Osler Home
How might we increase efficiency and access to healthcare for the aging and rural population?
Skills Used
Project Overview
Since the onset of COVID-19, telemedicine has been at the forefront of development for all healthcare related companies. With patients being urged to stay home and avoid high risk areas, the need for affordable and easy to use telehealth devices is skyrocketing. In specifically looking at primary care visits, findings have stated that in March of 2020, outpatient visits fell 70 to 75%. Having spoken to 4 pediatricians and 3 working parents, our team wondered, how might we increase efficiency and access to healthcare options for busy parents?
User Research, ideation, and pivoting
The above prototypes showcase our initial 3D printed prototype and app wireframe which was used to discuss with stakeholders.
We conducted 30 stakeholder interviews with the belief that this device would most benefit the pediatric realm. We believed that children’s needs had been neglected because of the pandemic and that this device would best serve busy families and their children. However, what we heard was that a device like this would most benefit babies and infants, as they frequently see physicians for viruses and check-ins - but we found that parents with children this young would be very untrusting of a device like this and would rather go in to the physician. Moving into older aged children, this type of device is no longer as useful, as we heard parents say they are really only taking their kids in for their yearly physical and the occasional sickness.
We learned that our device was not going addressing the correct type of consumer and we needed to make a pivot. Ultimately, we found the area of primary care within concierge medicine seemed like an area in which our device could add value to the consumer and physician experience. Patients who utilize this type of care are looking for a convenient service with constant access available. Our product could provide value in increasing the capability that a concierge medicine physician offers by creating a more robust system for care at home.
Final Concept
The Osler Home prototype is not a final product, as there is not full integration of working sensors into our 3D printed device. However, we were able to purchase existing sensors currently on the market in order to test out their capabilities and examine what these functions would look like within a product like ours. Our overall main focus was to understand what the physical design of the product should be like. We heard feedback from stakeholders that having a handheld device similar to the shape and feel to existing medical devices would bring a sense of familiarity and comfort to consumers who may have hesitations regarding such a product. Additionally, our initial prototype involved only one head where consumers would take off and on various attachments in order to create the different functionalities of our product. However, feedback from stakeholders showed concern for users losing the attachments and being too much to handle, so we pivoted to a device with 3 attached heads that keeps our functionalities attached to the device at all times.
One of the biggest challenges for the success of our product is providing a feeling of comfort and establishing confidence within the user in order to use the device. The Osler Home app is expected to give users easy to understand instructions and a simplistic manner in which to collect the 4 measurements our device takes. Talking to users in interviews about their concerns as well as analyzing apps similar to ours that have been successful, as well as have failed, allowed us to create a user centered app that consumers will feel safe using. The video to the left walks through the various features of our app. I developed this prototype by taking in user needs and considerations and developing a persona around which to design this app.
Potential Impact and Future Goals
Our final product received positive feedback from course professors, industry professionals, and stakeholders. We heard stakeholders found our app to be easy to understand and the device to be straightforward in terms of functionality. Users liked the simplistic layout of the app and the way it walked users through each step clearly and efficiently. Our device design was perceived well due to all components being permanently integrated, however, there was concern surrounding the size of the device and difficulty in maneuvering it single-handedly. This feedback is crucial in showing our team the best way to move forward with the production of our product.
Future goals would include considering further scaling of the device in order to address ergonomic concerns, as well as continued research on development of our app. In continuing to learn about the UX field, this project has been crucial in helping me gain insight into how users and technology interact. I have also learned that clear communication with stakeholders and industry professionals is crucial, as well as stepping out of my comfort zone and designing for an area that is less familiar was a great learning experience. My personal contributions included developing the solidWorks and 3D print for the Osler Home model, as well as creating the Osler Home app wireframe and conducting user testing on these components.