For this project I worked with a multidisciplinary team of upper-year OCAD U students (Jason Zante, Nick Alexander, Josh McKenna) for 8 months to deliver to our client, Myant Inc., suggestions for a product line, documentation of user research and brand strategy, and both a mobile and tablet application.
My background experiences led to me taking on a leadership role throughout the phases pertaining to UX and UI, often explaining particular activities, providing examples, and giving feedback to the team.
Project Brief
Myant Inc. is a textile computing company that integrates software and hardware. While in the process of developing a technological product to provide pain relief, heating, and motion tracking of the knee, they tasked the team to expand on this product through developing an accompanying mobile application that would facilitate the users experiences.
Prior research identified the potential user groups of the smart knee brace as; those suffering from chronic knee-pain, and those recovering from knee-surgery; with both groups seeking the assistance of a physiotherapist. In developing this digital tool, we were requested to focus on assisting users in recovering as quickly as possible through compliance with physiotherapist instructions.
User Research
Preliminary Background Research
A literature review into types of knee injuries, the process of knee surgery and recovery, along with a competitive analysis of the wearable tech and personal care markets were conducted to understand the background, present, and future trajectory of this space.
User Research
Initial user research beganwith a survey and interview questionnaire. The survey was conducted online, with email requests sent to respondents. This survey was designed to acquire quantitative metrics on the experiences of knee injury and recovery.
The questionnaire was conducted in-person, and included a series of qualitative questions to develop a generative understanding of the respondents experiences.
The insights from both were transcribed into data points and used to build three user journey maps.
Research Synthesis
Empathy Maps
Based on the feedback from the interviews and questionnaires, we further articulated on the user groups as: elderly, young adult, athlete, and healthcare providers. Empathy maps were produced on these new categories. This activity led to a strong understanding of the thoughts, emotions, and attitudes of potential users.
User Personas
Based on the initial user data gathered, a series of personas were created to represent the range of respondents and potential users of the wearable device. Personas, along with empathy maps were used to extrapolate the emotional insights that drive a patients motivations and decisions.
Experience Journey Maps
The data gathered from research was aggregated into 3 experience journey maps representative of the desired end users: an elderly patient experiencing osteoarthritis; a younger athletic patient that has experienced a sudden knee injury; and the healthcare provider, a physiotherapist that supports these users throughout their rehabilitation journey.
Insights, Opportunities, and Recommendations
Insights and Opportunities
Mapping out the experiences of the users provided insights into areas for design interventions. For instance, for users of the knee brace, the theme of self-empowerment through education continuously reappeared, with opportunities for increasing compliance, managing expectations, and providing a sense of control over the recovery.
Additionally, young athletes reported feeling socially isolated, while the elderly users felt a sense of loss over the disconnect with their physiotherapist post-rehab. This suggests an opportunity for increasing social connection, and would address the uncertainty of patient compliance and comprehension that the physiotherapists identified.
Design Recommendations
Through presenting and discussing the research with the client, it was determined that the application would be a multi-user platform for physiotherapists and their patients. The smart knee braces would be maintained by physiotherapy clinics and prescribed (along with an invitation to download the mobile application) by the physiotherapist to their clients. This would allow for a range of knee braces with technological features specific to the needs of each stage of rehabilitation.
Design recommendations for both the tangible and digital product were provided, and prioritized through a MoSCoW model. Particularly the applications design should include:
- A direct communication channel between patient and caregiver, and real-time data for increased communication.
- A group chat channel for the clinic patients to support and motivate one another.
- Informing patients through a dynamic encyclopedia (containing content on exercises, self-care, and stage of rehabilitation), and a personalized landing page clarifying current expectations for the stage of recovery.
User Interface Design
Based on the MoSCoW design recommendations two information architectural layouts were developed for a patient (and user of wearable knee brace) and health-care provider (and administrator) application.
In this phase, I created the information architecture for both applications, and created the tablet application for physiotherapists through wireframes and a high-fidelity prototype (using graphical assets made by Jason Zante). Jason Zante (with my guidance) created the mobile application for patients.