Medicence app
Brief Summary
The product:
Medicence is a mobile app that helps medical centers be able to prepare ahead in an event of landslides by providing weather forecast capabilities and allowing calling of emergency contacts.
The problem:
Medical centers around the world are plagued by various natural disasters and one of them is Landslides. Between 1998-2017, Landslides caused an estimated 18,000 deaths and affected the lives of 4.8million people health workers included.
In a Landslide emergency, medical centers struggle with communication with relevant authorities due to the destruction of communication lines by landslides.
In a landslide emergency, the mental health of the health workers, the patients, and civilians are greatly impacted by this natural disaster.
Project duration:
The project lasted from May 7th 2022 to June 14th 2022.
The goal:
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Design an app that has weather forecast capabilities and emergency calling services. It also provides articles that help improve mental health and inform people on what to do in a landslide emergency.
My role:
UX Designer leading the mobile app from conception to delivery
Responsibilities:
I was responsible for the
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User research
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The creation of user personas,
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User flow, Information architecture, and Site mapping
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Wireframing,
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Making of low fidelity prototypes
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Making high fidelity prototypes,
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Conducting usability studies
User research
The research method was via secondary research across various research publication sites on the internet. From the research publications I was able to gather information on how medical centers are affected by Landslides.
I carried out a secondary research because I am financially constrained to carry out a primary research and also due to location constraints.
User pain points identified from the research results include:
Emergency lines being down during landslides
Mental health of patients and Medical workers are greatly affected
Limited drugs available for emergency patients
User Personas
This user personas are a narrative description of my users, They help me and others to empathize with the users and understand their pain points.
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Mockups
Takeaways
Impact:
The Medicence mobile app helps medical centers, medical personnels and other users to plan ahead of a possible landslide emergency by showing real time Google synchronized weather forecasts and having calling capabilities for emergency services.
Medical centers will check the weather forecast to get possible days they will be susceptible to Landslides and then they will be able to call emergency services, call pharmaceutical companies for stocking of drugs, equipment, etc.
What I learned:
While designing the Medicence app, I learned that the first ideas are just the beginning of the process. And diligently going through each step of the design process and aligning with specific user needs helped me come up with solutions that were both feasible and useful.
I also got to understand the pains and struggles of medical centers and people leaving in emergency prone areas and also the impact it has on their mental health. I was also able to apply my motion design knowledge in my splash and onboarding screens and also cross-navigating through the mobile app.
Next Steps
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Conduct another round of usability studies to validate whether the pain points users experienced have been effectively addressed
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Conduct more user research to determine any new areas of need
Read the full case study
Project Overview
The product:
Medicence is a mobile app that helps medical centers be able to prepare ahead in an event of landslides by providing weather forecast capabilities and allowing calling of emergency contacts.
Project duration:
The project lasted from May 7th 2022 to June 14th 2022.
Project Overview
The problem:
Medical centers around the world are plagued by various natural disasters and one of them are Landslides. Between 1998-2017, Landslides have caused an estimate of 18,000 deaths and have affected the lives of 4.8million people health workers included.
In a Landslide emergency, medical centers struggle with communication to relevant authorities due to the destruction of communication lines by landslides.
Emergency drugs needed for critical patients in the medical centers and hospital cannot be gotten due to roads being destroyed by the landslides and due to heavy weather conditions.
In a landslide emergency, the mental health of both the health workers, the patients and civilians are greatly impacted by this natural disaster.
The goal:
-
Design an app that has weather forecast capabilities and emergency calling services. It also provides articles that help improve mental health and inform people on what to do in a landslide emergency.
My role:
UX Designer leading the mobile app from conception to delivery
Responsibilities:
I was responsible for the
-
User research
-
The creation of user personas,
-
User flow, Information architecture, and Site mapping
-
Wireframing,
-
Making of low fidelity prototypes
-
Making high fidelity prototypes,
-
Conducting usability studies
Understanding the user
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User research
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Personas
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Problem statements
User research: Summary
The research method used was secondary research across various research publication sites on the internet. From the research publications, I was able to gather information on how medical centers are affected by landslides.
I conducted secondary research due to financial and location constraints that prevented me from carrying out primary research.
Landslides lead to the destruction of hospital property and equipment, making it difficult to administer quality care to patients. Communication with emergency personnel is also hindered due to damage of communication equipment. Retrieving online medical records is also challenging due to damage of electrical equipment caused by landslides.
The mental health of medical workers and patients are greatly affected by this disaster, leading to loss of property, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, fatigue, and other related issues.
User pain points identified from the research results include the impact of landslides on hospital operations, communication, and mental health.
