Responsive web app
UX Case Study
Responsibilities
UX Research
UX Design
UI Design
Research Methods
1 on 1 interviews
User Surveys
Heuristic Evaluation
Card Sorting
User Testing
Preference Testing
UX Deliverables
Personas
Journey maps
Task flows
Sitemaps
Wireframes & prototypes
Context
During the pandemic a lot of physiotherapy in the UK had to be conducted remotely. The aim of this project was to thoughtfully design a practical and useful way to provide physiotherapy as close to normal capacity as possible. Achieving a way for people in pain to receive expert help and to provide physiotherapists with a way to gain experience through working on a variety of patient cases.
Problem Statement
Physically active 21 - 65 year olds who want to improve their musculoskeletal physical health because they have an injury or a condition, need a flexible, educational and virtual way to progress on from their current physical state and return to their normal active lifestyles.
Solution
Responsive web app
MVP
Duration
6 months part-time
Conceptual Project
New healthtech startup initiative.
Created as part of a bootcamp curriculum.
Hypothesis
We will know we have addressed the challenge successfully when we see users regularly engaging with physiotherapists via video calls or through prescribed exercise videos and seeing an improvement with their injury/condition.
Why this service could be useful
‘Why is telehealth important? Telehealth is a constantly evolving model of healthcare delivery. It incorporates advancements in technology that are responsive and adaptable to changes in health needs and society.’
CSP.org.uk
‘...the average waiting time for physiotherapy in England was nearly twelve weeks, with waiting times in individual trusts longer than six months’
sectorsdonut.co.uk
‘Remote physiotherapy delivery options can be used in triage, for assessment and diagnosis, to provide self-management information, for e-rehabilitation packages or for monitoring of long-term conditions, and they may have a different impact depending on the purpose.’
CSP.org.uk
Overview
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Business goal: to disrupt the existing market.
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Hypothesis: this new service would capture people who need physiotherapy and wish to deliver physiotherapy, without risking catching Coronavirus.
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Solution: responsive web app to deliver remote physiotherapy.
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Result: usability testing showed positive feedback through SUS surveys and low error rates for task completion.
Project Approach
Double Diamond Strategy; research, synthesis, ideation, implementation.
RESEARCH
User Research
A physiotherapist was consulted to determine who would likely be the target audience for Nimble and thus to establish participant criteria for user surveys and interviews and to form personas.
Survey Key Findings
44 participants, 21 years+, have had physiotherapy
60%
Would consider having physiotherapy via video call
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It would be very convenient especially if it is not too complex of a treatment.
68%
Used online resources alongside physiotherapy appointments
38% used paper resources such as leaflets and books.
60%
Said self-tracking would be useful
Hopefully [self-tracking] would help me stick to a routine, remind me to do exercises, remind me how to do the exercises.
Time commitment of going to many appointments
Was one of the top complaints of having physiotherapy
I would not have to spend time traveling. I could get access to a specialist in my condition remotely. I could schedule the sessions when I want.
Influence of Surveys on 1-to-1 Interviews
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Explore the opinions of video call physiotherapy appointments further
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Understand challenges associated with having physiotherapy in more depth
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Discover how people begin their journey with physiotherapy
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Ensure participants have had physiotherapy in the last 5 years in order that they remember their experience more accurately
Interviews
3 physiotherapy patients, 21 years+, had physiotherapy 5 years ago or less.
1 physiotherapist
Affinity Map of User Surveys & Interviews
Key Points from Patient Interviews
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Self-treatment is done regularly and at home often.
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Medical/scientific information about the participants’ condition and the scientific process of physiotherapy treatments is desired.
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Few resources are prescribed to help patients carry out their self-treatment at home.
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NHS waiting time problematic.
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Time and cost was a challenge for private physiotherapy.
Key Points from the Physiotherapist Interview
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Video call physiotherapy appointments mostly beneficial for MSK-related problems, depending on specifics such as injury/condition type.
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Interested in working freelance around main job by running remote appointments.
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Gaining more experience and seeing more types of patient cases.
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Currently triaging with patients at day job via video call.
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Cut out waiting time and stop problems from worsening and becoming harder to treat.
It was 1 session probably 10/15 minutes max. I think NHS is under a lot of time constraints...it’s just surprising how quickly they go through [your session].
