SilverMind
SilverMind
Improving Seniors' Medicine Taking Experience
Improving Seniors' Medicine Taking Experience
Overview
Overview
This is a course project I did in 2022. I led a team of 4 from discovering the problem, doing user research to understand our potential users, ideating design solutions to bridge the gap, testing our prototype, to evaluating our final design. Our solution, Silvermind, is an app designed to assist the seniors with taking their daily medications.
This is a course project I did in 2022. I led a team of 4 from discovering the problem, doing user research to understand our potential users, ideating design solutions to bridge the gap, testing our prototype, to evaluating our final design. Our solution, Silvermind, is an app designed to assist the seniors with taking their daily medications.
My role
Led UX Research
Led UX Design
Led User Testing
Prototyping
Duration
10 weeks
Tools
Figma
Figjam
Google Excel (Card Sorting Data)
My Role
Led UX Research
Led UX Design
Led User Testing
Prototyping
Duration
10 weeks
Tools
Figma
Figjam
Google Excel (Card Sorting Data)
What’s the Problem?
What’s the Problem?
1/5 of the seniors take above 5 medications.
1/5 of the seniors take above 5 medications.
Research shows 1/5 of older adults take five or more medicine each day, including prescriptions, over-the-counter (OTC) medicine and dietary supplements.
7/10 of older adults take at least one medicine.
Research shows 1/5 of older adults take five or more medicine each day, including prescriptions, over-the-counter (OTC) medicine and dietary supplements.
7/10 of older adults take at least one medicine.
Research shows 1/5 of older adults take five or more medicine each day, including prescriptions, over-the-counter (OTC) medicine and dietary supplements.
7/10 of older adults take at least one medicine.
55% of the seniors don’t take their medicine according to the doctor’s instructions.
55% of the elderly don’t take their medicine according to the doctor’s instructions.
Being on too many medications can lead to risks of drug interactions and complex side effect symptoms when the instructions are not followed.
Some major reasons of violating instructions include forgetting to take the medicine and
not refilling the medicine.
Being on too many medications can lead to risks of drug interactions and complex side effect symptoms when the instructions are not followed.
Some major reasons of violating instructions include forgetting to take the medicine and
not refilling the medicine.
How Might We Help the Seniors Take their Medicine Following Instructions and Live a Healthy Life?
How Might We Help the Seniors Take their Medicine Following Instructions and Live a Healthy Life?
SilverMind
FINAL DESIGN
How we get to SilverMind?
How we get to SilverMind?
DESIGN PROCESS
This is an overview of how we got to SilverMind and what design mindsets led the decisions along the way.
This is an overview of how we got to SilverMind and what design mindsets led the decisions along the way.
We analyzed 8 products chosen based on our criteria.
Our criteria:
Products that provide medication reminders and medication information.
Not limiting to products targeting towards the seniors.
The features we focused on are adding medication, medication information and medication reminders. Besides features, since we aim to focus on the elderly’s medicine intake experience, we also focus on accessibility and information architecture aspect.
Key Takeaways:
Most of the medication management apps are not geared at seniors, while the one with strong accessibility is too simple with limited function and information (e.g. drug interaction and side effects).
We analyzed 8 products chosen based on our criteria.
Our criteria:
Products that provide medication reminders and medication information.
Not limiting to products targeting towards the seniors.
The features we focused on are adding medication, medication information and medication reminders. Besides features, since we aim to focus on the elderly’s medicine intake experience, we also focus on accessibility and information architecture aspect.
Key Takeaways:
Most of the medication management apps are not geared at seniors, while the one with strong accessibility is too simple with limited function and information (e.g. drug interaction and side effects).
What are the Existing Solutions?
COMPETITIVE AMALYSIS
Understanding Experience and Pain Points
Understanding Experience and Pain Points
USER INTERVIEW
USER INTERVIEW
We want to start with understanding users. To better understand how seniors take their medicine, we decided to conduct 1 on 1 semi-structure interview to dive into their experience, and understand the pain points and needs along their medicine-taking process.
