What's Patient First About?
Imagine searching for a family doctor and having no luck finding one. Stressful, right? In British Columbia, it can be challenging to find a primary care provider, especially one that matches your needs.
Without a family doctor, it becomes more difficult to book a specialist, undergo surgery, or get a diagnostic test.
So my problem space is...
How to help British Columbians in the process of finding a family doctor that suits their needs.
A roadmap to assist in the quest for finding a Family Doctor.
Emphatize
Secondary Research
Primary Research
Refined "How Might We"
Define
Persona
Experience Map
Ideate
Prototype
User Stories
Task Flow
Sketches
Mid-Fi Wireframes
Test
Refine
Usability Test
Final Mid-Fi Wireframe
With the process in mind, I will show you some data from my research.
Secondary Research
17.7%
BC residents don't have a primary health care provider. (Source)
35.6%
(out of the 17.7%) The reason is "No one available in the area or no one in the area was taking new patients" (Source)
Among those searching for a family doctor
35%
Have been searching for more than 1 year. (Source)
This data has opened my eyes to the challenges finding a family doctor in BC. It got me curious about why people are facing such difficulties.
Primary Research
Why were the interviewees having difficulty finding a family doctor?
Three fantastic individuals participated in my interview, allowing me to analyze their motivations, behaviours, and pain points in finding a family doctor in British Columbia. Let me share what I discovered: All three of them encountered challenges in determining whether the doctor was good and experienced or not.
A few of their insights:
"Sometimes, I don't feel comfortable with doctor's Google reviews."
" I worry about inexperienced doctors."
Pain Points
"I want a good family doctor gives that gives me confidence"
"I want to know about the doctor's experience"
Motivations
"I search for reviews on Google"
"I get references from friends."
Behaviours
Based on the research and insights, I decided to embrace a change in my initial 'how might we' question:
Previous: How might we improve the process of finding doctors accepting new patients to increase the number of British Columbians between 18 to 34 years old with a primary healthcare provider?
New: How might we ensure that British Columbians between 18 to 34 years old have access to relevant and personalized information about family doctors tailored to their specific needs and preferences so they can find a family doctor they trust?
Persona
What is essential to know when looking for a doctor?
Rachel Smith is the persona who helped me understand the issue better. She is new to Vancouver and doesn't know much about healthcare in BC. She's facing challenges finding a family doctor, especially one she can trust and feel comfortable with. Rachel wants more information about potential primary care practitioners who can care for her and her family.
User Stories
Analyzing how Rachel would do real tasks.
After understanding Rachel's persona and identifying that her main pain point is finding someone she trusts, I wrote a few user stories that explain how she can use the solution to find doctors she feels comfortable with. Drawing from the insights gathered from her persona, I chose the core epic: finding the best fit through reviews.
Core Epic: Finding the best fit though reviews
As a patient without a family doctor
I want to...
select a profile that is accepting new patients
find the review section
select a doctor's profile
I want to open the reviews section
I want to be able to see recent reviews first
be able to filter reviews by the type of appointment
be able to filter reviews by how many stars the doctor has
So that...
I can evaluate their compatibility with my needs.
I can have access to medical care when needed.
I can make an informed decision.
I can feel more confident after reading different opinions.
I can check other people's current experiences.
I can see if a doctor is particularly strong or weak in a certain area of practice.
I can be confident it is a good doctor.
As a patient with a family doctor (Secondary Task)
I want to...
be able to leave a review
So that...
I can share my experience with other patients
Task Flow
Turning the User Stories into a Task Flow helped me visualize how the app would work, including which screens I needed to design to ensure users could complete their tasks smoothly.
Sketches
From exploring solutions through sketching to wireframing the best solution with the user’s needs in mind.
After creating my primary and secondary task flows, I started sketching solutions using as my main inspiration designs from Dribbble and real apps like Rover. I wanted to create a minimal layout that was user-friendly and built trust with the user.
Wireframes & User Testing
The design is about the user, so I tested my first wireframe to make improvements.
I tested my initial wireframe to check if users could easily follow the flow I had in mind.
I conducted usability tests with five fantastic users who provided valuable insights. While all users could complete the tasks, they also offered some suggestions. I put these suggestions into a prioritization matrix to determine which ones were viable to implement. Hover over the pictures below to see the modifications added to the product.
Three out of five users clicked on the picture that previously was not linked to the subsequent screen, indicating the importance of making this change for a smoother flow.
Ratings were added to the search results as 3 out of 3 of my testers wanted to see the evaluations right away.
Key Learnings
The product is created for the user, so always keep their needs in mind. It is essential to test the prototype and pay attention to the user's actions and feedback.
