2022 | CareX
AI-powered vitals monitoring for better health
CareX is a mobile app that uses AI-powered, video-based Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) to measure vitals through a smart phone camera. The app offers camera-based vital signs monitoring for disease prediction and remote patient monitoring.
Users can measure heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation using either contact (fingertip on the camera) or contactless (selfie video) methods.
Role
User Experience Designer
Deliverables
Competitor Audit, Secondary Market, Information Architecture, User Flows, Wireframes, UI Design, Prototyping and Usability Testing.
Team
Product Manager, Engineering Team, Illustrator
Duration
10 Weeks
The Challenge
To design a simple and intuitive vital tracking app for users to track their vitals and get personalized health insights. The app is designed for users in various settings like hospitals, remote medical setups, elderly care facilities and rural communities.
Attract new users and demonstrate the app's vital monitoring benefits and ease of use.
Demonstrate effective use of the app in setting like hospitals, remote care, elderly care, and rural areas.
Build trust, data integrity and emphasize precise measurements.
Scope
My task was to understand the vital monitoring landscape, learn about motivations and needs from users using the app in different settings and craft intuitive and easy to use vital monitoring experience to help users understand their vitals along with personalized wellness recommendations.
Improved access to healthcare and personalization for individual needs.
Provided users and professionals with valuable data through easy-to-understand, engaging data visualization for better health management.
Enhanced patient care and motivation for users to take charge of their health.
The Outcome
The app offers a user-friendly dashboard, clear data visualizations, and guided onboarding for accurate readings of blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and stress levels.
Key features include monitoring reminders, health goal tracking, push notifications, and health trend insights.
Feedback-driven design and engaging features build trust and support proactive, preventive healthcare.
Health Hub at a glance
Clear and simplified vital signs and health trends dashboard making complex data and insights easy to understanding.
Cumulative health score for users to quickly see their health status, including recent vital sign data.
Personalized recommendations support informed decisions and proactive health management.
Finger Scanning
On-screen prompts guide users to position their finger optimally and apply appropriate pressure.
Micro-interactions, such as color changes and animations, confirm the correct positioning and pressure.
Real-time feedback ensures users adjust their finger if needed, guaranteeing accurate vital sign measurements.
Face Scan
Error messages with clear prompts and visual cues guide users to enhance image quality if the camera is misaligned, the image is blurry, or the lighting is poor, ensuring a successful reading.
Patient Profiling
Personalized patient profiles are developed through onboarding health history surveys, which gather tailored medical and lifestyle data for a deeper understanding of each individual's health
Results and Guidance
Clear graphs illustrate vital sign trends over time for easy tracking of progress.
Tailored suggestions and actionable insights are provided based on individual data, empowering informed health decisions.
Access to vital sign history simplifies communication with healthcare providers.
PROCESS
In developing the CareX app, my approach centered on user-centric design, beginning with thorough research to understand users' needs. After conceptualizing the core offerings, created tailored prototypes, and rigorously tested them with users. This iterative process ensured that every element of the app was refined to meet user requirements effectively, resulting in a versatile and precisely crafted healthcare solution.
01 / Research
Goal :
Understand user behaviors and preferences with health monitoring apps.
Objectives :
Identify user pain points and unmet needs.
Understand health needs and healthcare team recommendations.
Analyze the app usage environment.
Explore industry trends and regulations.
Methods :
Competitor App Audits
Secondary Market Research
User Interviews
Service and App Audit
Real-time vital updates (Welltory, InPulse, Binah Check)
Personalized health recommendations (Welltory)
Interactive data visualization (Welltory)
Limitations:
Complex user interfaces reducing engagement
Opportunities for CareX:
Simplify interfaces
Add personalized health insights
User Interviews
Recruiting Participants
Interview plan/questions
Explored intended users and their contexts.
Identified healthcare needs, preferences, and tech proficiency through interviews and observations.
Gained insights into app usage environments.
Informed design decisions based on diverse user demographics and healthcare scenarios.
RESEARCH FINDINGS
The contextual inquiry findings highlighted crucial insights for designing the CareX app, especially for older individuals and those with pre-existing medical conditions. Users' specific usage patterns, such as monitoring vitals after medication, underscored the need for customizable monitoring schedules.
Social dynamics emphasized secure and instant data sharing options for caregivers and medical professionals.
