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About developing Hive
I worked in a group with three students to develop and finalise this project.
This brief was set by Big Motive, a service design and innovation agency that design digital products and services for a better future.
We researched into home care, tech enabled care, artificial intelligence (AI) used In home care and how each generation has adapted to technology.
How Might We Statement
We decided as a group to meet up and discuss our ideas to visualise our product.
We organised our information, ideas and agreed the direction our product should take.
Next, we focused on what age group our target audience would be and appeal to; researched some products Big Motive have done in the past such as COVID-19 tracing and a smart inhaler for asthma patients.
Some features we discussed included designing a dashboard both for patients and healthcare staff to access health records, this would be beneficial for monitoring purposes.
We also created a service blueprint for the stakeholders of our product.
The frontstage users would be patients, family, friends and carers, whereas the backstage would focus on healthcare professions such as nurses, doctors, pharmacists, social workers and physiotherapists. Pitching to tech companies would also be useful for promoting our product.
User Survey
After deciding on our product model, we then considered what questions we should ask patients and healthcare staff for feedback. We summarised the information and compiled some survey questions.
These survey questions were later given to patients and healthcare specialists in an interview. Examples of these questions were:
1. What technology have you used in healthcare and how comfortable do you feel using it?
2. What do you feel can be improved in home care?
3. What are your concerns with using new technology for health purposes?
4. How would you feel about using a product, either physical or virtual that connects major aspects of primary home care together?
5. Have you ever used a healthcare based app before? If yes, how did you find using it?
6. In the last twelve months, what are your personal experiences of healthcare?
User Survey Feedback
After conducting interviews with a nurse and two patients. I was provided with a lot of information about their experiences in healthcare and this allowed me to consider what could be explored for our final product as a group.
Urology Nurse Specialist
Challenges in Healthcare
- She has systemic issues such as long waiting lists due to the COVID-19 pandemic, staff shortages, and the demands of long shifts with unpaid overtime.
- Contributes to stress and professional burnout.
- Technology also poses challenges, including server connectivity problems, delays in IT support, and insufficient training for new equipment.
Vision for Healthcare Improvement
- Reducing waiting times for appointments and operations, optimising the use of medical equipment, and enhancing staff efficiency to improve patient outcomes.
- She emphasises the importance of providing real-time, up-to-date information to caregivers to ensure seamless care delivery.
Future Vision
- She envisions a healthcare system where technology is seamlessly integrated, training is comprehensive, IT support is prompt, and tools enable real-time information sharing, fostering better outcomes for both patients and professionals.
Positive Contributions
- Has made significant contributions to patient care, including diagnosing cancers (e.g. bladder, kidney, prostate) through assessments and diagnostics.
- She also supports patients in addressing challenges that affect their daily living, leading to better outcomes and positive patient feedback.
Technology in Practice
She uses a wide range of tools and apps to enhance patient care:
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Tools: mobile phone, laptop with Citrix, Clinitek urinalysis machine, glucometer, ultrasound scanner, vital signs monitor, urodynamics machine, and electronic care records.
Apps: BigHand for clinic note dictations, BAUS (patient advice leaflets), BNF (medicine prescribing), Blue Light Card (NHS benefits), and BAUN (professional resources).
Patient 1
Challenges in Healthcare
- She has recently faced a significant challenge during a visit to the Emergency Department (ED), where she spent two days waiting for a bed on the ward.
- She was offered a corridor bed, which was unsuitable for her needs, adding to her distress during the experience.
Suggestions for Improvement
To improve healthcare services, She recommends increasing the availability of GP appointments, ensuring timely access to care at home.
Positive Experiences
- A highlight of her healthcare journey was undergoing successful cataract surgeries on both eyes within a short timeframe.
- The procedures, performed two weeks apart, significantly improved her vision and overall quality of life.
Technology in Healthcare
- Openness to Equipment: She is willing to use physical or virtual healthcare equipment if provided with proper guidance.
- Concerns: She worries about the risk of incorrect usage leading to inaccurate results.
- Limited Digital Comfort: Does not use a computer or smartphone and feels generally uncomfortable with digital tools.
Patient 2
Challenges in Healthcare
-Difficulty securing GP appointments.
-Ensuring the correct quantities of prescribed medication are provided.
