other apps to describe symptoms but each one was language-dependent.
Design Process
I used that information to sketch out some possible ideas and wireframes which led me to develop a language-independent solution that would help users describe their symptoms by describing them through iconography and photos.
The idea is that a user would be able to select where on their body they are experiencing symptoms, describe their symptom in detail by selecting an image to indicate what the specific issue is or by uploading their own photo, indicate pain level, and receive a treatment plan from a certified doctor within a matter of minutes.
It was particularly difficult to design an app that relied solely on iconography and images to communicate navigation and flow but as a former rural health Peace Corps volunteer, I enjoyed the challenge.
User Flow
My user flow is pretty basic and linear but my thinking was the simpler, the better for this particular design.
Wire Flow
I received a lot of great feedback throughout the process, some of which validated my ideas, but also that there were some issues with my user flow and suggestions on how to simplify the user experience and make my feature more intuitive. Feedback on my wire flow and paper prototype were helpful in adding features such as a customized “med-moji” and capability for a user to upload their own photo of the symptom.
Prototype
Outcome
An application for global users to quickly, easily, and intuitively access the medical help they need:
Medicon — A free, intuitive, language-independent and interactive experience that helps users describe their symptoms through iconography and photos and receive a treatment plan from a certified doctor within a matter of minutes.
Reflection
The interface may seem simple but it is entirely intentional. Without text to reinforce user navigation and feature capabilities, it is important for everything to be as clear and intuitive as possible.
There are a few items I would have addressed with more time. I would like speak with more users to test my prototype and ensure that it was addressing their most pressing healthcare needs. I also wasn’t able to implement all of the feedback from my user testing but a few features suggested that would add to the quality of the include:
- Videos to explain user flow and treatment plans
- Feature to indicate temperature, heart rate, and other secondary symptoms
- Zoom in feature on body map
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Thanks for checking out my case study and if you have any suggestions on how this idea could be improved, please comment below!
