For our User-Centered Design course, my classmates and I were asked to propose a design solution with a design equity theme. After brainstorming, we chose to focus on improving hospital navigation. Getting around a hospital can be a difficult experience. Hospital signs are often difficult to understand. They also assume certain levels of knowledge from patients and visitors. In this project, my team and I asked how might we reduce anxiety in the hospital navigation experience? The answer to this question was HopNav. HopNav is an accessibility-oriented, tablet-based navigation system. The intention of its design is for adoption in health-based settings. You can view the live prototype here!
my role
This project was in collaboration with three other colleagues through the HCDE Master's program at the University of Washington. We equally divided tasks during each step of the design cycle (from ideation to final prototype).
Timeline
October 2020 - December 2020
tools
Figma, LucidChart
To start the research process, an online survey was conducted to collect general information about people's experiences with hospital navigation. Our survey asked about participants' recent hospital visits and the tools they use to navigate through hospitals. It also asked participants to describe how they felt about navigating through a hospital. A lot of our respondents used words like "stressful" and "confusing".
To gain a deeper understanding of our survey respondents' experiences, we followed up with 5 in-depth interviews. We asked questions to find specific pain points and review the effectiveness of current hospital signage. Chosen participants reported recent visits to a hospital and indicated a higher level of difficulty navigating through a hospital. We also conducted a cognitive mapping exercise with a doctor to understand how hospital personnel provide directions to visitors in a hospital.
Based on the interviews and cognitive mapping process, we set up four personas. For each persona, we identified goals and pinpoints. We referred to them throughout the entire product development process.
Through insights generated from our user research, we identified five requirements that informed our proposed design solution:
1. The solution should provide clear and concise directions.
2. The solution should enable users to find directions/instructions for navigation without having to ask people at the hospital.
3. It should have multiple language options.
4. It should be a tool the user doesn’t have to bring or carry around in the hospital.
5. It should offer the option to speak with a real person that works at the hospital.
Using our personas and design requirements, we began brainstorming on solutions to address the identified user needs. We explored self-driving robots, wearable technologies, and digital screens incorporated into the physical structure of hospitals. Ultimately, we decided on an application that would exist on a stationary tablet. We made this decision because it satisfied all of our design requirements while taking into consideration the scope of our project. We considered the familiarity of the tablet technology to our users. It was also the most accessible of our proposed solutions.
Sketch by Adoniah Carmeline.
Below are sketches of solutions we considered for our project. (In order: Wall Signage by IB Sobayo, Wearable Technology Idea by Alainna Brown, NavBot by Rama Malik)
We also created user flows to understand how a user would navigate the structure of the solution. We primarily focused on how the user would ultimately seek assistance, change the application language, and find paths with accessibility needs.
We grouped the flow of the application into four main entry points that matched the pain-points identified in our research. The objective was to ensure that users were immediately provided with the tools they needed to navigate as soon as they opened the application. This way, they did not have to search for functionality before being able to use the solution.
We introduced our design solution to the participants and included information about the intended use as well as any pain-points/design goals we identified during user research.
1. Try getting to Radiology through the search button and avoiding the stairs
2. Try speaking with hospital personnel through the tablet
3. Navigate to radiology and send yourself instructions
4. Sign-up for pre-visit information
5Change the language from English to Japanese
1. What was the most confusing part of the test?
2. Are there any other features you'd expect to be a part of this product?
Through incorporating feedback from our usability testing, a high-fidelity prototype was implemented along with a style guide. Animations were also included to make our prototype as close to the real application as possible.
1. With more time, the goal would be to test this high-fidelity prototype and build out the voice command functionality.
2. HopNav was envisioned as one component of a larger suite of navigation products since no one product can necessarily address all user needs we identified in our research.
Research works: A significant amount of the insights I found in this project were found solely through talking to users. There were several assumptions I made about users' needs that turned out to be not so critical.
Designing for a system: Sometimes identified problems exist within bigger problems. Going through this project showed me that UX research and design are simply avenues for chipping away at “wicked problems” one solution at a time.
Collaborating remotely: This project was completed during the pandemic and all our work was done remotely. I learned to communicate effectively despite never meeting in person!
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