Suggestions for Improvement
Reduce wait times in hospital Emergency Departments (ED) to improve access to care.
Positive Experiences
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Excellent care from the respiratory team, including regular monitoring through clinics, CT scans, and MRI scans.
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Supportive and efficient interactions with healthcare professionals.
Technology in Healthcare
- Devices Used: Blood pressure monitor, Blood glucometer, Nebuliser and Oximeter.
- Familiarity: Comfortable using technology and healthcare apps.
- Concerns: Potential charges for using healthcare apps and security of personal data entered into healthcare technologies.
- Positive Experiences with Apps:
Gordon’s Pharmacy App: Eliminates the need to queue at the pharmacy.
GP Patient Access: Facilitates ordering repeat prescriptions conveniently.
User Persona
After completing the interview surveys in detail, we used our information to create four separate personas and empathy maps for a social worker, nurse, elderly individual and a family relative.
I developed the persona Sarah Rodriguez who would benefit using Hive Healthcare Portal.
Brief description
Sarah is a primary school teacher. She is a mother of two children who prioritises her teaching career and health. She has been newly diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and often has check ups to monitor her condition.
Tech Savviness
She wears a smart device to track her blood sugar levels and she uses her smart phone to receive her blood sugar levels and communicate through emails and messages.
Main Goal
Sarah wants to enjoy a better quality of life with reduced symptoms and feel more happy.
Pain Points
She feels stressed balancing her teaching career, family responsibilities and managing her health.
Needs
he needs an application that can track her blood sugars throughout the day, by providing automatic readings to her smart phone and then she is able to take action if required.
Empathy Map
I also designed an empathy map to show how Sarah says and does, think and feels, sees and hears.
Say and do
"Why is my blood sugar levels low?"
I'm feel light headed"
Arranges an appointment to see her GP and have a check up.
Stressed between managing between her teaching and personal life.
Deciding what to eat to control blood sugar
See
Learning materials to give to her pupils.
Pupils in her class and family members.
Hear
GP asking her about how she is feeling at the check up.
Think and feel
Hive Branding
Colour Palette
As a group we discussed what colour palette would be used for our final logo design and we chose blue and purple as these are the colours of hospital scrubs.
Purple and blue are associated with dignity, respect and support, which are essential qualities when caring for all patients in healthcare environments.
#00C2CB
#7119F2
#020202
#CCCCCC
Logo Design Concepts
We experimented with a few logo design concepts that would be used for the application and branding. We used a logo creator and really liked the appearance of some of the designs generated.
In the end, we decided on the 3rd design because it looked the most appealing and felt comforting compared to the designs that used data visualisations.
Hive Storyboard - Patient
Hive Storyboard - District Nurse
Hive Site Map
We discussed and designed a site map that shows what features the patient and nurse will have access to when using the Hive dashboard.
When a patient uses the app:
- They can look at recommended health education.
- Manage their hospital and home appointments.
- Use a medicine schedule.
- View medical history.
- Add relatives who want to help them out.
When a nurse uses the app:
- They can see educational staff content.
- See tasks they need to do.
- View notifications for staff and patient messages.
- When selecting a patient, they can see all the information the patient provides and medical history if they need to remind themselves of any details.
Low Fidelity Prototypes
Splash Screen and Login Menu
Patient Dashboard
Staff Dashboard
This process helped us to identify which of the dashboards needed to be adapted and visually changed through Figma.
I would develop an iPhone X prototype with an animated splash screen, a vibrant colour palette and all the information we had agreed on in the paper and low fidelity concepts in the next section.
Another student in my group developed a iPad prototype with a similar user interface layout that would be accessed by a district nurse.
Figma Prototype for iPhone X (Patient Dashboard)
Figma Prototype for iPad (Nurse Dashboard)
Conclusion
In summary, when developing and finalising the project for Big Motive, our research allowed us to consider a wide range of different solutions that could be explored such as monitoring health, communicating with health specialists, being able to add relatives, checking medical history and creating a portal healthcare staff.
This led to our group wanting to develop the healthcare application, ‘Hive’. This is a healthcare application that facilitates a patient to receive ‘care’ at home as well as allowing them and healthcare staff to view and input medical information.
I was really satisfied and proud of the final outcome when presenting our final product in class to Big Motive, as ‘Hive’ looked modern, professional, easy to use and was beneficial for the target users.
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