Medly
Make healthcare accessible and fun for teenagers
All creative design is a mashup of previous elements. Alarm Clock + Radio = Clock Radio; Telephone + Computer = Smartphone, and so on.
- Preface of the project brief
The brief: Design a new app that mashes up two obviously non-related existing apps to serve a user group of your choice. The objective is to take the features and micro-interactions from each app that best complement each other to create something uniquely useful: 1 + 1 = 3!
Inspired by some young developers making apps "By Teens For Teens", my goal is to increase access to healthcare for teenagers and make the experience more engaging. The mashup product I came up with is Medly, a mobile healthcare app combining the functionality of One Medical and the fun, approachable nature of the popular teenage app Zenly. Take a look at the product walkthrough video below!
*Psss: Sound On
Project Duration
July 2019, 2 Weeks
Team
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My Role
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Key Skills
UI & Motion Design
Wireframing
Low & high-fi Prototyping
How might we create an healthcare experience that makes teens confident and motivated in taking charge of their health?
Through secondary research and key person interview, I found that: Awkwardness around seeing a doctor for behavioral and mental issues, lack of the mindset to take charge of their health, and the hassle of visiting a family doctor are the three biggest obstacles for teenagers to access health care on their free will. Therefore, I identified my opportunity area as a virtual care experience featuring light-hearted but private communication.
User-testing early wireframes
Iteration:
Mashing up mobile virtual care with lots of fun
Brainstorm
The professionalism of One Medical and the fun, approachable nature of Zenly made them two perfect candidates to play with. To start, I brainstormed multiple directions and possibilities.
Wireframe jam
Before getting to high-fidelity, I did a sophisticated UI audit on wireframe level to ensured that interactions from each app are complementary to each other and speak to teens' needs and habits.
*Click slider image to enlarge
Example screens
Some early explorations I made for UI practices.
Design Solution
Final result: Zenly + One Medical = Medly
Design Decision 1
Eliminate awkwardness by positioning caretaker as a 'friend' teens can casually chat with, and building peer support through interacting with classmates in the app.
Design Decision 2
Emphasize virtual care for higher accessibility.
These two features also reflect the goal to make teens take charge of their own health.
Design Decision 3
Incentivize engagement by adding a fun and shareable card collection system.
Design Decision 4
Curated health-theme Emoji stickers to add emotional appeal and identity value for teens.
Design Decision 5
Turn care summary into the form of chat attachment to meet teens' media browsing habits.
Mashing up something super serious with sth super light-hearted is what's powerful here. Healthcare has all its sticky problems, but somehow this experience looks totally natural to me.
Haakon Faste, Project Advisor
Next step: Expand research horizon and find Medly's value for a bigger audience
Within the timeline of this project, I only talked to one teenager and relied heavily on secondary research. As mentioned above, a hot sticky area like healthcare must take into consideration the larger ecosystem and a wider user spectrum. Reducing people visiting hospitals and clinics can save tons of resources and money, but how might we make such a service loved by all sides? Hence if given more time, I would like to explore the following research topics:
- What are the different archetypes of teenagers who can benefit from a more accessible, engaging healthcare service? i.e. What are the behaviors and needs of different age groups?
- Which role does peer dynamics play in healthcare? i.e. Can users refer a friend to a doctor anonymously?
- What are parents' opinions on their kids seeing doctors alone?
- How would caregivers approach virtual care on their side? What are the pros and cons of hiring registered specialists vs. creating more jobs for social workers and counselors?