Impact on Hospital operations and emergency lines
Mental health of patients and Medical workers are greatly affected
Impact on communication
Meet the Users: User Persona
This user personas are a narrative description of my users, They help me and others to empathize with the users and understand their pain points.
Problem statement:
Tomi is a medical doctor who needs to be able to practice in a healthy and disaster free environment because she wants to provide the best care to her patients..
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Problem statement:
Johnson is a Nurse who needs to be able to know before hand when landslides may occur because he wants to be able to prepare adequately in an event a landslide happens and also to provide best care for patients
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Starting the design
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Paper wireframes
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Digital wireframes
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Low -fidelty prototypes
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Usability studies
Paper Wireframes
My research revealed that users would require access to weather forecasts and the ability to reach emergency contacts quickly and effectively. These findings influenced the ideation and creation of wireframes for my digital product design case study.
The features such as the 'weather card' and the 'button for emergency contacts' were derived from my research results. I designed these wireframes with the identified user pain points in mind
Digital Wireframes
After creating the paper wireframes, I went ahead to convert them to digital wireframes. As I did this, I picked the best qualities from the different paper wireframes I sketched to pick the one that will help my user achieve the goal of this app
As this digital wireframes were being made, I made sure the user was always in my thought process and also made revisions that would better improve user experience different from the paper wireframes
Weather forecast details of the day
A call button to be able to reach emergency services
calling screen page
Low Fidelity Prototype
The user flow begins as the user opens the app, user is greeted with a splash screen and then giving instructions of the purpose of the app.
The user clicks the button to get started and is taken to the homepage where the weather details of the day is shown with buttons that allow one to contact emergency contacts and emergency services.
The user clicks on the weather card and sees more weather details about weather information of the week and the details about the wind, how many metres of rain, etc.
User goes back to the homepage and calls emergency contacts or services if there is going to be a possible chance of a landslide or a heavy weather to enable preparations.
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Usability Study Parameters and Findings
Study type
An unmoderated usability study
Participants
5 participants
Location
Nigeria, Remote
Length
5 -15 minutes
I conducted two rounds of usability study. Findings from the first study helped guide the designs from wireframes to mockups. The second study used high-fidelity prototypes and revealed what aspects of the mockup needed refining.
Findings from the first round showed that:
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People would like the add to contact icon to be easy to reach as it was a bit difficult for some users
Findings from the second round of usability study showed:
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Reducing the animation between the different screens as transitions were a bit slow
Refining the design
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Mockups
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High-fidelity prototype
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Accessibility
Mockups
Early designs were built with the user in mind and to help achieve the user's goal, but after the usability studies, I placed the add to contact icon centrally on the navigation bar.
I also placed the call icon at the end of the navigation bar by applying the Serial position effect theory that people tend to remember the first and the last object in a list or category of items.
I reduced the animation between different screens thereby decreasing transition time between different screens making them faster
Add to contact icon
Before Usability Study
After Usability Study
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Accessibility considerations
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Added labels and text to icons in the navigation bar to make them identifiable when the app is being used with screen readers
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And made sure my colours were contrasting and readable and under accessibility guidelines
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I also made sure the User interface was clean, easy to use and accessible for all types of users (whether existing or new users)
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Used icons and buttons to make navigations easier
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Made sure to use hierarchy in my text to differentiate headings from placeholder texts which will also increase its functionality with screen readers
Going Forward
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Takeaways
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Next steps
Takeaways
Impact:
The Medicence mobile app helps medical centers, medical personnels and other users to plan ahead of a possible landslide emergency by showing real time Google synchronized weather forecasts and having calling capabilities for emergency services.
Medical centers will check the weather forecast to get possible days they will be susceptible to Landslides and then they will be able to call emergency services, call pharmaceutical companies for stocking of drugs, equipment, etc.
The app can also be used during any emergencies to reach out to state authorities, loved ones or trusted contacts. It also has a section for articles that give prospects on what to do in an emergency and also ways to guard and improve mental health before, during or after an emergency
What I learned:
While designing the Medicence app, I learned that the first ideas are just the beginning of the process. And diligently going through each step of the design process and aligning with specific user needs helped me come up with solutions that were both feasible and useful.
I also got to understand the pains and struggles of medical centers and people leaving in emergency prone areas and also the impact it has on their mental health. I was also able to apply my motion design knowledge in my splash and onboarding screens and also cross-navigating through the mobile app.
Next Steps
-
Conduct another round of usability studies to validate whether the pain points users experienced have been effectively addressed
-
Conduct more user research to determine any new areas of need
Let's Connect
Thank you for your time reviewing my work on the Medicence app! If you'd like to see more or get in touch, my contact is provided down below:
Email: aolajesu@gmail.com
Phone number: +2349015976582