UnifiedCare
a digital healthcare platform
About
Diabetes has been increasing over the decade in Singapore. This is largely attributed to our ageing population as the risk of diabetes increases with age. One in nine Singapore residents ages 18 to 69 years were affected by diabetes in 2010 and increases throughout.
To prevent diabetes or delay diabetic-related complications, we need to be aware to keep track of our health, eating right, adopt an active exercise lifestyle and have self-discipline. Uncontrolled diabetes causes narrowing of the blood vessels which will lead to high blood pressure.
With UnifiedCare, an App which will help to track blood glucose, blood pressure and weight in the future. No only able to keep your results but also let you communicate to the care team in ease through the app.
UnifiedCare and UnifiedCare Team serve as a connection for both patient and care team/doctor to able to communicate with each other easily.
Research and Analyses A+B=C
A. The Care team
I get to interview and understand the working flow of a dietician working in a hospital. With the knowledge and pain point stated by the dietician, we are able to work closely together to come out a better website portal and app not only for the care team but to the patient too. With the needs and pain point from the Users, I am able to come out a persona.
B. The Patient
Understanding from our User perspective
C. UnifiedCare
Web portal for care team and doctor is created! And both Patient and care team monitoring app is release.
Design Development
As the product first launches in China before coming to Singapore. The priority is to change all the text to English before finding User to test out the product. To present to our client, we did a full force language global change.
Firstly, I have to prepare all the screens in flows and edit the texts one by one which will be easier for the developers to look at and change at the same time. As texts might be lost in translation, it is a long and meticulous process to modified everything.
Unifiedcare Team app (Care team)
UnifiedCare app (patient)
Once clearing up, we start breaking up into smaller modules and check on the flow for each. As the product went through a good testing with real user, there isn’t much changes needed within the architecture at the moment.
Design development - Web portal (provider)
During the registration process in the consultation with the dietician, knowing the patients’ history details and current diet plan is important to come out with the right schedules for them. Understanding what each individual blood glucose range through the consultation helps to set the correct target for them.
While observing the process, writing on paper still seems to happen often as those questions are not in the portal. But there is a bigger improvement than the first time.
changes done after testing
Design development - Mobile App (patient and provider)
1. Food record and reviews
Having a balanced diet helps to maintain the patient’s blood sugar. Not only care team able to rate and comment the meal but also giving suggestion and a reminder to the patient through chatbox. Monitoring their diet will help to understand and narrow down the reason for high blood sugar readings too.
2. Follow-up appointment
Patients not only can use the chatbox to book a follow-up appointment with the doctor, but they can also check the comments given by the doctor during the consultation through the app too.
3. Blood sugar and blood pressure measurement
Measuring blood sugar and blood pressure through the app, data will be kept in the system which both patient and care team can view easily. Patients are able to share their results in the chat box to ask the care team when they have doubt or enquires regarding the results.
When blood sugar is too low or too high, an alert will pop out to instruct what the patient should do at the moment. With too low or too high result is very dangerous and the patient might not realise it so with the pop out alert will help to alert them. At the same time, the result will be automatic send to chat box to inform the care team about this situation.
Usability Testing
We set up with in-house testing with the whole process from registration to check up to get the devices to quarterly checkup for 1 month run. We have a weekly feedback update and daily reports to monitor how the product goes. The users we have are real diabetes patients and a real dietician profession. Through the feedback given, we prioritise what is needed to be fixed urgently.
Through the testing, we realise there are quite a few of missing section needed to be added into the system in both the care team and the patient ends.
Care team teaching and explaining to the patient how to use the device
Conclusion
Bringing in the UX process into a more stable project is a sign of wanting the product to grow for its User. As our targeted Users needs are a little more different from the other country. This requires more understanding and testing through UX to bring out the full potential the product can support to the Users.
Being part of a start-up healthcare company not only helps me to grow in my UX skills and able to see the success in the product is a satisfying challenge for me. Healthcare industry also helped me to gain new useful in-depth knowledge for not on in my career path but in my daily lifestyle too.
For more in depth of the product: https://medium.com/@hanvone
