Establishing a two-way communication of security and trust between Healthcare and seniors
SCADpro x Deloitte, Mar 2024 - May 2024
Problem Space:
Due to the lack of awareness and communication, senior receivers of a major goverment healthcare program are vulnerable to healthcare fraud, which could cost taxpayers billions of dollars annually and compromise the integrity of the healthcare system.
Target Users:
Receivers of the healthcare program aged between 65 - 80 and caregivers of the receivers of the healthcare program.
My Role:
I led the project team of 17 designers with diverse background (UX, interaction, graphic, and service) to design a strategy for Deloitte to protect seniors against healthcare fraud within a major government program. I established the timeline and quality expectations for the project and delegated tasks and facilitated efficient communication within the team with transparent feedback and conflict resolution.
I also conducted research to understand how seniors interact with the healthcare system, and I led the design of core features of the mobile solution that received positive client feedback and will be used for further end-client discussions.
Understanding the problem through research
Most of the team, including myself, came into the project with little knowledge on the healthcare program. So after setting the timeline for the project, I drafted a research plan to understand our problem and our users well, which included the questions we wanted to understand and the methods and protocols we should take.
?
We want to understand..
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How much do seniors know
about Healthcare fraud?
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How does Healthcare fraud occur?
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Which solutions have been used before to counter fraud?
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How do seniors identify and address incorrect bills?
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How do seniors use technology and which communication channels are most familiar to them?
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What motivates seniors to report suspicious billing activity?
We used methods of..
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Secondary research
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Survey
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67 participants
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Interview
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6 at senior facilities (age 80+)
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13 in public settings (age 65 - 80)
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Co-design workshop
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30+ participants
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100+ datapoints
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After interviewing seniors aged over 80 at a nursing home, we learned that they prioritize living a comfortable and peaceful life and they do not manage their own healthcare. They have little willingness to learn about the program as well. Therefore, we pivoted our research direction to target seniors of a younger age range who take care of their own finances and health, and included the caregivers of the receivers of the healthcare program as our users.
In total, we gathered over 300 datapoints from 100+ participants and analyzed them to find 4 key insights and 3 major needs of the users.
Insights
1
Seniors prefer direct, real-person communication.
2
Seniors are familiar with digital methods.
3
Seniors feel discouraged by the long process.
4
Seniors have limited knowledge about Healthcare.
1
Engaging in quick and accurate two-way communication with the Program to effectively obtain information and resolve issues.
Needs
2
Managing their health and healthcare with less burden and enjoying a comfortable life.
3
Trustworthy and easy-to-understand guidance to review healthcare
information and manage services.
From here, we formulated 3 How Might We questions:
1
How might we encourage seniors and caregivers to review and respond to Medical Service Notices, information, and alerts sent by the Program?
2
How might we help seniors and caregivers reach out to the Program with a shorter and easier process when seeking information or filing complaints?
3
How might we support seniors and caregivers in understanding and engaging with the process of the Program?
Designing a mobile-first solution
From both communicating with our client and learning from our research results, we decided to go with a mobile-first solution for the following reasons:
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Mobile allows for easy and multimodal interactions and inputs like voice, camera, and biometrics.
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Mobile offers enhanced functionalities for improved processes and user experience.
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It is also a simple conversion to website or connection with other methods of communication.
We did more than 80 concept sketches for solutions to our questions, and we decided on 4 core features for the mobile app that answer to our HMW questions.
Easy management and verification of billing info
Directed reporting process and live support
Healthcare related educational resources
Data security and account management
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2
3
3
HMW
HMW
HMW
HMW
Iterating design based on user testing
I divided the team into 4 smaller groups, Home, Support, Learn, and My (the Program), each focusing on the design of one part of the app based on the information architecture and sketches. I made sure all groups synced progress at least once a week to keep everyone in the loop of what the whole team is doing.
