Auto-immune diseases (AD) affect 1 in 16 people. People diagnosed with the condition have to make important lifestyle changes in order to keep their symptoms in check and to minimise the risk of getting worse. IMMY helps users stay on track, monitor their symptoms and ensure they allow the best symptom management possible through a detailed diary mobile application.
Client
Brainstation Bootcamp
Duration
4 weeks
Role
UX Design
UI Design
Branding
Tools
Figma
Invision
Pop App
Illustrator
01.
DISCOVER
9% yearly increase in autoimmune diseases in the world.
Women are 3 times more likely to live with an autoimmune disease than men.
40% of cases are initially misdiagnosed.
25% of patients develop additional autoimmune diseases.
Over the past 30 years autoimmune diseases have become epidemic
13 out of 16 people living with the condition are women
1 in 16 people live with an autoimmune disease
1 in 10 people are predicted to live with at least one autoimmune disease by 2030
HYPOTHESIS
I believe developing a solution that helps educate and encourage people living with autoimmune diseases to make changes in their everyday lives can minimise the effects of the AD/s.
I will know this is true when 2 out of 3 interviewees state the importance of implementing changes since being diagnosed has helped them manage their condition.
“It took 8 years to receive a diagnosis for my symptoms.”
Natalie V.
Age: 30
Occupation: Architect
Location: London
Fitness: Yoga 3x/week
Diagnosis: IBD
Year of diagnosis: 2019
Lilly S.
Age: 31
Occupation: lawyer
Location: London
Fitness: Pilates 2x/week
Diagnosis: Hashimoto’s
Year of diagnosis: 2016
“I feel embarrassed to complain when I feel tired”
“I had to take a lot of time off work”
Jake L.
Age: 40
Occupation: Educator
Location: Woking
Fitness: walking
Diagnosis: Ulcerative colitis
Year of diagnosis: Jan 2022
Affinity Mapping & Themes
The Affinity Mapping exercise allowed me to group statements from the interviews based on pain points, behaviours and motivations. This led me to understand important themes derived from the interviews. I have chosen to showcase four key themes
Motivations, Pain Points, Behaviours
Theme:
01 Management & organisation
Insight statement:
People diagnosed with autoimmune diseases need to carefully plan and document their journey to ensure a positive health outcome, yet this is having a huge impact on their everyday life.
Theme:
02 Research & Engagement
Insight statement:
People carry out research on their condition on their own and they really enjoy exchanging information with others facing similar issues, as they do not necessarily believe their doctor’s advice.
Theme:
03 Diagnosis is Key
Insight statement:
Having a diagnosis is the key stage in AD, yet so many people get misdiagnosed or spend years until receiving a diagnosis in the first place.
Theme:
04 Medical support
Insight statement:
The medical support for those being diagnosed with AD lacks severely and many face being passed from one doctor to the next without any results.
DESIGN QUESTION
How might we help those with ADs to better manage living with their condition/s in order for them to get closer to normality?
02.
DEFINE
PERSONA
Based on the primary and secondary research carried out, the persona will reflect the everyday user that will be requiring my digital solution. The key pain points, motivations and behaviours taken from the affinity mapping exercise will be included within the persona's profile below.
USER
STORIES
EPICS
A user story is functional aspect required by the patient to carry out when using the digital solution. Developing between 20-30 user stories allows for themes to emerge, which are also known as Epics.
An Epic is a theme or overview of a feature that the user requires or would benefit from. Once the key epic is selected, further User Stories can be developed to understand in more detail the need for a function or functionality of the solution.
Epic 01: AD causes, symptoms and treatments
This Epic addresses the ever changing context of ADs and the need for a patient to constantly keep up to date and research the topic, as well as stay informed and understand their symptoms. The user would be able to research based on the topic they are interested and receive tailored news and notifications specific to their AD.
Epic 02: AD symptoms recording
Through this Epic the patient would be required to input data to be able to keep tabs on various triggers such as symptoms, moods, foods and stress levels. This epic will act as a log book that can then be referred to by the patient to understand patterns or causes for flare-ups as well as discussing issues with the doctors during appointments.
Epic 03: Connecting with other AD patients
The importance of mental health support is immense whilst living with an autoimmune disease and this Epic would target exactly that: allowing patients to connect with other people going through the same obstacles, sharing experiences and positive suggestions to help each other.
Epic 04: Getting organised whilst living with AD
This Epic is an interactive one as it will provide the patient with notifications and reminders for various tasks they need to fulfill throughout the day or week to stay on top of their condition. The patient will create a customisable planner, which will provide an overview of the various tasks required.
SELECTED USER STORY
Selected User Story 02
As an AD patient I want to log my daily activities so that I can improve my health
Task
Log Activity
Selected User Story 02
As AD patient, I want to start becoming more organised so that I can stay on top of my condition.
Task
Log & schedule activities
THE TASK FLOW
The task flow helps shape what will become the user experience. Following the two key user stories focusing on our user, the patient living with autoimmune diseases wanting to get organised, we will demonstrate the task of adding a healthy activity to the app through the task flow.
LEGEND:
03.
DESIGN
UI INSPIRATION BOARD
The task flow helps shape what will become the user experience. Following the two key user stories focusing on our user, the patient living with autoimmune diseases wanting to get organised, we will demonstrate the task of adding a healthy activity to the app through the task flow.
SKETCHES
Exploratory hand sketches are the key to starting the solution design. I have chosen to develop these by the core screens, described as the location within the task flow. I developed several variations for each until I found the right one that I could then start developing as a wireframe within Figma. The hand sketches were based of components and styles that I liked and saved as precedents within my Invision boards.
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WIREFRAMES
Based off the selected iteration pages from the sketch exercise, wireframes were developed in Figma for every page of the app. The level of the wireframes was at mid-fidelity, which meant that items such as text boxes were filled out rather than left as abstract lines. This allows for a better user testing experience further down the line, as the user will understand better the functions of the buttons and menus when they have the relevant labels designated to them.
01. Home Screen
02. Schedule Screen
03. Pull-up Tab
04. Task Screen
05. Overview Screen
06. Updated Home
Home Screen
Date font size increased and is now easier to read
Tasks performed were not obvious to the user so these have been added as tick boxes
Duration of tasks included for better understanding
Icons have been added in order to differentiate between the different tasks
Overview Screen
Date & Time design was changed to create an easier way for users to select this
Duration of tasks was added and links back to the home page planner
Toggles implemented for all selectable options to allow for consistency
Task Screen
Categories Menu Tab with icons allows for quick scroll through
Location accessed quicker through the addition of widgets making the selection much faster
04.
DELIVER
BRANDING & VISUAL IDENTITY
Immy is a digital platform focusing on helping people struggling with their auto-immune diseases get organised in order to manage their condition/s more effectively. The key branding strategy was to create a brand that is friendly, welcoming, playful and happy. LEGO as a brand was at the forefront of my thinking: users are building up their lives again, step by step, brick by brick and that is something I would like to showcase through colours and materiality within the branding of the app.
PROJECT
LIMITATIONS
One of the key testing limitations throughout this part 3 of the project, was not being able to test the solution with AD patients and not having a broader age range for the interviews. This can result in some of the insights received from the users to be irrelevant or less important than currently attributed.