(A Concept Project)
Keeping loved ones safe in times of emergency
OVERVIEW
Bay Alarm Medical would like to explore a digital extension of their hardware products. They want to provide a sense of safety to the care circle and make the loved ones feel less reluctant to use the service.
TEAM
2 UX Design Apprentices: Geri de los Santos (myself) and Alex Aguilar
MY ROLE
I developed journey maps for user, helped create and administer the user survey, assisted on archetype creation, conducted field research interviews, sketched, created wireframes, worked on visual design with my teammate and helped to build the interactive prototype.
This was a collaborative project where both team members participated in some research, ideation, and design.
DURATION
2 Week Sprint
METHODS
Primary and Secondary Research
Competitive & Comparative Analysis
Affinity Mapping
Empathy Mapping
Journey Mapping
Survey (with Survey Monkey)
Interviews
Archetypes
User Flow
Sketching
Wireframing
Usability Testing
Prototyping (UI & Visual Design)
Tools:
Figma
InVision
Paper and Pen
Plethora of Post-Its
ABOUT BAY ALARM MEDICAL
Bay Alarm Medical alert provides the highest level of 24/7 medical alert emergency response throughout the United States. With just a push of a button, Bay Alarm Medical's trained 24/7 emergency operators will be there to contact family, friends, neighbors and if necessary, your local 911 emergency services.
HOW THEIR SERVICE CURRENTLY WORK
CHALLENGE
How can we create an extension of Bay Alarm Medical’s existing product line to improve the experience for both the care circle (family, friends, caregivers) and loved ones (the users) in times of emergencies?
SOLUTION
To create a mobile application that:
Is simple, clear and efficient
Reduces stress for the care circle
Provides a sense of independence to users
WHERE TO START
Research
Our team started with primary research to find our target audience . We found a 2015 customer survey conducted by Bay Alarm Medical.
What we found:
Out of nearly 3000 subscribers who participated, 55% of them purchased it for a parent or loved one.
The people who it was purchased for were mostly over the age of sixty.
TARGET AUDIENCE
LET’S KEEP DIGGING
We wanted to gain more insights on who this digital solution would best benefit the most, so we continued to do more primary research.
Empathy Map
We first started by creating an empathy map to gain insights through people’s feelings and pain points. We had asked seven participants to write down their thoughts and feelings in regards to being a part of the care circle for the loved one. What we learned was a better understanding of the different states of mind that the care circle felt about taking care of the loved one.
Key Finding:
The main feeling was guilt for being unable to care for the loved one 24/7.
Survey
To get a better understanding of how people felt about a personal emergency response system, we sent out a survey. What we learned were some of the concerns and confusions about personal emergency response systems.
Research Interviews
We continued to do more research by conducting 5 interviews. We gained insights from personal stories by people who are currently taking care of an elderly loved one, or have used a similar personal emergency alert device with an elderly loved one.
Key Takeaways:
Communication and Being Informed is Key.
Those who had the device often felt powerless. They would get a call or a text after everything had already occurred.
Sometimes the user doesn’t use the wearable device.
The service is only able to work effectively if the user is wearing the device.
WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS RESEARCH MEAN?
Affinity Mapping
After compiling a few research activities, we decided to consolidate all of our research through affinity mapping. This enabled us to narrow our scope to a few themes.
Key Takeaways:
The care circle had concerns and feelings about:
The health of the loved one
The device reliability of the personal emergency alert system
Not wanting to intrude on the privacy of the user
Guilt for not being able to always be around
The loved one had concerns and feelings about:
The stigma of using the device
Not being able to live life as normal
After doing our user research and affinity mapping on our target audience, we were able to create three archetypes that helped us focus on the needs of improving the user experience.
They are divided into two categories which reflect the target audience - the care circle who are comprised of caregivers and family members and the loved ones who receive the care.
ARCHETYPES
Because of our research activities and archetypes, our digital design solution would primarily be focused more towards the care circle with “the planner” archetype in mind.
Keeping in mind “the planner” archetype as the user of the mobile app, we came up with a journey map to see where the pain points were in the current system.
THE PLANNER’S JOURNEY USING THE CURRENT SYSTEM
OUR APPROACH TO CREATING THAT PEACE OF MIND
Ideating
We then started brainstorming and sketching out ideas that would best alleviate the stress of the care circle.
How our system would work: in our digital solution, we would provide people with clear, efficient and up-to-date information about emergency situation when their loved ones has activated their personal emergency response system.
THE PLANNER’S JOURNEY USING OUR NEW DESIGN SOLUTION
We collaboratively brainstormed potential features and drafted sketches for our user interfaces fast and early in the process. Keeping in mind the key insights from our research. We created a list of features for the user.
INITIAL WIREFRAMES
Our first few iteration of wireframes were focused on the care circle. We designed to address their concerns of not being able to be with their loved ones 24/7.
A SOLUTION FOR THE USER
Our design solution was to address the archetype of the planner. Give a way for the planner & worrier to feel empowered and sense of control in the event of an emergency by giving them a clear layout and progress page.
When the PERS is activated, the care circle (the caregivers) receives a text message notifying them of a possible emergency situation. Within the mobile site, a progress of updates on the situation will appears, the ability to call designated emergency contacts and contact the Bay Alarm Medical service directly.
NEXT STEPS
As potential next steps in this process, we would be conducting more usability testing and research on ways to improve being aware of the loved one. Adding a feature that has the medical information would be beneficial in times of emergency or if the loved one is unable to answer the questions for themselves.
WHAT I LEARNED
When it comes down to caring for a loved one, receiving fast and accurate information is key. Those few minutes can mean the difference between a situation going from bad to worse.
Conducting usability testing early and often can address design issues. Being close to a design, you can underestimate that the user knows exactly what you are trying to convey. Users can help bring insight to what is really needed.
When you’ve exhausted a solution and get to a dead end, learn to pivot and redirect. Not switching directions can lead to bad user experience. If the content isn’t right, the container in which you design will not be useful.