The Challenge
Your client wants to create an inclusive application that can
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Monitor patient vitals
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Provide this information in a manner that is easy to take in,
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Whilst simultaneously providing health care professionals with real time insights and
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That can scale upward as medical technology and knowledge continues to expand
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Goals
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provide patients with better care, reducing mistakes and increasing hospital profitability
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Device
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IPad with Apple Pen
Averages displays uneccesarily large
The Process
INSPIRATION
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Frame problem
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Secondary research
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Expert Interview
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Frame User
IDEATION
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Frame solution
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Design Prototype
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Expert Interview
IMPLIMENTATION
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Final prototype
The User
The challenge I was given indicated my user as "medical professionals". I, however, realised that with the time and recourses I was given it would have been really difficult or impossible to design a solution that caters to all medical professionals. I made the decision to rather focus one type of medical professional. By doing this I could design a more in depth and effective solution.
Through my research I discovered that nurses are often overlooked when hospital technology are upgraded. Nurses still use the same systems and appliances that has been used for years. Similarly the user experience and user interface of many of these technologies are extremely outdated.
Context
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Anja is a 23 year old nurse in Pretoria South Africa. She is excited about the medical field moving towards digital and how this might affect the future of nursing.
Needs
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A way to know vital alarm locations
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A way to communicate with other nurses in her ward
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Make informed decisions
Goals
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Improve patient stay in hospital
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Improve nurse allocation
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Improve vital tracking
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Improve communication
Device for access
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IPad and Apple Pen
Problems Identified
These problems were identified by doing secondary research as well as interviewing experts in the field
Current system
When an alarm goes off in a ward nurses need to return to the admin desk to look on the room panel where a light is on that indicates in which room the alarm is activated. this wastes valuable time.
False alarms
False alarms waste man power and time
Decision making period
If nurses only find out once in the room what the problem is they have a few seconds to
Nurse communication
This refers mostly to shift handover and if a nurse needs help with a patient but cannot reach another nurse.
UI Design
In the medical field some colours were assigned to certain vitals and alerts. Even if all these colours aren't accessible, I can't change these colours because if a nurse or doctor cannot recognise or find something on my design because I changed a colour, someone could die.
However some of the UI design has such a high learning curve that accidents are eminent.
Limitations
UX
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Limited research on best practice for patient vital tracking
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Thus the current UX is not necessarily the best
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In high stress scenarios nurses make use of muscle memory to navigate the situation
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Basic UX of vitals monitor cannot be change
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Monitor sounds and alarm function cannot be changed
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Frame User
UI
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Use text rather than Icons
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Dark mode
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Vital wave form colours
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IOS
Solution
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Easier way to track vitals that lessen human error
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Make nurse handover from shift to shift easier
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Easier way to keep track of patient information
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Easier way to track vitals
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List of patient and beds
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Patient history/information
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Way to communicate with other nurses
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Schedule shifts
Planning
List all patient/nurse information needed
Start formulating user flow
User flow for log in process and main dashboard
User flow for log in process and main dashboard
Calendar user flow notes
Low Fidelity Wire Frames
Patient notes (for nurses)
Dashboard
Patient Vital Screen
Patient Information Screen
Features
NURSE DASHBOARD
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Schedule
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Patient list
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Messages
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Reminders
NURSE SCHEDULE
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Nurses in ward
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Days of week
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Shifts in different colours
VITALS MONITOR
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Vitals of each patient
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Shows alarm Thresholds
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Displays in different colours
PATIENT INFORMATION
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Information important for nurses
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Medical History
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Download Option
PATIENT NOTES
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Functions as a log book
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Accessible by all nurses in this ward