To avoid biased results, we interviewed 4 participants in our target age range (65+) with mixed ages (65-92) and mixed levels of technology proficiency. Our interview questions encompassed two themes: (1) medication taking experience, and (2) app usage. Considering seniors may take more time to learn a new app, we include app usage related questions to ensure our design is accessible to seniors.
We want to start with understanding users. To better understand how seniors take their medicine, we decided to conduct 1 on 1 semi-structure interview to dive into their experience, and understand the pain points and needs along their medicine-taking process.
To avoid biased results, we interviewed 4 participants in our target age range (65+) with mixed ages (65-92) and mixed levels of technology proficiency. Our interview questions encompassed two themes: (1) medication taking experience, and (2) app usage. Considering seniors may take more time to learn a new app, we include app usage related questions to ensure our design is accessible to seniors.
We want to start with understanding users. To better understand how seniors take their medicine, we decided to conduct 1 on 1 semi-structure interview to dive into their experience, and understand the pain points and needs along their medicine-taking process.
To avoid biased results, we interviewed 4 participants in our target age range (65+) with mixed ages (65-92) and mixed levels of technology proficiency. Our interview questions encompassed two themes: (1) medication taking experience, and (2) app usage. Considering seniors may take more time to learn a new app, we include app usage related questions to ensure our design is accessible to seniors.
What we learned from users?
App Usage
Medicine Taking Experience
Finding #1
Seniors take their medication with set routines, but have trouble remembering when their schedule changes or new medicines are prescribed.
Finding #2
Information seniors care for current medicine and new medicine differs:
New - drug interaction & dietary concerns
Current - need to know when to refill
Finding #3
Seniors can easily forget whether they have taken the medicine or not.
Finding #4
Seniors want to track their side effects and know what have caused the symptoms.
Grouping data through affinity diagram
Grouping interview data through affinity diagram, we concluded findings into two aspects:
Medicine Taking Experience
App Usage
Finding #1
Barriers relate to Health Condition:
Physical - eye health, not being as agile as before
Mental - memory loss
Finding #2
Users feel frustrated about getting information they want when using a new app.
Busy interface with too many choices
Information is scattered in different sections
Unclear graphics and icons
Takeaways:
Considering complexity of info in different areas (side effect, drug interaction, instructions, etc), further research on information architecture and icon design is needed.
Creating Personas
We created two personas. The user stories enable us to keep user in mind while making design decisions and ideating solutions.
We created two personas. The user stories enable us to keep user in mind while making design decisions and ideating solutions.
Main differences between two personas come with their pain points:
Albert feel most frustrated about forgetting to take medicine and not getting trusted info.
Helen feel most frustrated about organizing medicine information, such as drug interaction and refill dates.
Main differences between two personas come with their pain points:
Albert feel most frustrated about forgetting to take medicine and not getting trusted info.
Helen feel most frustrated about organizing medicine information, such as drug interaction and refill dates.
Creating Personas
We created two personas. The user stories enable us to keep user in mind while making design decisions and ideating solutions.
We created two personas. The user stories enable us to keep user in mind while making design decisions and ideating solutions.
Main differences between two personas come with their pain points:
Albert feel most frustrated about forgetting to take medicine and not getting trusted info.
Helen feel most frustrated about organizing medicine information, such as drug interaction and refill dates.
Main differences between two personas come with their pain points:
Albert feel most frustrated about forgetting to take medicine and not getting trusted info.
Helen feel most frustrated about organizing medicine information, such as drug interaction and refill dates.
What we learned from users?
DATA ANALYSIS
Grouping interview data through affinity diagram, we concluded findings into two aspects:
Medicine Taking Experience
App Usage
Next, we utilized what we learned from users to brainstorm design points along medicine taking process. Besides the findings we summarized, we also considered the needs mentioned repeatedly from users.
Add New Medication
“It would be great if I don’t need to enter medicine on my own.”
