Proxy.
A mobile app alternative to traditional EHR systems that empowers physical therapy patients to take control of their own care by providing a one-stop-shop for accessing care plans, managing appointments, and communicating with providers.
Project Type
Portfolio Project
Team
Myself
My Role
Product Manager
User Research
Wireframing
Brand Design
Prototyping
Usability Testing
Tools
Figma
Figjam
Duration
2 Months (2023)
OVERVIEW
Project Context
Ideally, patients would be able to access their care plans, schedule appointments, and contact their healthcare providers without friction. With the advent of telemedicine, an increasing number of digital solutions have been made available to serve as the liaison between healthcare providers and patients, but none fully meet the needs of patients.
Design Process
UNDERSTAND
What exactly is an EHR?
An EHR, or Electronic Health Record, is a digital system for storing and maintaining patient health records. Many EHRs also include a patient portal that allows for secure communication between patients and healthcare providers.
So what?
According to the CDC, more than 88% of US healthcare providers use an EHR system, however, the ONC finds that patient portals are accessed by about 60% of patients, and only half of these use an app to do so. The main reasons? Design and interface limitations, and navigation difficulty.
How might we...
...help patients exercise greater agency over their healthcare?
...design a mobile platform that is both easy to navigate and provides the features that patients need?
...create a product that helps patients and providers go beyond simply storing and accessing information, and form symbiotic relationships?
RESEARCH
Now it's time to survey some real users.
I prepared an anonymous survey consisting of 10 questions, and left copies at my local physical therapist’s office for patients to voluntarily fill out. The primary user group identified in my surveys were working adults with relatively unpredictable schedules.
Who is our user?
I summarised the most common characteristics, goals, and frustrations of the primary user group into a single persona, “Athletic Audrey”.
What does she want?
I plotted Audrey’s emotions on a user journey map to identify her biggest frustrations based on where her emotions were at their lowest.
Phoning the therapy clinic can be time-consuming, embarrassing, and may prove impossible if office hours are limited.
Multiple exercise print-outs are difficult to keep track of, which disincentivises regular therapy routines.
Recurring appointments can be difficult to keep against unpredictable obligations and work schedules.
These pain points suggest 3 features or scenarios my users would consider nice-to-have in my app: communicating with providers, accessing their care plan, and scheduling appointments.
What do the competitors offer?
I conducted an audit of four potential competing products, evaluating the three nice-to-have features. I also assessed their navigability and aesthetic appeal. I created a feature comparison chart to identify where my own app could capitalise and have a leg up in the market.
ANALYSE & DEFINE
The Problem
There are a variety of EHR and EMR software on the market that allow patients to view care plans and documentation, manage appointments, and communicate asynchronously, but none offer access to all 3.
IDEATE
With all that in mind, it was time to design!
I first constructed a user flow of the start-to-finish journey for the 3 nice-to-have features of my app to help me understand the ways users can interact with the product.
So many options, what to choose?
Next, I sketched out 8 options for the homescreen of the app. I explored presenting information in cards, and considered different methods of navigation including bottom navigation bars and top menu icons.
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After sketching out some paper wireframes and thinking through the preliminary flow, I reviewed what was necessary, unnecessary, and what areas needed improvement. I decided to keep my app to four main screens, and eliminate the billing screen I was planning to include because it was out of scope of the main user problem. I highlighted the best elements from my paper wireframes, and used these to develop a lo-fi prototype of my app.
TEST
What did the usability testing reveal?
I prepared an unmoderated usability test to gather user feedback. I asked 5 participants to run through different scenarios in my prototype in order to specifically test the 3 nice-to-have features I designed.
Excessive Information
Users preferred having minimal information in the cards on the homepage, and more information available in a pop-up on tap.
Menu Revamp
I found that some users did not navigate the app via the navigation bar, so I made all pages accessible via the menu icon.
Confusing User Flow
The lack of "Schedule" button on the Calendar page made users confused about how to begin the scheduling user flow.
Fewer Input Fields
Users had to input unnecessary information to initiate a new chat, so I removed the recipient and subject fields from the user flow.
The Solution
I designed a mobile app that provides patients with one-stop-shop access to care plans, appointment scheduling, and direct messaging with therapy providers. Patients are empowered to take control over their own health.
PROTOTYPE
We're almost there: Creating the final prototypes.
After finalising the layout of each feature and deciding on the visual design direction, I was ready to create my hi-fi prototype.
I added icons to the buttons and navigation menu items, added a CTA button to schedule appointments directly from the homepage, and adjusted the user journey for scheduling appointments to make the process easier to navigate. I also simplified the process for initiating a new chat, removing the subject field and replacing the recipient field with a predetermined list of providers.
Colour Scheme
I leveraged a fairly monochrome colour palette and strategic drop shadow placement to reflect a more modern look, taking inspiration from notoriously navigable apps like Delta and United. I chose blue as the primary hue for the app because it is psychologically associated with stability, reliability, and peacefulness; making it an optimal choice for an app meant to hasten recovery among users.
Accessing Care Plan
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Users can access their exercise routine directly from the homepage, and view additional information such as frequency and number of reps all in a single tap.
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Users can easily access a video and written tutorial for each exercise
Scheduling Appointments
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From the homepage or calendar page, users can easily schedule new appointments with a preset list of providers.
Messaging Providers
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Users can access their conversation history with providers on the Messages page.
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When a user wants to initiate a conversation with a new provider, they tap the “New Messages” button, select the provider from the list, and send a direct message.
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The direct messaging feature allows patients and providers to communicate asynchronously, any time of day.