An app that helps users manage medications/supplement intake and provides users information about their medications/supplement needs. The app features medication reminders, medication information, an in-app assistant, and a side effects journal.
Collaboration with 4 UX/UI students and my responsibilities include:
Iterate user flow
UI style guide
Add medication sketches & wireframes
Prototypes
Organized and tracked team progress
4 Weeks part time
User interviews
Journey map
User persona
UI style guide
User flow
Sketches & wireframes
High-fidelity prototype
Remember that taking medication can be pretty tricky, especially if taking several at different times during the day. Research has shown that almost 50% of people struggle to take their medication as prescribed. Taking medication can get even harder when there is more to take.
Users are able to customize medications/supplements by time and daily schedule
Users will have access to a medical glossary where they are able to locate medication information, drug interactions, and potential side effects
Users are able to jot down notes and track daily mood, side effects, and reactions to their daily meds and supplements.
Users have the choice of unique in-app assistants that help them with reminders, locating certain pages, and adding new medications within the app.
With a fairly detailed project brief, we first conducted user interviews with a group of 8 users to understand medication/supplement routines, management, and challenges that come with knowledge and research of their medications.
We found out users need easier and more reliable sources for medication information and effective intake reminders. We could help with a mobile app that helps users with their knowledge and management of their medication and supplements.
After our interviews, we grouped and categorized the data into an Affinity Map which enabled us to have a clearer understanding of the user behavior and challenges with their medications and supplements.
After our interviews, we analyzed the data and found that 80% of users use the internet for medication information, and 40% lack confidence about the information. Also, 60% of users have difficulty tracking their medications and supplements.
Users have trouble remembering to take their meds on time. Some users even mentioned not remembering to take their meds that day.
Our research shows that users are not too knowledgeable about the medications and supplements they take
Users want to take control of their healthcare experience, be proactive in making the best health choice for themselves, and be their own advocates.
As it turned out, many of our interviewees are seeking reliable and accessible medication information and a way to track their medications/supplements intake to help them maintain their health. To help focus our design efforts on addressing these behaviors and pain points, we created a persona to represent the typical users of our app.
Peter Frankel is a 48-year-old consultant from Austin, TX who takes daily medications. With the fast-paced environment at his job, he finds it sometimes difficult to keep track and remember if he took his medications that day. Along with his prescription medications, he also takes vitamin supplements.
Needs & Goals
Wants to be less anxious about his health
Tracking his side effects while taking the meds/supplements
Needs to maintain his health condition
Needs to easily access information about medications
Needs to keep track of his medication intake
Pain Points & Challenges
Hard time remembering to take his medication
Medication has side effects
Has to write down every time he takes the meds
Different information creates confusion
Has difficulty finding information on the best meds for his condition
With the user persona in mind, we created a user journey map to deep dive into the user's needs and pain points.
Peter Frankel is a 48-year-old business consultant who struggles with a thyroid condition and high blood pressure. He takes daily medications and supplements to manage his condition but is not always on time or even forgets to take his medication at all.
1. Peter can’t remember the last time he felt 100% and is constantly tired. He decides to make a doctor’s appt to get a professional opinion
2. Following a doctor's appointment, Peter was given a large number of medication prescriptions. He has difficulty keeping track of time and dosages.
3. One day, he’s talking to his coworker about the difficulties of taking the meds the coworker tells him about the Medic app
4. He goes to the apple stores and downloads the application
5. He discovers that Medic will help him take his meds regularly by sending notifications
6. He inputs his medication info into the app and how often he needs to take it
7. Peter gets his first notification reminding him to take his meds and then he checks a box telling the app he’s done
8. After four weeks of use, Peter has successfully taken his first month’s prescription and now needs a refill
9. Peter starts to feel better and notices how his previous symptoms have cleared up.
We created user flows to address our goals which include:
Add new medication/supplements and set reminders
Medication list and information
Medication journal
Medication/supplement glossary
We wanted to make the add-medication process as easy as possible, so we included the camera scanning function to make this process more efficient. We also add an interactive function for users to track their medication intakes and a journal section to track medication side effects
We analyzed three highly-rated medication reminder apps on the market, they are My Therapy, MediSafe, and RoundHealth. We discovered these apps have a clean and simple interface, but the process of adding medication takes a long time and can be confusing for users. My Therapy and RoundHealth are lacking additional medication information and medication customizations are limited. Even though MediSafe provides sufficient medication-related information the interface is hard to navigate for target users.
Based on the features from our user flow we started to sketch and design to incorporate features that most directly addressed user wants and needs to be uncovered in our user research.
Add medication menu
Enter medication manually
Interactive medication list
Medication journal/side effects
We created a simple sketching prototype to perform usability testing of each user flow and validate our designs.
Tasks:
Entering medication manually
Marking medication as "taken"
Locating the 'drug Interaction' page in the glossary
Finding and leaving feedback in the journal section
Results:
Too many steps to complete a task
Unsure how to add medication
Did not understand the layout
Navigation is confusing
We took the testing results reiterated the wireframe into a mid-fi prototype and conducted another round of usability testing. The results are:
Add medication flow is too complicated
Unclear terminology
Hard time navigating the journal page
Clicked on the “Add button” and lost the whole process
We designed various elements that were reused throughout the application, such as typography, colors, icons, and buttons. We've chosen the color blue not only because it is the color for the medical field but also gives the user a feeling of calm and peace. And we chose the Nunito font for its readability and clean look.
We have combined all the elements shown throughout the design process to redesign this functional, informational, easy-to-navigate Medic application. Taking the usability testing results, we've redesigned the navigation bar and medications/supplements entry process as easy to understand as possible. Also changed the side effect journal page with clear terminology instead of emojis.
Final Thoughts
Communication is key when working as a team because everyone works differently.
Sometimes we can lose focus during the design process, so it is important to keep track of the research result
Working as a group allows us to learn from each other and improve our skills
Next Steps
Add import medication and export record information functions
Additional in-app assistant sections and functions
Customization options for medications
Add medical jargon and health conditions to the glossary
