Project Overview
The Problem
Users want an innovative way to choose which healthcare provider will best meet their needs, whether its for Accidents and Emergency (A&E), minor injury units, pharmacies and dentists. They want to receive real waiting time information for these, so that they get the attention they require without endless wait.
The Goal
To design an app using the design process of (empathy, define, ideate, create a prototype and test) which gets an indicative wait and travel time, to show how busy each required unit will be before a user goes in at any time of the day. It collects time waiting information for A&E, pharmacies and dentists.
The Product
Live Wait Time: North Ireland is a mobile and tablet app that provides indicative live wait and travel times to aid users from Northern Ireland best choose which healthcare unit will fit their need at a particular time. It shows how long it will take before a user will be attended to, based on how busy each unit, with timing obtained from NIDirect site.
My Role and Responsibilities
I am a UX researcher and designer, tasked with designing the app that gives users a handy wait time app for A&E, pharmacies and dentists before getting to the location. I conducted researches, interviews, and usability studies. In addition, I created paper and digital wireframes, low and high fidelity prototypes. I also carried out testings to ensure that the app meets accessibility standards and finally iterated on the app to create a tablet version, considering that analytics showed a high interest in a bigger screen-estate usage.
Project Duration
The duration of this project is from November 2018 to March 2019.
Understanding the User
I conducted interviews and created empathy maps to understand the users. Through these, I discovered user pain points which are summarised into these two points:
1. Time: This deals with users having to spend longer than required in a particular healthcare unit due to the load or busy schedule without prior knowledge.
2. Travel: This deals with users having to travel far without the knowledge of a nearby unit that can equally attend to the medical needs at hand.
Low Fidelity Prototype
Redefined High Fidelity Prototype
Usability Studies
The usability study conducted for this app was done with an unmoderated method. It included 30 participants with questions for the first build from low fidelity to high fidelity prototype. The duration was for 20 minutes each.
The findings from the usability study revealed the following:
1. Users want to know an estimate of how busy a healthcare unit will be before they choose to get there.
2. Users want an option to see a map view of healthcare centres around their location to make the convenient choice of where to go.
3. Users need the service to be inclusive and universal with accessibility considerations in mind.
Impact
Users have shared that the app is a welcome to the social-good arena by helping save time that is spent waiting to be attended to in healthcare centres, with live waiting time information at the palm of their hands.
What I Learned
The project was very personal to me as I am keen on creating designs to solve user problems, and for social-good. I also learnt that users need certain things that I nor many people may not be aware of without conducting researches and interviews, which have helped to shape this project out. With clear presentation of prototypes, the way was guided for the final product.
Accessibility Considerations
1. High contrast design to aid users with visual impairment.
2. Use of icons for easier navigation across the app.
3. Use of clear and contrasty pins to indicate healthcare locations on map.
What I did for the Next Step?
Analytics and more research after iteration showed that users want the app deployed on a bigger screen estate. This gave rise to an iPad version of the app. An Android App in the Google Play Store was also designed to cater to a wider set of users.