Project Overview
What is remedy?
Remedy is an app that connects you with a licensed physiotherapist who will guide you through any recovery journey. Your physiotherapist creates a fully customized recovery plan with exercises, and tracks your injury recovery to make sure you are on track. You can chat with your physiotherapist anytime, send them photos of your injury, book appointments, and more.
Tools
Figma, Canva, Illustrator
Duration
10 weeks
My Role
UX Researcher, UX/UI Designer, Product Manager
Problem Space
Recovering from & preventing physical injury in Canada.
Physiotherapy sessions in Canada can be expensive, inconvenient, and confusing for patients. Each session with a physiotherapist can cost over $125 an hour [1]. On top of the cost, for someone recovering from a surgery or other injury, these sessions can be difficult to travel to and fit into their busy schedules.
The Canadian Government estimates there will be a shortage of Physiotherapists in Canada over the next 10 years [2], and the vast majority of physiotherapists (approximately 90%) work in urban areas, with the result that large gaps in access exist in rural and remote areas [3]. Therefore, digital access to injury recovery plans & strategies are as important as ever.
User Interviews
The next step after conducting Secondary Research and choosing a problem space was to interview potential users about their experience within the problem space. We had a list of criteria for each interviewee, which included one of the following being true: 1) Have had surgery for a physical injury or ailment or 2) Have had a physical injury or ailment that required physiotherapy.
Research MethodologyParticipants: 3
Setting: Zoom/In Person
Method: User Interviews
Speech to Text: Otter.ai
Data Analysis Method: Affinity Mapping
Interviewee #1
“It was definitely not easy to get to my physiotherapy sessions. I was on crutches for six weeks, fully non weight bearing. So getting around in a car with crutches getting up stairs, like it's all terrible.”
Interviewee #2
“It was more convenient to do it (my physiotherapy exercises) at home. I wish I could do it all at home and maybe video session with the guy, because I feel like the most important things to me when I went in were to gauge how far along and recovery and just know that I was doing everything okay.”
Interviewee #3
“My doctors and physiotherapists seemed to be on a different page, one would tell me one thing and the other would tell me something different. It was very confusing for recovery.”
Insights from Interviews
Physiotherapy is extremely inconvenient to get to, especially when injury has hindered mobility or made it impossible to use certain modes of transport.
Physiotherapy, especially when not covered by the government or insurance, can be too expensive for people to pay, and they may end up forgoing it.
Users need a more research backed recovery method that gives progress and similar recovery stories, especially since physiotherapists and doctors might be on different pages when it comes to recovery.
How might we educate and guide people affected by physical injury so they can prevent or recover successfully from ailments?
User Persona
By creating a persona, we can develop a more concrete understanding of our user, including their goals, motivations, and challenges. This can help us create a product that is tailored to the needs of the user, and ensure that the product is user-friendly and easy to use. Additionally, having a clear persona in mind can help us make design decisions and prioritize features during the development process.
Amy, 34
“My physiotherapist is telling me to do one thing, and my surgeon is telling me another. I wish I knew the right path forward to recover from my injury that also included some things I could do myself at home, so I don't have to drive 20 minutes while I'm in so much pain.”
About
Amy is an elementary school teacher who has grown up in Toronto, Canada her whole life. She was a competitive soccer player, and recently had surgery for an old injury she sustained.
Pain Points
- Amy is annoyed because her doctor told her that she should be staying off her knee, while her physiotherapist wants her mobile and doing exercises.
- Amy is frustrated that only 3 physiotherapy sessions are covered after her surgery, and that she will need to pay out of pocket
- Amy is also extremely uncomfortable driving so soon after surgery, and the nearest physiotherapist is 15 minutes away
Needs
- Recover correctly from the surgery to get back to work so she can begin to make an income again
- Amy needs a recovery plan so she knows what exercises to do and which are proven to have results
- Amy needs to be on her feet and taking care of her daughter
Goals
- Recover from her surgery so she can get back to playing soccer
- Figure out a customized recovery plan based on her injury
- Continue to work as a teacher where she is on her feet every day
- Recover in the best way possible from the surgery so she can play soccer with her kids into old age
Behaviours
- Amy has skipped the last 2 physiotherapy sessions because they are far away and she finds it extremely uncomfortable to drive
- Amy is happy to have skipped the sessions to save some money
- Amy has preformed the exercises she was given by her physiotherapist at home to make up for the past two sessions, but something is starting to feel wrong in her knee and she doesn't know if she's on the right track
Devices
Persona Experience Map
By creating an experience map for our persona Amy, we can gain a deeper understanding of how our users will interact with our product, and identify any potential pain points or areas for improvement. This information can then be used to inform the design of the product, ensuring that it is user-friendly and meets the needs of its intended users.
