PatientsFirst
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Problem:
Canadian patients go through a lengthy wait time between seeking a referral from their family physician and finally receiving treatment from a specialist. Female patients often feel helpless and worried while waiting for their appointment.
Solution:
An iOS app that will allow female patients to search and read about other patients' specialist experiences, providing a community for users to share information and feel less anxious while waiting.
Brief
I created a human-centered solution that would address the pain points faced by female patients who were waiting to see specialists in Canada.
I was assigned to conduct UX research on a problem space in the context of health care services. The research was then used to craft a mid-fidelity prototype based on a user task flow generated by user stories and epics.
Initially, I used secondary research and statistics to lay a foundation for my findings.
However, I wanted to understand the experiences of female patients on a deeper and more emotional level. By conducting decontextualized user interviews, I gathered primary research that would help me empathize with the user's needs and issues.
Research Process
I aimed to understand the experience of Canadian women during the specialist treatment process. I then interpreted common themes and form insights based on my research.
Objectives
- Understanding the general attitudes that Canadian women have towards the specialist care process.
- Understanding what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to accessing specialist treatment.
- Understanding the pain points that Canadian women experience while waiting for specialist care.
Secondary Research
Methodology: Statistical data from reputable news and research articles
By looking into statistical data, I was able to understand the problem in a broader sense. This was also instrumental in familiarizing myself with the process patients go through before seeing a specialist. This data also helped me with creating specific participant criteria and help form the different questions for my interview guide.
Constraints
This prompted me to focus on the emotional and informational aspect of the waiting process. How can I help patients feel heard and prepared to ensure a successful process?
Hypothesis
This is how I approached my research:
Primary Research
Methodology: In-person, structured interviews
Assumptions
Participant Criteria
- Is a woman under the age of 55
- Currently lives in Canada
- Been referred to a specialist for their health concerns
- Received treatment from a specialist in Canada
Interview Guide
I compiled a list of contextual and open-ended questions. Not only did the guide provide my user interviews with structure but it also helped organize my interview notes later on.
I found that it was helpful to ask the participants to walk me through their process as it provided context to the more specific questions,
Participants
I interviewed three participants who have seen a specialist and personally experienced long wait times.
Affinity Mapping
After compiling interview notes, I put main points into Figjam by categorizing sticky notes under pain points, motivations, and behaviours.
These sticky notes were further grouped into common themes through Affinity Mapping. This process was insightful as some themes were more prominent than others and smaller themes were grouped together.
The participants' responses validated my hypothesis statement. Anxious sentiments were linked to:
- Fear of the unknown
- Feeling helpless and unsure about their health concerns
- Thinking about the worst possible outcomes
Key Themes & Insight Statements
After sorting the notes, I had six themes. The themes concerned values and feelings that patients felt while waiting to see a specialist. I wanted to delve into the themes that had the most points as they had the most recurring concerns and sentiments.
These were the key themes that I chose to focus when forming a digital solution.
I also decided to delve into the "Knowing What to Expect" theme when writing user stories and when forming a user task flow.
This theme helped shape my how might we statement and narrowing in on information sharing. This allows me to address the fear of the unknown that patients often face when preparing for and going into an unfamiliar experience.
HMW
Persona
Using interview insights, I created a persona for our user.
Evelyn is a patient who feel anxious while waiting to see a dermatologist. She could benefit from a platform that would provide her with peace of mind by knowing what to expect and feeling less alone with her health problems.
User Task Flow
Product
The outcome of this project is a mid fidelity prototype for a specialist experience sharing app.
- In the main task flow, the user can search to read patient experiences based on type of specialist.
- Through research, users expressed that talking to those who have experience or expertise would provide reassurance to their concerns.
- Users can read about the symptoms, feelings, and waiting experience of other patients.
- Sense of community can be built based on user logs and interactions.