Anyone that doesn’t want to go to a hospital and wait for so many hours or anyone that’s referring them with a problem to a physio and their waiting list is about 4-6 weeks…can utilise this kind of feature or service in order to jump the queue and see a physio and get insight into what is going on.
Market Research
Key Players Summary
What they do
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• Comprehensive offering of treatment types
• Virtual and in-person services in the UK
• Prescribe self-guided treatment plans
• Offer pay-as-you-go virtual appointments
• Offer free access to a limited selection of self-guided exercise videos through their web app
• Virtual services in the UK and US and in-person services in Canada
• Offer pay-as-you-go and monthly subscription model for virtual appointments
• Allow users to read physiotherapists profile and select their physiotherapist
What they don't do
• Have recent positive patient reviews on NHS website
• Users cannot choose their physiotherapist
• Users cannot read physiotherapists profiles
• Allow access to the app to users to get a taste of their offering before booking an appointment
• Offer more than 1 UK based physiotherapist
• Provide much medical/scientific information to provide clarity for the treatment plans
Next, a heuristic evaluation of Phyxable was completed in order to dive deeper into opportunities for Nimble.
Solutions Based on User Research & Market Research
Possible Solutions
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Telephone calls for certain patients and conditions
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Socially distanced outdoors home visit from a physiotherapist
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AI image comparison to diagnose musculoskeletal conditions followed by a chatbot to prescribe advice and a treatment plan
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Responsive web app that hosts video call appointments
For people with specific conditions/injuries a platform that could host video call physiotherapy appointments and provide resources for at home treatment would be helpful during COVID 19 to decrease risk of spreading the virus and cut out long NHS waiting times.
Chosen Solution
For people to get the physiotherapy they needed during the pandemic an online web app made the most sense as it’s more easily accessible than a native app, suiting the large target user demographic of 21 - 65 year olds.
SYNTHESIS
User Personas
The user research affinity map helped to form empathy maps and from there, personas.
Patient Personas
Hypotheses
We believed that by creating a responsive web app where Vic could book online video calls with a physiotherapist we would achieve a flexible way for her to have a follow up appointment to check her progress around her work schedule so she could get back to football training in her free time.
We believed that by creating an app/website where Andy could watch physiotherapy exercise videos as part of his self-treatment we would achieve a way for him to remember the correct movements and recover from his surgery quicker so he could get back to enjoying his outdoor retired lifestyle.
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I had to take time off work to go to my appointment because I work full-time hours
Patient Personas
Hypothesis
We believed that by creating an app/website where Krish could easily add his available timeslots for physiotherapy appointments for his patients to book, we would achieve a way for him to use his knowledge to earn some extra income on top of his full-time physiotherapist job.
I would like to help as many people as possible, at the same time, gain a lot of experience...
As-is User Journey
The as-is journey varied between people. The Survey showed physiotherapy patients come via self-referral, GP referral, NHS and private practice. In the pandemic there is a need for people to get advice via video call because the number of in-person appointments is reduced due to social distancing and a healthcare practitioners shortage due to self-isolation.
To-Be User Journey Map
This stage involved selecting just one opportunity which would solve the problem statement of target users via an MVP.
Key Opportunity:
A filtering and sorting system to help users select an appropriate physiotherapist. Competitor research showed not all physiotherapy websites allow users to choose their physiotherapist. Using choice as a method to improve the user’s experience led to designing the task flow of selecting a physiotherapist and booking an appointment.
IDEATION
Information Architecture
Task Analysis & User Flows
User journey maps presented opportunities which were then used to create task flows, user flows and a sitemap.
Original Sitemap
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Iterated Sitemap from Card Sorting
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Card Sorting
This collaborative design approach with participants helped to define the architecture of the web app. Results were analysed based on relationships of similarity.
Similarity Matrix
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Dendrogram
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Wireframing
Low-fidelty wireframing followed the info. architecture discoveries and focused on idea generation.
Mid-fidelity Wireframing
A variety of screens from the 3 user flows.
High-fidelty wireframing improved the overall UI.
Tweaks were made to follow target users’ mental models for familiarity.
The booking calendar and time selector were removed from the physiotherapist’s profile page.
The screen became too long and required too much scrolling.
The progress bar was put back to occur later in the flow on the payment screens. It looked cluttered having it on every screen up to this point.
IMPLEMENTATION
Prototyping
2 prototypes were created in Figma to allow users to test the patient and physiotherapist flows and to highlight areas to iterate on.