“I cannot remember the name of my med. I’m more familiar with its appearance and what’s it for.”
“I worry about drug interaction when a new med is added”
#1 Multiple Ways to Add Med
Enable multiple ways to add medicine
Importing prescriptions from EHR
Scan with barcode
Manually add
#2 Emphasize drug interaction when adding new medicine
#3 Reduce cognitive load needed when manually adding medicine
Having routine data saved, users don’t need to fill in the exact time but whether it’s before/after meal/bed time.
Users can search for medicine with appearance and purpose
Access Medication Information
“I don’t like a long list of information when most of them aren’t what I want.”
“I want to track my side effects and know what’s it.”
“I feel it helpful to connect with doctor or trustful pharmacist.”
#1 Simplify Info Presentation
Avoid over-one-page info
Group with topics
Highlight important info
#2 Side Effect Tracking
Users can record their side effects
Taking Medicine
“Sometimes I forget if I’ve taken the med or not.”
“I usually take them before meal or when I get up, so I won’t forget.”
#1 Medication Reminders Linked to Users’ Daily Schedule
#2 Consolidate users’ memory of taking medicine
Checklist
Message after taking message
Ideation!
IDEATING - PROTOTYPING
We conducted card sorting and icon sorting with our target users to better understand how they want the information be structured and what icons can best label the information.
We conducted card sorting and icon sorting with our target users to better understand how they want the information be structured and what icons can best label the information.
Users prefer icons that were representive of real world symbols, e.g.
Pharmacist Team :
Doctor :
Select EHR :
To start, based on our competitive analysis into current apps and interviews with users, we came up with our first version of content inventory. From which, we included 21 items that represent the main content and made them into individual cards. Next, we selected two users from out target age range with different tech proficiency.
As we learned that seniors feel confused about icons, we decided to conduct simple icon sorting to validate our icon design. To prepare, we selected three icon ideas from standard icon kits for each key term.
During the session, we ask users to decide which icon best fit the key term.
How we Design Information Architecture?
How we Design Information Architecture?
CARD SORTING
Prepare for Card-Sorting
Prepare for Card-Sorting
Prepare for Card-Sorting
Individual Open Card Sorting
How the session works?
How the session works?
How the session works?
To prevent users interfering each other, we decided to do individual card sorting. We conducted hybrid card sorting using Figma. To make sure users can smoothly complete the session, we had one member stay beside them to provide direct instruction and assistant in case they encounter tech issues or other problems.
Users group cards they believe belong together
Users name each group
We ask questions about the reasons behind the sorting result
We make clear purpose of the session and instructions
Analyzing Results
Analyzing Results
We calculated the percentage of each match to drive our decision. However, due to time restrictions, we have only two participants, and cannot decide from the percentage when conflicts happen. Eventually, we decided to discuss in group to reach agreement for each conflict based on our understanding of users. We further marked the conflicts and for attention in later user testing.
Takeaways
#1 Update our content inventory and build information architecture.
#2 Questions users expect to ask between doctors and pharmacist team differs. Therefore, we decided to design two ends of connect (doctor & pharmacist) within chat feature.
How about Icons?
ICON SORTING
As we learned that seniors feel confused about icons, we decided to conduct simple icon sorting to validate our icon design. To prepare, we selected three icon ideas from standard icon kits for each key term.
During the session, we ask users to decide which icon best fit the key term.
Besides finalizing our icon design, we gained two learnings that help up with future design decision:
Besides finalizing our icon design, we gained two learnings that help up with future design decision:
Takeaways
Users prefer icons that were representive of real world symbols, e.g.
Pharmacist Team :
Doctor :
Select EHR :
Users prefer icons that look similar to commonly used apps
Side effect / Drug interaction :
My Medication :
To prevent users interfering each other, we decided to do individual card sorting. We conducted hybrid card sorting using Figma. To make sure users can smoothly complete the session, we had one member stay beside them to provide direct instruction and assistant in case they encounter tech issues or other problems.
