Meda

Mobile application for doctors and patients that process of making a primary diagnosis.

Overview

About project

Problem

Doctors often spend a significant amount of time diagnosing patients with symptoms that do not require immediate medical intervention. In turn, patients face the problem of long waiting times for doctor appointments.

Solution

Meda is a modern mobile app with a handy chatbot that makes talking to doctors easy. With this app, patients can quickly get the help they need, keep track of their medications, and watch out for any side effects. For doctors, it's a helpful tool to diagnose and treat patients more effectively.

How it works

My contribution:

During the research phase, in my role as a Product Designer, I investigated how to develop a mobile application that complies with HIPAA requirements. Additionally, I advocated for conducting user interviews, brainstorming sessions, and discussions to explore potential solutions. I also crafted wireframes, detailed designs, and interactive prototypes to gather user feedback and for testing purposes.

Research

Domain Research | Competitive analysis

Domain Research

After a quick study, it became obvious to us that the introduction of a medical application/website in the American market requires compliance with HIPAA rules (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).

The main purpose of HIPAA is to protect information about the health status of users. The law applies to PHI (Protected Health Information) — all information that can help identify a patient. For example, first name, last name, date of birth, SSN number and phone number.

We also learned that HIPAA law outlines three types of requirements: administrative, physical, and technical security measures. Initially, we chose to focus on the technical security measures. For instance, we needed to ensure data protection in case a user's phone was lost or stolen. As a result, we decided to include the following features in our medical application:

A unique identifier for login (such as a username or account number).
Automatic logout if the user is inactive.
Data encryption.
Secure data transmission channels.
A strong password (examples like "qwerty123" or "ivan1996" would not be accepted).
Two-factor authentication.

Also we look at some statistics about medical chatbots:

According to a survey conducted by the American Medical Association, 59% of physicians believe that chatbots can improve patient health outcomes, and 24% have used or plan to use chatbots in their practices.

A survey conducted by the technology consulting firm, Capgemini, found that 65% of patients would be willing to use a chatbot for scheduling appointments or accessing test results.

Competitive analysis

I assessed three different platforms to gauge the extent to which current products can efficiently address user issues. Additionally, I aimed to pinpoint any potential enhancements that could be seamlessly incorporated into the existing solutions.

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It turns out that the existing solutions are not fully implemented. In some applications, there is the option to contact a doctor, but there is no chatbot for quick responses to patient questions. In other applications, there is a chatbot, but there is no option to immediately reach a doctor when needed. Therefore, our goal became the development of an application that can cover both aspects: engaging with a chatbot when needed and communicating with a doctor.

User Research

Hypothesis | Interviews | Persona | CJM

In collaboration with my co-workers, we formulated hypothesis and prioritized them to craft interview questions, aiming to gain a more profound insight into the challenges users face while utilizing medical applications.

We conducted interviews with approximately 10 users who have utilized the medical app, either for their own benefit or to assist their loved ones. Here are the findings from our interviews:

Persona & CJM

To better guide our design and enable everyone on the team to empathize with our users, I further synthesized the interview results and came up with the following persona and Customer Journey Map (CJM).

Prototyping

User Flow | Wireframes | Low - Fidelity Design

To make my design decisions more visually accessible, I took the following steps:

I mapped out the typical user journey through the app to accomplish a task of searching and saving activities, considering decision points throughout the process.
I have organized the layout of each screen with low detail in such a way as to have an idea of what the layouts will look like in the future.

User Testing

Usability testing

With the goals I had for this iteration in mind, I moderated user feedback sessions with 5 users with different attitudes towards trying new medical assistant and different levels of familiarity with assistants in overall. Here's a brief overview of the process:

Introduce the project goal, and put users at ease.
Describe the scenario, set up the context, and let users use the app while thinking aloud.
Ask follow up questions and gather feedback.
Let users fill out a questionnaire. Thank them for participation.

As a result…

I added the "session start" marks that help users to visually separate the previous and current sessions messages.
I made the buttons bigger, increased the font size and removed the profile photos to improve accessibility.
I moved the camera and picture icons to the separate list that opens upon tapping the "+" icon.
I also increased text field size for accessibility purposes.

User Feedback

" Meda will make it easier to get help. Thanks to the possibility of remote communication with the doctor, as a patient, I no longer need to sacrifice my time or take time off from work to visit a physiotherapy clinic. Instead, I can get medical advice from the comfort of my own home or office. This convenience will be fundamentally new for many people who appreciate the quick and easy access to medical care that it provides. In addition, Meda has also made healthcare more accessible for people living in rural areas, or for people with mobility problems who may have previously encountered difficulties when applying to a physiotherapy clinic."

Visual Design

Typography | Color Palette | Components

Visual style is an essential part of a project as it helps create a standardized system of colors, fonts, buttons, text input, and many other components that will be combined and displayed on user screen.

Poppins is one of the popular design tools for creating geometric sans serif mobile apps. The precise geometric design of it's symbols makes it suitable for both headings and body copy.

What Next

I am excited to announce that I am continuing working on Meda. In addition to the existing chatbot feature, the app will provide users with the ability to input their medical data and research results, creating a comprehensive and personalized health profile. Furthermore, the app will also have the capability to integrate with smartwatches, allowing users to view all their health data in one place. Whether it's tracking symptoms, managing appointments, or gaining access to educational resources, this app will be the one-stop-shop for all of one's health needs.I am confident that this app will be a game-changer for people looking to take control of their health and wellness. By combining the latest technology and a user-friendly interface, I believe it will make a significant impact in the world of digital health.