Empathize

Research Goals:

Investigate potential barriers to user adoption and engagement with the app
Identify key features and functionality that users would want in a personalized health and wellness app
Understand the pain points and motivations of potential users for using a personalized health and wellness app

Research was completed by reviewing articles focusing on health apps as well as completing user interviews. Six users were interviewed, ranging in age from 28 to 67. Four users were female and two were male.

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Key Research Findings:

Barriers to app usage include complex interfaces, a high degree of labor required, repetitive features, unhelpful information, and concerns that tracking could negatively impact mental health. Other concerns include a lack of app literacy, low awareness of health apps, and lack of motivation.
Users were motivated to use the app if they could see the correlation between habits and improvements in mental/physical health. Research shows that social competition, and tangible or intangible rewards can motivate users to continue usage.
Functions that users expected in a personalized health app include adjustable “SMART” goals, notifications or reminders, motivation, accountability, the ability to connect to healthcare providers, and health tips.
Research suggests that the key features of a successful health app include community building, simplified data entry, and familiarity-based marketing.

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User Persona:

Frustrations

‍‍Difficulty understanding how to incorporate medical advice into her daily life
Struggles to stay motivated and accountable for her health behaviors
Concerned about the negative impact of tracking on her mental health
Finds it challenging to navigate complex app interfaces and features

Goals‍

To better understand her health risks and how to manage them
To improve her physical and mental health to maintain her independence as she ages
To feel supported and motivated in her health journey
To learn how to use technology to improve her health without feeling overwhelmed or frustrated

"I need an app that can give me personalized advice and make it easy for me to understand what I need to do. I don't want to spend hours trying to figure it out - it needs to be user-friendly."

Bio
Linda is a 55-year-old retired teacher who is concerned about her health due to her family history of heart disease and diabetes. She values personalized advice and tailored recommendations to help her manage her health risks. Although she struggles to stick to a healthy lifestyle, Linda is motivated to maintain her independence and quality of life as she ages. She is interested in learning more about her genetic predisposition to certain health conditions and wants to incorporate medical advice into her daily life. Linda finds technology challenging but is willing to learn and is looking for an app that can provide her with clear, easy-to-use features and support to help her achieve her health goals.

Linda

Age: 55
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Retired teacher
Education: Bachelor's degree

Define

Problem Statement:
Linda is a retired teacher who needs a simple but effective app to help her manage her health because she is not technologically savvy and wants to stay motivated to maintain healthy habits.

Hypothesis Statement:
We hypothesize that by providing Linda with a health management app that is tailored to her specific health needs, easy to use, and includes features that motivate and incentivize healthy habits, we can help her improve her overall health and well-being. Specifically, we believe that Linda will be more likely to track her meals, exercise regularly, and adhere to her medication schedule if the app provides reminders, offers positive reinforcement, and is accessible from her mobile device. By addressing Linda's technological limitations and busy schedule, we anticipate that the app will help her maintain healthy habits over the long term and ultimately lead to improvements in her blood pressure and overall health outcomes.

Defining Success:
Success will be defined as a statistically significant improvement in Linda's symptoms, as well as an increase in the frequency and consistency of her healthy habits, such as tracking meals and exercise, taking medication on time, and achieving her daily step goal. Additionally, success will be demonstrated by high levels of engagement and satisfaction with the app, as measured through usage metrics and user surveys.

Ideation

Using insights gathered from user interviews, research studies, and a brief competitive audit, I generated a range of ideas on paper. These ideas were then iterated upon in the form of paper wireframes, and resulted in a design that incorporated the most promising concepts.

A photo of a pencil/paper wireframe showing the main screen of the app

App Structure

Because this project only called for the main screen I did not flesh out the other sections of the app, however, I needed to know the basic structure and functions of the app to properly build out the main screen. I created an app structure, with some ideas on how the rest of the app may look.

A Site map for the healthgeneius app, showing the main categories of action plan, library, expert advice, genetic dashboard and community

View App Structure Details

Wireframe

Through the process of wireframing, I transformed the collected information on personalized risk scores, risk factors, and user behaviors into a visual representation of the app's structure. By carefully considering the user flow, I aimed to create a seamless and engaging experience for health-conscious users. These wireframes served as a solid foundation for the app's design, ensuring that every element is intentional and purposeful.

Prototype

With the basic structure established, I next sorted out which colors, fonts and icons I might use with the app.

