The Pitch
DD Health is an app created to reduces patients' waiting time at hospitals in China by making online appointment possible. With DD Health, patients can make appointments in the app with doctors from top hospitals. Additionally, DD Health builds data base for medical records, which can be shared and easily accessed by the patients and their doctors. The function of medication reminder is also integrated into the app to better assist patients’ treatment.
I joined the team as the only designer for this app. I worked closely with founders and engineers to define the goals and features of the product, and designed the entire app from wireframe to high-fidelity mockup. The first demo version of this app has been accomplished.
The challenge
The healthcare system in China is unique. Chinese government has set a very specific and strict itemized price ceiling for healthcare service, including treatment and medication. For example, it costs less than 14 RMB (around $2 USD) to see a doctor including specialist each time. And it costs only 6000 RMB (around $850 USD) to receive a coronary artery bypass surgery.
The healthcare expenses are much lower comparing to US. Thus, patients are willing to visit hospital whenever they feel sick, overloading the insufficient medical system. Most hospitals in China only accept walk-in patients, which means patients have to wait in line for hours to see a doctor. Sometimes they even have to get to hospitals hours before the open time to guarantee a spot, which is very inefficient and unproductive.
Through interviews and researches, we concluded the 6 steps of the most common process to see a doctor in China (as shown above). With DD health, we are able to convert the traditional physical process into a convenient online one. This online process is design to simulate the traditional prototype, which is familiar to our prospective users, but to eliminate the unpleasant waiting time at hospital for the patients.
The research
We conducted a survey through social media to get better understanding of potential users' views about the app. In the survey, 91% of the response expressed the willingness to use an app to make doctor appointment. There's a trend that the younger the group is, the more likely they are going to use app to make doctor appointments. However, the difference between different age groups is subtle. Thus this app is expected to have users from a wide range of age groups.
*Assumptive persona
I created an assumptive persona based on the data we gathered in the survey, and the findings we got from our interviews with users. The persona helped me to bring the findings into life, and provided me with better understand of how I could build a solution that satisfies the needs and solves the problems of a specific user group.
The design
*Application map
After initial research and ideation, I drafted out the application map, which served as a blueprint for the agreed features by all stakeholders. The app includes 4 key components: My Appointment, Medication, My Record, Settings.
*Low-fidelity wireframe flow
Next I created low-fidelity wireframes with all the functional details.
*Hi-fidelity screens
Then translated the wireframes into high-fidelity mocks based on the visual guide line I developed.
Next steps
The project was paused after the negotiation with the public hospital system stalled. If the project restarted, I will review the design work I did with the team again, make necessary revisions, and continue developing all the hi-fidelity mocks.
Designing a healthcare application is challenging, because designers must have adequate background knowledge in the related fields. During my period of design, I set up weekly phone calls with a doctor and a hospital administrator to discuss my progress, which improved my design for My Appointment and Medication greatly.