Application Task Flows
After creating our user persona, we created an experience map and other user stories and epics to better understand the problem space for our physiotherapy app. Based on this research, we identified two key task flows that were essential for our app: Professional Communication and Recovery Knowledge.
1) Recovery Knowledge
The Recovery Knowledge task flow focuses on providing patients with the information and resources they need to recover from their injuries or conditions. This includes features such as exercise plans, educational articles, and progress tracking tools.
2) Professional Communication
The Professional Communication task flow focuses on the ways in which physiotherapists can communicate with their patients and colleagues through our app. This includes features such as messaging, appointment scheduling, and collaboration tools.
Sketching
Exploratory and solution sketching are important tools for us as UX designers because they help facilitate the design process, allowing us to generate and communicate ideas more effectively, and to arrive at the best possible solutions more quickly. I sketched all screens of my app multiple times before moving to the wireframing process.
Wireframing V1
Wireframing is an important part of the UX design process because it allows us as designers to create a visual representation of the user interface of our product. This can help us think through the user experience and identify potential issues or areas for improvement before we start creating the final design.
Professional Communication Flow
Recovery Knowledge Flow
User Testing
Usability tests were conducted with 10 users in 2 different phases in order to obtain practical, real-time feedback that can be incorporated to improve the design & in order to provide a more optimal user experience.
User Tasks:
- Complete a Workout
- View your Physiotherapists Biography Page
- Book a Video Appointment with your Physiotherapist
- Look at your schedule for the week/month
- Start a Chat with your Physiotherapist
Example Usability Issues:
Physiotherapist Initiate Chat Box
Users were unsure about how to use the chat box, with a lot of them not sure why it showed a preview of the chat and not sure if tapping it would bring you to the full chat.
Physiotherapist Screen
In addition to the initiate chat box, users felt the entire physiotherapist page was cluttered, and that there could be improvements to the buttons and flow. They felt they didn’t need the whole bio the whole time.
Recovery Tracker
Users were confused about the recovery tracker on the homepage, and needed more information. It wasn’t clear what the point of it was, or if the circular tracker, with some of it off the screen, if it would always be showing, or if it is the right solution to solve for the user need of knowing where they are in their recovery.
Workout Buttons
Users did not like the “Mark Workout Complete” and “Cancel Workout” buttons, and they were too small to be very accessible or functional. Also, the users didn’t need the footer in this section of the app.
Prioritization Matrices
Prioritization matrices are a tool used in the UX design process to help designers identify the most important tasks or features to focus on. They allow us to prioritize elements based on factors such as their impact on the user experience and the amount of resources required to implement them. By using a prioritization matrix, we can ensure that we are working on the most important tasks and features first, which can help to create a more effective and user-friendly product. We created a prioritization matrix after both of our rounds of user testing.
Final Wireframe
After making both rounds of changes and using both design prioritization matrices, we came to the third and final iteration of our wireframe for our app. Below are changes from the first to the third iteration.
Wireframe V1
Wireframe V3
UI Library
I created our UI Library for Remedy after creating moodboards for color and typography, extracting colors and contrast testing each one against eachother.
remedy
Final Prototype
remedy connects you with a licensed physiotherapist that will guide you through your recovery journey. You can chat anytime, send them photos of your injury, book appointments, and more.
Your physiotherapist will provide you a personalized workout plan for your entire injury recovery. Each exercise is laid out for you in the remedy app with descriptions and videos to guide you through.
Chat with your physiotherapist whenever you have questions about your recovery, workout, progress, and more. You can rate exercises and message your physiotherapist about each specific one, allowing them to help by futher customizing your recovery plan.
In addition to chatting, you can book many different types of sessions with your physiotherapist. Chat to them on the phone, go through a workout with them over video, and depending on location, book an in-person session either at your home or their place of work.
If for any reason you are not satisfied with your physiotherapist, remedy allows you to request and pick another physiotherapist, free of charge.
