Finding a solution to a “wicked problem”.
How Might We Transform the end-to-end Experience in Public hospitals?
Expected Deliverables:
Brainstorming
Surveys & Interviews
Affinity Diagram + HMW
User Persona
User Journey Map
Empathy Map
Problem & Hypothesis Statements
Ideate
MOSCOW Method
User Flow
Concept Sketches
Mid-fi Prototype
Hi-fi Prototype
Team:
Delphine Hurter
Cristina Casanovas
Alex Newton
Sheila Talan
My Role:
UX Researcher
Product Designer
Duration:
10 Days
Introduction
For our first project at Ironhack, titled "Wicked Problems," we tackled the complex challenge of improving the end-to-end experience in public hospitals. Our team focused on enhancing the Emergency Room (E.R.) experience in Barcelona's public hospitals.
Research
Objectives
Identify key pain points in the E.R. experience.
Understand patient and staff perspectives on E.R. services.
Develop actionable insights to inform the design of a new solution.
Methodology
To address our objectives, we employed a mixed-methods approach:
Surveys: Collected responses from 67 users to identify primary pain points in the E.R. experience.
Interviews: Conducted in-depth interviews with 10 patients and several staff members to gather qualitative insights.
Participants:
Surveys: 67 E.R. users in Barcelona, diverse in age and medical needs.
Interviews: 10 E.R. patients, selected based on survey responses, and several Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) from hospital staff.
Survey Findings:
The primary complaint was long waiting times (53%)
Followed by staff issues (32%).
Minor issues included infrastructure (7.5%)
Effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment(3%)
food (1.5%).
Interviews:
To better understand how time affected them and what they meant by staff, we conducted qualitative interviews with 10 of them. The results were fascinating: although most of them had chosen time as their main issue, they did not mention it with a heavy heart during the interview.
We compiled all the responses from the surveys and interviews into an affinity map. After organising by the three main pain points (blue = time, green = staff and pink = infrastructure) and separating those coming from happy patients (yellow = time, staff & infrastructure), we went ahead and marked the responses that were related to COVID-19 safety protocols to separate them from the rest as exceptions, and then marked those that referred to some sort of either lack of empathy or great empathy shown by staff, our final graph looked something like this:
Organized responses into three main pain points: time, staff, and infrastructure. We identified empathy and communication as critical factors influencing patient satisfaction. Patients expressed frustration more with the feeling of being ignored and the lack of empathy from staff rather than the waiting time itself. Infrastructure inadequacies were also highlighted.
From there, we created an empathy map and dug deeper into users’ feelings during their visit. We developed a deeper understanding of patients' emotions during their E.R. visit, focusing on feelings of loneliness, impatience, and worry.
We also interviewed some members of the staff as SMEs (subject matter experts) as well and they gave us a very interesting insight:
Key Insights
Patients felt ignored and lacked sufficient communication about their medical status
Staff highlighted that many patients visit the E.R. out of fear, not necessity, which strains resources.
Both patients and staff identified a need for better information dissemination and empathetic interactions.
From the patient’s and SMEs’ findings, we created two personas:
User Persona
Jane: A patient genuinely needing E.R. services, frustrated by long waits and lack of communication.
Proto Persona
Sam: A persona representing patients who visit the E.R. unnecessarily, driven by anxiety and lack of medical knowledge.
User Journey
Problem Statement
"Patients in the emergency department wait for hours in the waiting room between stages, with no further information about their situation. So they don't know what to expect from the journey".
Solution
Help.e.r is a web app designed to improve communication and empathy in the E.R. It provides real-time updates on wait times and procedures and helps patients determine if their symptoms require emergency care.
Design Process
Ideation:
Brainstormed solutions through collaborative exercises such as crazy 8s and round robin.
Prototyping: Developed a high-fidelity wireframe of the Help.e.r web app.
Usability Testing: Conducted tests with 5 users, iterating based on feedback.
We need to create a product that gives patients better communication and empathy when using the Emergency room, while also potentially saving time from the staff by making people reconsider if their symptoms do actually require emergency treatment.
And this is how we came up with Help.e.r!
We concluded that our solution had to include information, and that this information had to be provided by us in as empathetic a way as possible. We had fun brainstorming ideas, regained energy working on good-bad ideas, and enjoyed team collaboration exercises like crazy 8s and round robin until we built a product we felt confident with.
We did a usability test with 5 users who gave really useful feedback. Once we had worked through all the changes, and given the fact that we had some time on our hands, we also did some hi-fi wireframing to show you what Help.e.r would look like!
Help.e.r is a web application that can be used by patients in A&E and at home.
For a patient like Jane, it allows her to see her progress, see where she is in the queue, and also gives her the information she needs for some procedures, such as an X-ray.
Let's take you through her journey in A&E; Jane has arrived at A&E and checked in at the reception desk where she has been given a paper wristband with her reference number and a random password. She now sits in the Emergency Department and sees the following posters:
She scans the QR and Help.e.r opens on her phone, and get access to her info at the hospital.
Jane's Experience:
Checks in at the E.R. and receives a bracelet with a reference ID and password.
Scans a QR code to open Help.e.r on her phone.
Receives updates on her position in the queue and information about upcoming procedures, reducing anxiety and uncertainty.
The same way, Sam could either access the webapp from the address provided through publicity from home, or at the hospital after realising he might not need to be there waiting to check his symptoms.
Sam's Experience:
Accesses Help.e.r from home or the hospital.
Uses the app to check symptoms and determine if an E.R. visit is necessary, potentially reducing unnecessary E.R. traffic.
Impact
Help.e.r aims to:
Decrease the number of non-urgent E.R. visits, reducing overall wait times.
Improve patient satisfaction by providing timely information and empathetic communication.
Alleviate staff workload by minimizing unnecessary patient interactions.
Evaluation Metrics Suggested
Reduction in E.R. patient numbers.
User feedback on the app’s effectiveness and user experience.
Increase in calls to 061 through the app.
Next Steps
Integrate Help.e.r into the existing La Meva Salut system.
Incorporate e-triage questions to guide patients to appropriate care.
Add location features to inform patients about the nearest hospitals and current waiting times.
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