Aside from working on the My (the Program) section, I also led the design of the onboarding and tutorial process since it is essential for our target users, who may need guidance when interacting with technology.
I also designed the overall interaction modal for the application, which include audio output and voice agent aside from traditional visual output and touch interaction, to accommodate for the accessibility needs of our users.
We conducted 2 rounds of user testing over 4 iterations, including 2 iterations of 180+ mid-fi frames.
Our first round of testing was done under the beautiful sunshine, but the second round was under trees in the rain.
We were able to gather important insights from testing and improve our designs upon them for better UX writing, information hierarchy, and interactions. Here are some examples:
Interation 2
Interation 4 (hi-fi)
"There is a mismatch between section titles and features."
“These options are a bit confusing to me. If I were seeking help, I would probably turn to an expert first.”
More intuitive UX writing,
only essential options
"It would be nice if I can just pull up my card here."
“I probably wouldn’t check my plan’s coverage that often, my priority would be to check my caregivers.”
Better information hierarchy,
enhanced features
Not showing who the caregiver is and what specifically they did.
Users have difficulty understanding these buttons.
Keeping users informed,
more intuitive interactions
Visual design for accessibility
I led the visual design of the application based on the principle of being accessible and intuitive. 5 designers working on visual design all contributed their concepts, and we decided on the final visuals based on user testing.
For typography, I decided to use DM Sans for its high legibility. I used font sizes that are 4 pixels above standard for the default text size and included a feature to changed the size of the text in the settings.
I chose a blue color scheme because of it's association with the medical industry. I also made sure that all colors in the palette pass the WCAG accessibility standard.
Here are some of the concepts we created.
Users prefered having white components over a toned background for high contrast, and they want the screen to be as clean and uncluttered as possible.
In order to standardize the design created by 17 of us, I established a design system with colors, typography, iconography, and reusable components. It was used by all designers on the project to save time and make sure of the design's consistency. It was also provided to our client for their potential use in the future.
Final design
After 10 weeks of hard work by 17 designers, we delivered our final design to our client from Deloitte.
I also represented my team and presented our work to our client.
Reception and potential impact
Our design receive very positive feedback from our target users, our client, as well as subject experts and stakeholders.
“ Yeah I think it is pretty easy to use.... I like the simplicity of it. ”
-- 67 year old Medicare receiver
“ This would help our filing process significantly... Young people working on such a needed project gives me hope in society. ”
-- Associate of the Program
“ I would immediately download this app to help my parents if it is offered. ”
-- 40 year old caregiver of a Medicare receiver
“ You are doing great work for the society. ”
-- 50 year old professor
“ I think it was great that you could apply real research insights into your solution. The design is well-supported and validated... We think it would make a difference for the stakeholders. ”
-- Client representative from Deloitte
All of our work including research, design, and process of this project has been delievered to the client at Deloitte, and will be used in end-client discussion with multiple healthcare programs.
We anticipate positive impact for the users and the society.
Less fraudulent activities
Faster and more accurate report process leads to better identification of fraud.
Digitalized database for healthcare security
Database and credibility system could enhance the algorithm for detecting fraud in the future.
Better engagement and awareness
Raise the awareness of the receivers and engage them more with the Program.
What I learned through my experience
This project has been exceptionally rewarding to me because I was able to gain leadership and communication experience from it.
My role as the project lead was challenging. I was leading a team of many designers from diverse background, and it was a great responsibility for me to make sure that we are on track at every moment of the journey, everyone is doing work that they can contribute to and enjoy, and that communication is transparent and smooth and any conflict is resolved promptly. However, it improved my management and leadership skills significantly as I was able to learn along the way and handled all the situations to deliver a great project.
I was also able to practice my communication skills not only from leading the team, but also from representing the team during client discussions and presentations.
I really appreciate my professor, who offered great support and advice, my fellow teammates, who worked really hard and contributed to the work, as well as our client and subject experts, who provided us with the opportunity and resources we needed to build our design.