A Selection of Screens from the Clickable Prototypes
Usability Testing
A test plan and test script were created to run the tests consistently across all participants.
Methodology
Remote & in-person moderated 1-on-1 tests
Versions Tested
Mobile & Desktop
Scope
Discover how well users interact with the prototype
Test Goals
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To assess raw functionality, errors and satisfaction of new users interacting with the web app on both mobile or desktop.
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To discover if patient users understood how to use the app and what its purpose is.
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For physiotherapists an extra goal was to determine medical information accuracy.
Hypotheses
We believed that by creating a web app where patients could book appointments with physiotherapists, have video calls and use prescribed resources, we would achieve a way for patients to improve their health remotely.
We believed that by creating a web app we made an accessible platform available for physiotherapists to host video call appointments with patients by adding their availability and working around their other work commitments.
Participants
Patient Study
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6 participants
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3 had physiotherapy and aligned with the primary personas.
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To potentially identify extra user groups, create more inclusivity and prevent selection bias, 3 participants who hadn’t had physiotherapy were included.
Physiotherapist Study
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4 participants
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Qualified & practicing physiotherapists
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2 NHS
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2 Private practice
Overview of Test Tasks
Direct tasks and scenario tasks were used.
Patient Study
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Find information about a physiotherapist
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Book an appointment
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Find out who your last video call was with
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Start the video call session with your physiotherapist
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Locate videos your physiotherapist instructed you to follow
Physiotherapist Study
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Log in to your account
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Add available timeslots
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Follow the tips on managing appointments
Test Results
Affinity mapping from the test tasks led to synthesising the data using a Rainbow Spreadsheet and Jakob Nielsen’s error severity rating.
SUS answers were numerised into percentages and a usability test report compiled all the data.
The top 5 areas of priority to iterate on became clear.
Did the solution to the problem resonate with testers?
Patient Testers’ SUS Scores
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50% of participants rated their experience overall at 90% satisfaction and above
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Remaining results were between 57-70% satisfaction which needed to be addressed through iteration
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2 participants preferred the desktop version and 2 preferred the mobile version and 2 found them equally preferable
Physiotherapist Testers’ SUS Scores
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The lowest satisfaction score was 90%
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75% of participants preferred the desktop version to the mobile version
Improved Designs Based on Testing Results
Issue
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Confusion over what Videos menu tab meant
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Some participants had trouble deciding between Start Exercise CTA or Videos menu tab
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Solution
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Remove Start Exercise CTA
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Replace with main access to videos
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Move Appointments out of ‘more’ tab on mobile
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Issue
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Confusion over coachmarks onboarding
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Some participants accidentally clicked through without reading
Solution
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Match desktop onboarding modal
Later it was decided that modal onboarding wasn’t helpful to users, it pointed out very common, familiar elements of a UI.
Preference Testing Landing Page CTA
35 participants
A
B
C
Further UI Design Development
Patient User Screens
Physiotherapist User Screens
View the Interactive Prototype Here (opens in new tab)
Style Guide
Outcomes
For those who missed out on physiotherapy because of the NHS' focus diverted to covid patients, they may have MSK-related issues which have developed further and require more treatment and more physiotherapy sessions, thus there is an opportunity for a surge in demand to arise. This gives potential for Nimble to become a desirable product.
‘The backlog of medical care that was delayed during the coronavirus lockdown is expected to cause a surge in demand for industry services in the short term, aiding the recovery of industry revenue in 2021-22.’
ibisworld.com
Problem Statement
Physically active 21 - 65 year olds who want to improve their musculoskeletal physical health because they have an injury or a condition, need a flexible, educational and virtual way to progress on from their current physical state and return to their normal active lifestyles.
The Designed Solution
There is a lot of potential for the solution to address the initial problem and to find this out the MVP would need to be built in order to run ethnographic research to analyse mid-long term adoption rates, to find any weaknesses in the product and to potentially see rehabilitation success through using the product.
Challenges Faced
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Making technological decisions/assumptions on design possibilities without a developer
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Ensuring the correct tasks were tested
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Clear articulation of test task instructions
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Effective measurement of testing results
What's Next?
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Running another round of usability testing
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Designing the Tracker area of the product
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In the future, post-launch, designing a lobby for those who want to wait for the next available appointment
