Connected Care
Timeline
16 Weeks (Sep-Dec 2019)
My Role
UX/UI, Research, Visual Design
Tools
Adobe XD, Photoshop, Illustrator
Team Size
4 -> 1
A futuristic digital ID badge that connects nurses and families of residents in assisted living facilities.
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This project was initially part of a course, User-Centered Design. After the completion of the course, I conducted additional usability testing and further iterated the product design to better support healthcare workers in assisted living.
PROBLEM
The hectic workloads of the nurses and the lack of a shared communication system creates challenges to provide accurate information to families of residents in assisted living in a timely manner.
Based on data collected from 10 in-person interviews, 22 survey responses, and online research, I found the following:
71 %
Residents experiencing mild to severe cognitive impairment in the U.S. rely on nurses for status updates
78 %
Nurses reported they are often too occupied to answer phone calls from families of residents
15~25 Mins
Estimated phone call wait time for families of residents who want to learn about their loved one's status
OPPORTUNITY
How might we improve communication between assisted living staff to better support and involve the families of residents?
Thin (3 mm)
Lightweight (5 gm)
Secure
( Touch ID )
Concept:
Can be easily worn around the neck and carried around like a mini work tablet.
DESIGN OUTCOME
Why a digital name badge?
Nurses are often busy taking care of residents, traveling from room to room. Considering the importance of portability and accessibility, the concept of a futuristic digital ID name badge emerged.
01.
Quickly search for a resident's profile
Registered nurses can quickly access a resident's profile and get a snapshot of their daily activities and medical information.
02.
Share resident's info
with other staff
Store and check out residents' status updates and care notes left by other staff members to streamline communication.
03.
Respond to family's concerns
Registered nurses can gather insights from other staff members and quickly respond to family's messages at their fingertips.
PROCESS
Building Connected Care
22 Survey Responses
07 User Interviews
01 Contextual Inquiry
Affinity Mapping
Statistical Analysis
User Personas
Wireframing
3D Design Concept
Low-fi & Mid-fi Prototypes
05 Usability Testing
Design Insights
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DISCOVERY
DEFINE
DESIGN
EVALUATION
03 User Interviews
Online Research
User Journey
Communication Flow
Final Design
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05 Usability Testing
Design Insights
DEFINE THE PROBLEM
Families of residents can't get a hold of nurses
to get status updates of their loved ones
An assisted living facility is a complex space that multiple stakeholders are involved. My team and I applied a mixed method of research to dive deep into this space and identify the communication gap.
I proposed creating a user journey map to surface key touchpoints and user scenarios.
Nursing Station
Nurses
Family Calls the facility
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Receptionist
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Most requests from the families are regarding a residents' general status (e.g. eating, medication taken).
Insight 1
Due to HIPPA regulation, only health workers and admins have access to residents' medical information.
Insight 3
Nurses have a hectic schedule as each of them provides care to about 10 - 12 residents every shift.
Insight 2
TL;DR Internal communication within the facilities needs to be improved for more efficient communication with families of residents.
PERSONAS
Why the focus on nurses?
Registered nurses (RNs) are designated as the target users because they are the ones who are primarily responsible for communicating the resident's daily status and medical information to family members.
"I know the families want to talk...but sometimes we just don't have the time and capacity for it. "
PRIMARY USER
Nurses
Family of Resident
"My dad has Alzheimer, I feel like I'm being cut off from him when I can't learn about his condition from the nurse. I have mixed feelings of both guilt and frustration."
Resident
*Although residents are not directly involved in the communication process, it's still important to consider any negative effects the solution might have on them.
SETTING EXPECTATIONS
Design Goals & Metrics
Physical product should be lightweight and can be easily carried around.
Form Factor
Nurses need to travel from room to room to provide care to patients. They need something that's portable and safe for residents (e.g. minimizes the risk of accidents with the device).
Provide nurses with quick access to resident's profile and information.
Navigation
Nurses are always on the go. It's important to consider what information they need quick access to in order to reply to family members of residents in a timely manner.
Design should be clean and intuitive, and follow the Material Design Guideline.
Visual
Working in a high intensive environment
can imposes a lot of stress on nurses. It's critical to consider using simple icons and cool colors that convey the idea of calmness and serenity.
Metrics:
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Happiness (Perceived Ease of Use)
01.
To measure whether users are happy and satisfied with the overall system and features. Evaluate user attitudes, behavior and emotions.
02.
Task Success (Task Completion Rate)
To measure the effectiveness of features and how well they align with users' expectations. I used it to benchmark and compare results of usability testing.
IDEATION
Exploring different ideas before landing on the one
Twelve ideas, ranging from a robot to an index card booklet, were being explored by our team. The digital name badge was chosen as the final solution due to its portability.
The system will be embedded in a physical badge that nurses can easily carry around with them as they're always on the go.
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WIREFRAME & USER FLOW
Creating an early testable
prototype
1
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HOME
RESIDENT'S PROFILE
SEARCH RESIDENTS
MESSAGES FROM FAMILY
NURSE'S MESSAGES
RESPOND TO MESSAGE
NURSE'S SCHEDULE
RESIDENT'S CARE NOTES
WIREFRAME & USER FLOW
Creating an early testable prototype
1
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HOME
RESIDENT'S PROFILE
SEARCH RESIDENTS
MESSAGES FROM FAMILY
NURSE'S MESSAGES
RESPOND TO MESSAGE
NURSE'S SCHEDULE
RESIDENT'S CARE NOTES
Iteration 1
VALIDATION OF DESIGN
Why two rounds of usability testing?
In the first round of usability testing, my team and I uncovered several major issues regarding navigation of the system. I also realized that we had overgeneralized the roles of nurses in assisted living and that they might have different information needs.
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In an attempt to address these issues, I conducted more interviews with nurses and another round of usability issues on my own to validate and refine the design.
MAIN ITERATIONS
Evolving towards a better and tailored experience for Registered Nurses
Iteration 1
Iteration 2
Final Design
1
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Tabs were confusing and needed to be clearly defined between nurse and resident.
2
Registered Nurses (RNs) needed a quick snapshot into their daily tasks and resident's activities.
3
Messages from family should always be presented at the bottom as the main goal is to bridge the communication gap.
"I'm constantly confused between my tabs and the resident's tabs. Which ones will lead to my inbox and which ones will lead to a resident's inbox?"
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- Usability Testing 1 &2
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"The RNs are like our managers, they need high level information to communicate with families of residents."
- Usability Testing 1 &2
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"By the time I finished reading through the care notes, I already forgot most of it. I have to go back and read it one more time before replying to the family member of Joe."
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- Usability Testing 2
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Visual Guideline
Final Design
Nurse's Testimonial
Registered Nurse, Melinda
“I like having all that information right at my fingertips, especially given how busy we're in assisted living. It’s so much more convenient than what we had.”
REFLECTION
Looking back and running forward
The biggest takeaways that I learned from this project include always returning focus to the design challenge, not getting caught up on aesthetic details, and not expanding the scope of a project because of new and exciting findings.
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What can be next? Consider how things might look like on the other end - families of residents who are the recipient of this communication system.
Early Concept of a Companion App for Families of Residents
Feel free to check out my other projects :) ​
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