Individual Open Card Sorting
A screenshot of our card sorting session
Result of two card sorting sessions
We calculated the percentage of each match to drive our decision. However, due to time restrictions, we have only two participants, and cannot decide from the percentage when conflicts happen. Eventually, we decided to discuss in group to reach agreement for each conflict based on our understanding of users. We further marked the conflicts and for attention in later user testing.
#1 Update our content inventory and build information architecture.
#2 Questions users expect to ask between doctors and pharmacist team differs. Therefore, we decided to design two ends of connect (doctor & pharmacist) within chat feature.
Takeaways
Takeaways
How about Icons?
ICON SORTING
Besides finalizing our icon design, we gained two learnings that help up with future design decision:
Users prefer icons that look similar to commonly used apps
Side effect / Drug interaction :
My Medication :
Users are encouraged to think aloud while moving the cards.
Testing and Iterating
USER TESTING | ITERATION
After brainstorming design points, we created lo-fi wireframes and did user testing with two seniors.
RESEARCH DESIGN
Type: Hybrid Usability Testing
Research Team: Two Facilitators & One Notetaker
1 stayed in person with users for giving direct assistance;
1 remote facilitator for guiding the user testing and asked follow-up questions (me)
1 remote notetaker
Test Location: User’s Home
Equipment: Laptop (Figma)
Participants: 2 participants
Process:
Proficient tech user
68, Male
Facilitator gives Instructions
Facilitators ask follow-up questions after observing each task to learn their thought process
Users read task scenarios and descriptions
Users perform the task
67, Female
Some tech proficiency
*Repeat 6 times for six tasks
Users are encouraged to think aloud, to understand their thought process and feelings
What We Changed?
Problem #1
Users tend to first look for information on homepage by tapping on the block.
Tapping on block and checkbox both are for checking, not for med info.
BEFORE
Problem #2
Users are not used to reading military time.
Problem #1
When setting up time schedule, users do not notice drug interaction warning when setting up the time of taking meds.
Problem #2
Users tend to forget when to end taking the medicine and would like the app to notify them.
Problem #3
Users would like the app to learn from them when their schedule change.
Problem #1
Users find refill info on medicine page and would like to refill there, conflicting with card-sorting result.
Separate block and checkbox.
Tap the block for easy view med info
Tap the checkbox for checking the check box
Click warning icon to recap.
AFTER
Solution #1
Besides finding info from “Medicine” page, also allow users to find info on homepage.
Solution #2
Change time display to standard time.
Solution #1
Design pop-ups with action needed to grab users’ attention without leaving the context.
Following Hick’s Law, I disable options that would cause drug interaction to simplify decision-making process.
Solution #2
Design easy way for users to set up end time.
Instead of letting users to remember the exact date, automatically apply end date based on users’ choice of duration
Solution #3
Once users change the time when adding medicine, ask if they want to save to their routine profile.
Solution #1
Users can see the “need refilled” message on the medicine overview page.
I decided to unify the icon use for refill, side effect, and drug interaction to lower users’ cognitive load of recognizing icons.
Access Medicine Information
Access Medicine Information
Manually Adding Medicine
Refill Medicine
Testing and Iterating
USER TESTING | ITERATION
After brainstorming design points, we created lo-fi wireframes and did user testing with two seniors.
RESEARCH DESIGN
Type: Hybrid Usability Testing
Research Team: Two Facilitators & One Notetaker
1 stayed in person with users for giving direct assistance;
1 remote facilitator for guiding the user testing and asked follow-up questions (me)
1 remote notetaker
Test Location: User’s Home
Equipment: Laptop (Figma)
Participants: 2 participants
Process:
Users are encouraged to think aloud, to understand their thought process and feelings
Solution #2
Design easy way for users to set up end time.
Instead of letting users to remember the exact date, automatically apply end date based on users’ choice of duration
BEFORE
Problem #2
Users tend to forget when to end taking the medicine and would like the app to notify them.
What We Changed?