Addressing user frustrations, like the need for clear trend visualization, led to the development of user-friendly graphical representations. My priority was to ensure the CareX app is inclusive, intuitive, and supportive for individuals managing moderate health conditions with ease and clarity.
Future Opportunities
Compatibility with medical devices and user-friendly interfaces for seamless integration
Incorporating accessible features like voice recognition.
Integrated medication reminders
02 / Concept
Exploratory discussions with stakeholders helped gather input and align project goals with the overall vision. This groundwork blended creativity, research insights, and technological feasibility, defining the app's vision, features, and user experience, and setting the stage for design and development.Early Explorations
Low-fi wireframes
EARLY EXPLORATIONS
Early paper exploration of the key features, the most used parameters, the pain points and expectations of the users.
Health Score trends
Individual vital trends
Heart rate (BPM)
Heart rate variability (HRV)
Respiratory Rate (RPM)
Stress Index (SI)
Oxygen levels
I started off with paper prototypes and wireframes, allowing the team to visualize the app's structure and flow.
LOW FIDELITY WIREFRAMES
I focused on the dashboard as the key screen, prioritizing simplicity and clarity for adult and older patients. The design emphasizes clear presentation of vital signs, customizability for personal health needs, and interactive features for intuitive navigation and easy health routine management
03 / Design and Prototype
Testing paper prototypes gave us crucial insights into the app's structure. I then created mid-fidelity wireframes, focusing on the dashboard as the app's central hub. This dashboard shows vital results, trends, health history, and personalized insights for a comprehensive experience. I also designed a clear walkthrough to help users follow instructions easily and get real-time feedback on their actions.
Dashboard - Vital readings, trends, healthscore and insights at a glance
Visualization of gentle pulse animation around the heart rate value, indicating that the measurement is live and ongoing.
Face Scanning - Real-time feedback and guidance to support users to get an accurate reading
Subtle animation provides users with a sense of interactivity and feedback, making the user experience more engaging and enjoyable
Illustrated and interactive screen visualization for users to learn optimal placement, minimizing errors and ensuring accurate readings
04 / Testing
The users overwhelmingly approved of the CareX dashboard design and content. The intuitive layout and clear presentation was well received, with users expressing ease in reading vital measurements, understanding vital trends, and monitoring their health.
However, some users did express frustration with understanding the finger positioning on the camera for accurate readings. This feedback highlights the importance of further refining the guidance provided during the scanning process to ensure a seamless and frustration-free experience for all users. Overall, the positive response to the dashboard design underscores its effectiveness in empowering users to manage their health proactively.
“ Clear visual and having my vital trends right there, motivates me to stay consistent with my health goals—truly invaluable.”
“The dashboard is incredibly user-friendly; I can easily track my health trends, which motivates me to stay on top of my vitals”
“The vital measurements are displayed so clearly, making it effortless to understand my health status.”
“Has potential, but confusion around finger positioning on the camera was frustrating. Clearer instructions would simplify monitoring my vitals”
Key Takeaways for Revision
Testing Results for Finger and Face Scanning Walkthrough:
Difficulty Following Instructions: User testing suggests simplifying finger and face scan instructions for smoother onboarding.
Issues with Graphic Presentation: Adapting scan visuals for diverse camera types will improve inclusivity and understanding.
Frustration Due to Process Duration: Optimizing scan speed and minimizing interruptions will enhance user experience and reduce frustration.
RESULTS
After implementing product revisions and user engagement enhancements, the users had an overwhelming positive impression of app’s improved user experience, interactive features, and the app's improved guidance system. Users encountered fewer issues with finger positioning and camera adjustments, leading to more accurate readings. The metrics demonstrate the tangible impact of product revisions and user engagement strategies, showcasing increased user satisfaction, reduced errors, and higher task completion rates.
KEY LEARNINGS
After completing this project, I've gained important insights. Prioritizing user needs and preferences through a user-centric approach is fundamental for successful app design, ensuring an intuitive experience. Continuous iteration, guided by user feedback, is invaluable for addressing frustrations and enhancing usability.
With this invaluable learning, the apps further success would be by focusing on user education and seamless device integration in the future, the app can further elevate its user experience, accommodating a wider user base and ensuring users engage with the app confidently and effortlessly.
Enhanced User Education: Provide in-app tutorials or tool-tips for new users, ensuring they understand the app's features and functions thoroughly.
Seamless Device Integration: Explore technologies like machine learning to enhance the app's adaptability, allowing it to work seamlessly across a wide array of devices.
