Fall 2023
Project Timeline
20 weeks
researcher
interviewer
UI designer
Project Roles
What's the problem?
For many, managing healthcare tasks for a loved one is tedious and complicated. Too many websites, logins, phone numbers, notes – there is much to keep track of and little in the way of streamlining it.
Stats at a glance
49.2
Average age of informal caregivers
14
hours spent/month on research and healthcare admin
75
% of caregivers who are female
Discovery Phase
Here’s where I attempt to uncover
the nature and extent of the problem
current solutions to the problem – tools available commercially as well as systems created by users
Competitive Analysis
The two caregiver-marketed apps had features that helped streamline communication between rotating caregivers, but weaknesses when it came to health data and admin tasks, beyond managing appointments
MyChart (proxy access) does not necessarily target caregivers, but provides a workable interface for those that manage someone else’s health records (ie parent, spouse, or caregiver)
User Interviews
My user interviews focused on those who have to complete health tasks (i.e. book an appointment, chat with a doc, refill a RX) for another adult. The primary goal of my interviews was to uncover the most burdensome and time-consuming aspects of their healthcare admin roles, and which aspects of the systems in place are working for them, and which are not.
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
Affinity Mapping
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
Key sound bites were compiled and tagged in excel and shuffled according got various themes. Stressors related to mental burden emerged quickly. Cross-referencing various health sites was often a difficulty. Much of the administrative burden for health caretaking falls to the caretaker, since many elements, like appointment management, are not automated by doctor’s offices.
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
Users say they want
Centralization
Visibility
Automation