Tapping on block and checkbox both are for checking, not for med info.
BEFORE
Problem #1
Users tend to first look for information on homepage by tapping on the block.
Users are not used to reading military time.
Problem #2
AFTER
Solution #2
Change time display to standard time.
Solution #1
Besides finding info from “Medicine” page, also allow users to find info on homepage.
Separate block and checkbox.
Tap the block for easy view med info
Tap the checkbox for checking the check box
Problem #1
When setting up time schedule, users do not notice drug interaction warning when setting up the time of taking meds.
BEFORE
Problem #1
Users find refill info on medicine page and would like to refill there, conflicting with card-sorting result.
BEFORE
Solution #3
Once users change the time when adding medicine, ask if they want to save to their routine profile.
Solution #1
Design pop-ups with action needed to grab users’ attention without leaving the context.
Following Hick’s Law, I disable options that would cause drug interaction to simplify decision-making process.
Click warning icon to recap.
AFTER
Refill Medicine
Access Medicine Information
Manually Adding Medicine
Problem #3
Users would like the app to learn from them when their schedule change.
Solution #1
Users can see the “need refilled” message on the medicine overview page.
I decided to unify the icon use for refill, side effect, and drug interaction to lower users’ cognitive load of recognizing icons.
AFTER
Access Medicine Information
User Story
Users can access medicine information through multiple ways.
On homepage, they can tap on the block for quick-view.
On medicine page, they can access detailed info and track their side effect.
Add Medicine
User Story
Users build their daily routine first time using the app.
Keeping in mind that many seniors are not agile enough to perform complicated actions on phone, I keep the actions simple
Given that seniors feel overwhelmed with too many information on single page, I minimize the actions needed in each step
Take Medicine
User Story
Users get notification from the app. After taking the medicine, users need to check the box. Then, they will see a pop-up, as well as the colored clock and progress line. These designs are for consolidating their memory.
Final Design
Onboarding + Daily Routine Building
User Story
Users build their daily routine first time using the app.
Provide suggested options for saving users' cognitive effort while also allow them to set up customized options
Review selections in the last step to allow double checking
Access Medicine Information
User Story
Users can access medicine information through multiple ways.
On homepage, they can tap on the block for quick-view.
On medicine page, they can access detailed info and track their side effect.
Add Medicine
User Story
Users build their daily routine first time using the app.
Keeping in mind that many seniors are not agile enough to perform complicated actions on phone, I keep the actions simple
Given that seniors feel overwhelmed with too many information on single page, I minimize the actions needed in each step
Take Medicine
User Story
Users get notification from the app. After taking the medicine, users need to check the box. Then, they will see a pop-up, as well as the colored clock and progress line. These designs are for consolidating their memory.
Final Design
Onboarding + Daily Routine Building
User Story
Users build their daily routine first time using the app.
Provide suggested options for saving users' cognitive effort while also allow them to set up customized options
Review selections in the last step to allow double checking
If I have more time…
What's next?
What could be better?
Test with More Users
Design with Real Data
Should not limit to digital solutions but to explore different form of solutions
Due to time limitation, we only did user testing with two users. If having more time, it's critical to recruit more users with different medicine-taking habbit screening with survey. With more diverse participants, we will be able to iterate our design with more solid foundation.
Limited by time and resource, we did not consider real data while designing our product, which is something we can improve. Given how complex the medicine information is, it's essential to work with professionals and content designer.
What I learned from interviewing with seniors?
Due to the course requirement, we decided our solution between app and website and did not explore other form of solutions. However, in the interviews, some seniors mentioned they have their own ways (eg. paper checklist, medicine box) to solve the problem. Given that, I learned that it's always important to explore different possibilities to find the most helpful solution before digging in design. If I can do differently, I would create some experience prototypes not limited to digital solutions and test with seniors to understand which would be the best to improve their medicine-taking experience.
From this project, I have three learnings when it comes to interviewing the seniors:
First, it's challenging for them to understand specific questions and terms. I learned to rephrase questions in different ways when they cannot understand them. Also, it's important to use simple language rather than slangs.
