chronic healthcare
disempowers.
Over the years, I've had countless casual conversations with individuals suffering from a wide range of chronic symptoms—fatigue, pain, migraines, and gastrointestinal challenges. I started exploratory research to identify key questions in this area, validate my assumptions, and uncover potential product opportunities.
DEFINING RESEARCH QUESTIONs
locus of control
A patient suffering from chronic health issues can choose to believe that the locus of control is in their hands [1], perceiving that their decisions and efforts can influence the underlying causes of events [2].
When designing my research questions, I considered how users might attempt to take control of their health outcomes in the absence of any clear treatment plan:
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How does a patient learn about their condition?
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How might a patient track their symptoms and personal data?
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Do users connect with others who share similar experiences?
I also included open-ended questions to allow for flexibility and the exploration of new insights.
WAYS TO Learn, track, connect.
I researched the user experience of Flo - a "super app" designed to address various aspects of women's reproductive health. Some of its features align with my research questions—it educates users, tracks symptoms, and connects individuals. Therefore, it made an ideal case study for competitive benchmarking.
onboarding analysis
GET INVESTED IN LEARNING
Flo's onboarding is unique: it educates the user immediately so they become invested in their own wellbeing, while also taking the time to learn about them. However, it remains a bit too long...
Flo's onboarding establishes their brand (pink) and offers a promise (orange): that the user will experience better health outcomes. It instructs the user on what they can expect from the application (purple), while also gathering information on the end user (blue).
analyzing screen design
SYMPTOM TRACKING
The home screen allows users to track their symptoms, but that gets lost in an overwhelm of features whose information hierarchy and subtle header changes makes them hard to find. Once you navigate to the Symptom Tracker, it is clear, if not a bit too long.
'Today' (the home screen) and Symptom Tracking, analyzing the best practice and mistakes made in the screen layouts.
analytical thinking
are COMMENTS CONNECTION?
"Online comments? That's not connection" - Participant 4.
Flo 'connects' users by allowing them to comment in threads. But I began to think how users in the chronic healthcare community connect over Facebook groups through comments too, but rarely in person or even digitally, face-to-face. Why is that?
Users in the chronic healthcare community connect over Facebook groups & Instagram profiles through comments, but much less through support groups or remote calls.
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
BUT WHY SO COMPLICATED?
Flo incorporates the ideas of learning about one’s health, tracking symptoms, and connecting with others. However, these features are spread across so many areas that they start to feel repetitive. The app’s complex information architecture can create confusion, as its structure is both sprawling and deeply embedded.
How Flow represents idea about Learning, Tracking and Connecting across multiple features.
'Flo' has a complex information architecture, which can often make navigating these features disorienting.
GENERATIVE INTERVIEWS
I did not want to go into the research process having preconceived ideas about the product I could end up designing. User research allows us to understand the mental model of the user based on evidence which creates the foundational framework that you use to experiment your way to a good product [3].
RESEARCH INTERVIEWS
UNDERSTANDING THE USER
"The best product will stem from a very strong mental model of the domain and the users" - Patrick Collison [3].
I canvased 16 participants and interviewed 12 - coming to over 18 hours of interviews. All individuals suffering from conditions that lasted longer than 12 months during the last 4 years.
ANALYSIS
EMERGING THEMES
After transcribing interviews, interesting observations began to emerge: users had a lot to say about how they chose to track their symptoms, and why. How they came to learn about their condition, and how their illness changed their lifestyle, moods & feelings.
Affinity diagram mapping out emerging themes from the interview research.
FEELING TONE
"Feeling tone" refers to a specific quality of awareness. My vision is to infuse the product with a sense of calm and comforting serenity, like the peaceful stillness you experience in a mindful moment spent in nature. For me, this is best captured in the time just after sunset, when the light around you is a perfect blend of warm and cool - as seen in Joseph Turner's paintings.
LOOK + FEEL
THE LEFTOVERS OF A SUNSET.
A mood-board to share the understanding of the feeling tone I want to evoke: a calm, comforting serenity.
Colour scheme + brand identity begins to be developed from mood-board.
TO BE CONTINUED...
My goal is to continue this larger Exploratory Research project as time allows, following my research plan: conducting a Competitive Landscape Analysis and calculating the Total Addressable Market (TAM). This will be followed by a User Survey and Concept Card project.
These steps will help me triangulate research findings, which is crucial for validating my assumptions.
RESEARCH
REFERENCES
[1] Vanessa Malherbe, General Practitioner, in discussion with the author, February 2024.
[2] BetterUp, “What Is the Locus of Control? (And Why It Matters),” BetterUp Blog, accessed September 13, 2024, locus
[3] Interview by Lenny Rachitsky, Lenny's Podcast: "The UX Research Reckoning is Here," January 2024.
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