The styleguide for the HealthGeneius App. Showing fonts, colors and icons selected for the app.

Bringing everything together, the prototype took shape.

A Preview of the main screen of the HealthGeneius app

View Interactive Prototype

To accommodate users on different devices, a dashboard style design was created for PC and tablet users

A preview of the dashboard/tablet view of the HealthGeneius App

Accessibility Considerations

Because of the nature of the app some special measures were taken to ensure accessibility. An app dealing with healthcare is likely to attract folks with differing abilities and this must be taken into consideration.

A screen shot showing large touch targets in the app

In designing this app I have optimized accessibility and the user experience by incorporating large buttons and touch targets. This design feature helps prevent mis-clicks and ensures that users with varying levels of manual dexterity can navigate the app with ease.

Users with compromised vision were prioritized when selecting font types and sizes for the app. To ensure maximum readability, contrasting colors and clear fonts were used. In addition, descriptive and meaningful labels were applied to all buttons, providing clarity and ease of use.

A screen shot showing clear text with maximally contrasting colors

Additional accessibility considerations that could be explored given a larger scope for this assignment might include usability testing for those with visual impairments, manual dexterity issues, and other accessibility challenges. Testing with assistive technology such as screen readers would ensure users have full functionality of the app regardless of ability. To maximize accessibility we might also consider strategies such as having an option to increase font sizes, or having the option to enable audio cues or voice commands.

After: Simplified donut-style pie chart with descriptive text

A portion of the app showing donut/pie charts comparing a persons genetic risk and how they may change that risk with intervention

Before: Detailed bar Graph

A more complicated graph comparing genetic health risk with risk with intervention

With multiple iterations and user testing, some items were edited to improve usability and enhance user experience. To cater to a diverse user base, particularly those unfamiliar with intricate graphs, a simpler way of displaying data was taken. Additionally, clarification is provided with text and numeric percentages clearly stated.

Reflections and Next Steps

Next steps in the design process would focus on improving the app's usability and user experience. This would involve conducting additional rounds of user testing to gather feedback and identify areas for improvement.

To ensure a smooth experience for all users, we might also conduct accessibility testing to ensure that the app is usable for users with different abilities and needs. This may involve using assistive technology such as screen readers and conducting user testing with individuals who have visual or motor impairments.

Working closely with the development team would ensure that the design is implemented correctly and that any issues or bugs are resolved quickly. Through ongoing collaboration and iteration, we would aim to create an app that meets the needs and expectations of our users while also aligning with business goals and objectives.
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As a designer with a background in healthcare and wellness, I am passionate about creating apps that can have a positive impact on people's lives. This health and coaching app is designed to help users utilize genetic information to monitor and improve their health, focusing on the aspects they can control. Through features such as tracking day-to-day activities and encouraging healthy habits, this app has the potential to empower users to take control of their health and well-being. I am excited to see the impact that this app can have on individuals' lives and am committed to ensuring that the user experience is accessible and user-friendly for everyone.

View more ideas

Some ideas that may have been further explored should this project call for more than the main screen:

Paid coaching service including one-on-one time with an expert (ie personal trainer for fitness goals, nutrition expert for dietary goals). This coach could also be incorporated by being sent updates on the clients adherence to goals. This might increase motivation to track user goals.
A social community. Research has shown that Social competition and community building increases user retention and long-term maintained results. Social functions may also increase user’s accountability.
Notifications could help keep users on track. Frequency and types of notifications must be editable in the app settings, but could include a variety of messages. These might include a friendly “checking in” to see if the user completed a goal today, medication reminders, social notifications, or reminders about upcoming coaching sessions and newly added relevant content.
In depth nutritional planning, featuring a variety of meals catering to different dietary preferences and health goals
In depth fitness planning, catered to each individual’s needs.
Tracking: Things like sleep, Blood Pressure, Menstrual cycle, Nutrition, Exercise, Smoking/drinking/drugs, Mental health/stress management, medication adherence, as well as general symptom tracking.
Integration with wearable devices to track daily activity and health metrics
A Chatbot would need further research to assure less tech-savvy users were able to use these functions. Otherwise some additional “help” settings may be necessary to accommodate these users.
An easy way to share tracked information with medical professionals, caregivers or family members.
Personalized feedback as users push towards goals, from either coaches or AI chatbots.

The Challenge