Second, it's challenging for them to recall memories when asking too narrow and specific question. Instead, asking more open-ended questions could help. For example, when I asked them to walk me through the latest experience, they brought up more details about their experience and the feelings they had at that moment.
Last but not least, always be patient and respectful. I found that the seniors tend to take longer time to process the questions. It's critical to not interrupting them and let them finish their thoughts.
We analyzed 8 products chosen based on our criteria.
Our criteria:
Products that provide medication reminders and medication information.
Not limiting to products targeting towards the seniors.
The features we focused on are adding medication, medication information and medication reminders. Besides features, since we aim to focus on the elderly’s medicine intake experience, we also focus on accessibility and information architecture aspect.
Key Takeaways:
Most of the medication management apps are not geared at seniors, while the one with strong accessibility is too simple with limited function and information (e.g. drug interaction and side effects).
What are the Existing Solutions?
COMPETITIVE AMALYSIS
Next, we utilized what we learned from users to brainstorm design points along medicine taking process. Besides the findings we summarized, we also considered the needs mentioned repeatedly from users.
#1 Multiple Ways to Add Med
Enable multiple ways to add medicine
Importing prescriptions from EHR
Scan with barcode
Manually add
#2 Emphasize drug interaction when adding new medicine
#3 Reduce cognitive load needed when manually adding medicine
Having routine data saved, users don’t need to fill in the exact time but whether it’s before/after meal/bed time.
Users can search for medicine with appearance and purpose
Add New Medication
“It would be great if I don’t need to enter medicine on my own.”
“I cannot remember the name of my med. I’m more familiar with its appearance and what’s it for.”
“I worry about drug interaction when a new med is added”
Access Medication Information
“I don’t like a long list of information when most of them aren’t what I want.”
“I want to track my side effects and know what’s it.”
“I feel it helpful to connect with doctor or trustful pharmacist.”
Taking Medicine
“Sometimes I forget if I’ve taken the med or not.”
“I usually take them before meal or when I get up, so I won’t forget.”
Ideation!
IDEATING - PROTOTYPING
#1 Simplify Info Presentation
Avoid over-one-page info
Group with topics
Highlight important info
#2 Side Effect Tracking
Users can record their side effects
#1 Medication Reminders Linked to Users’ Daily Schedule
#2 Consolidate users’ memory of taking medicine
Checklist
Message after taking message
If I have more time, what's next? What can be better?
Test with More Users
Design with Real Data
Should not limit to digital solutions but to explore different form of solutions
Due to time limitation, we only did user testing with two users. If having more time, it's critical to recruit more users with different medicine-taking habbit screening with survey. With more diverse participants, we will be able to iterate our design with more solid foundation.
Limited by time and resource, we did not consider real data while designing our product, which is something we can improve. Given how complex the medicine information is, it's essential to work with professionals and content designer.
What I learned from interviewing with seniors?
Due to the course requirement, we decided our solution between app and website and did not explore other form of solutions. However, in the interviews, some seniors mentioned they have their own ways (eg. paper checklist, medicine box) to solve the problem. Given that, I learned that it's always important to explore different possibilities to find the most helpful solution before digging in design. If I can do differently, I would create some experience prototypes not limited to digital solutions and test with seniors to understand which would be the best to improve their medicine-taking experience.
From this project, I have three learnings when it comes to interviewing the seniors:
First, it's challenging for them to understand specific questions and terms. I learned to rephrase questions in different ways when they cannot understand them. Also, it's important to use simple language rather than slangs.
Second, it's challenging for them to recall memories when asking too narrow and specific question. Instead, asking more open-ended questions could help. For example, when I asked them to walk me through the latest experience, they brought up more details about their experience and the feelings they had at that moment.
Last but not least, always be patient and respectful. I found that the seniors tend to take longer time to process the questions. It's critical to not interrupting them and let them finish their thoughts.
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