A social media website to support community based healthcare research
Bubble Labs is a social media website to support community based healthcare research for individuals interested in answering their open health and science related questions.
This product is a fictitious proposal that I developed as an intern at TrialX in the summer of 2019. As this was a design sprint, my team and I had two weeks to develop a product pitch. We spent the first week on research and the second on wire framing, testing, and prototyping.
Client
Tools
Duration
Team
Role
TrialX
Justin Saintil, Meher Tandon
2 weeks
Product Designer
Figma
Scope
UX/UI Design
Product strategy
Web
Problem
There is no health-focused website allowing researchers and ordinary citizens to collaborate on research.
Objective
Create a social media website that allows inquisitive individuals to have the tools, community, and support to test their health-related hypotheses.
Role
I was the sole product designer working on this product pitch. I worked closely with Justin and Meher, who led research efforts.
Problem
Currently, there is no platform allowing average citizens and professionals to collaborate on healthcare research
pain points
Inability to locate, correspond with, and collaborate with like-minded people interested in answering the same questions.
Inability to create and publish medical studies on one platform
OBJECTIVE
How might we empower people with a community that promotes health care discovery through collaborative research?
research
Health-related information is more accessible than ever, inducing a more informed and inquisitive population.
WHY NOW?
There is a rapid growth of medically-inclined communities, especially those that live online. 80% of internet users have searched for health-related topics online and 63% search for a specific disease or medical issue (Source: XXXX).
Target audience & indirect competitors
Our target audience is twofold: citizen scientists, seeking answers, and industry professionals, looking to share knowledge.
Industry professionals (Researchers, physicians, specialists)
Motive
Find answers to health related questions with the help of industry professionals, find community
Share knowledge, promote research, find community, increase odds of grant approval.
Indirect competitors
Quora, Patientslikeme, WebMD
Sermo
Frustrations
On existing platforms, users are not verified for their credibility in the area and research collaboration is not structured.
Industry professionals might struggle to communicate directly with end users that may be struggling with health challenges that they are working on.
How might we create a supportive online community that benefits both citizen scientists and industry professionals?
ideation
User flow diagrams helped us translate intended behavior into product requirements.
user flow diagrams
We took a hypothetical scenario and developed flow diagrams explaining this particular user's journey throughout the Bubble Labs. By doing this, we were able to understand the user's intentions, frustrations, and motivations.
Figure 1: User retention graph of Filmrise
product features into site map
We translated the actions from user flow diagrams into features that would be necessary for this platform to support. From there we arranged these features into a site map which provided a sense of clarity going into the wireframe process.
Figure 1: User retention graph of Filmrise
testing & iteration
Through user testing we simplified the designs and parsed down the functionality of the website.
mid-fidelity wireframe
Here is a snapshot of the mid-fidelity wireframe that we tested.
Figure 1: User retention graph of Filmrise
user testing findings
We presented a clickable prototype of our high-fidelity mockup to several of our co-workers around the office. With a fresh pair of eyes, they were able to provide us with an abundance of insights:
The circle progress heuristic proved to be confusing for many users. It was unclear whether or not the users were still able to join a study once it was running
The side bar consumed a large amount of space on the screen. Users preferred that this space be used for content rather than for navigational purposes
Studies and ideas should not be treated differently as it adds to the users' confusion.
final design
News feed
Study creation
User profiles
Communities
Reflection
A two week team effort required quick ideating, data based decision making, and thoughtful communication.
My teammates and I were given 2 weeks to complete this project and produce a pitch presentation. This forced us to make quick decisions, and place a greater emphasis on the research and ideation stages of the process, as we felt that this would save us time when it came to iterating.