Using injury data gathered from surgeons and physiotherapists, remedy tracks the progression of your recovery using assessment quizzes and injury updates from your physiotherapist. You will be given an estimated recovery date, and will be kept up to date on your progression based on data from other patients.
remedy
Apple Watch Application
As an exercise app, I felt a natural progression of Remedy was an Apple Watch application. This might be easier for our users to utilize while working out, and give them easier access to their exercises. Of course, not all the features can be applied so easily, such as physiotherapist information, but a flow that can easily be incorporated is our first workout flow, which is shown below.
Tarot Cards of Tech
The Tarot Cards of Tech are a set of provocations designed to help us as designers more fully consider the impact of the technology we create. I've chosen two below and explored their implications and impact related to remedy.
The Scandal
The Scandal is a provocation about a scandal involving our product. Some provocation questions are "What is the worst headline you can imagine about your product?" or "What would it look like if your product was used entirely opposite of what you intended?"
The worst headline I can imagine for an app like Remedy would be something like: “Physio App Connects Patients with Unqualified Practitioners, Endangering Lives!” This headline would suggest that the app is not properly vetting the physiotherapists it connects patients with, potentially putting patients at risk of receiving inadequate or even harmful treatment.
Another headline I could imagine would be along the lines of “Physio App Connects Patients with Abusive Practitioners, Fostering Sexual Assault!” This headline would suggest that the app is allowing patients to be connected with physiotherapists who have a history of sexual assault, potentially putting patients at risk of becoming victims of abuse. It would likely cause significant damage to the app’s reputation and potentially lead to legal consequences for the app’s creators.
Another headline I could imagine would be along the lines of “Physio App Connects Patients with Abusive Practitioners, Fostering Sexual Assault!” This headline would suggest that the app is allowing patients to be connected with physiotherapists who have a history of sexual assault, potentially putting patients at risk of becoming victims of abuse. It would likely cause significant damage to the app’s reputation and potentially lead to legal consequences for the app’s creators.
After reviewing The Scandal, it is obvious how important it is for all physiotherapists to be licensed by the appropriate regulatory body in order to practice, and they must also adhere to strict ethical and professional standards. Allowing unqualified or unlicensed individuals to provide physiotherapy services through an app could put patients at risk of receiving inadequate or harmful treatment. Additionally, failing to vet physiotherapists for their professional conduct and reputation could also put patients at risk of abuse or exploitation.
The Siren
The Siren is a provocation about people using our product too much. Some provocation questions are "What would using your product "too much" look like?" or "How does your product respect the other aspects of users lives and make it easy for them to disconnect?"
I can imagine that overuse of a physiotherapy app could potentially lead to excessive strain on the body, leading to fatigue, muscle soreness, or other negative side effects including injury. Although remedy does connect people with licensed physiotherapists, so in theory they should always have guidance, people may use the app too much without their physiotherapists knowledge. In addition, as the app does have workouts, and without knowledge of prior medical conditions, using the app too much could be dangerous.
I can imagine that overuse of a physiotherapy app could potentially lead to excessive strain on the body, leading to fatigue, muscle soreness, or other negative side effects including injury. Although remedy does connect people with licensed physiotherapists, so in theory they should always have guidance, people may use the app too much without their physiotherapists knowledge. In addition, as the app does have workouts, and without knowledge of prior medical conditions, using the app too much could be dangerous.
I can imagine that overuse of a physiotherapy app could potentially lead to excessive strain on the body, leading to fatigue, muscle soreness, or other negative side effects including injury. Although remedy does connect people with licensed physiotherapists, so in theory they should always have guidance, people may use the app too much without their physiotherapists knowledge. In addition, as the app does have workouts, and without knowledge of prior medical conditions, using the app too much could be dangerous.
After reviewing The Siren, it is clear that applications with chat functionality need to be mindful of the amount of time their users spend on the platform. Excessive use of social media and messaging apps has been linked to a variety of negative effects, including decreased mental well-being, reduced productivity, and increased feelings of isolation and loneliness. Additionally, giving users a way to be mindful of time spent on the platform can also help prevent users from becoming addicted to the app and neglecting other important aspects of their lives. We might also find a way to turn off exercises if users have already performed them, or find some way to incorporate doctors or surgeons into the application, so in addition to professional physiotherapy opinions, we can have professional medical opinions.