Care, Just a Click Away
UW Medicine Location Webpage Redesign
This capstone project for UW Medicine reimagines the online search experience for patients seeking care across their extensive network of hospitals and clinics, aiming to make finding medical services accessible, simple, and stress-free.
My Role
Product Designer / Project Manager / UX Researcher
Disciplines
Collaborative Research / User Centered Design / Usability Testing
Team
Borui Wang / Carly Minow / Congyi Zhu
Date
Spring 2024 / 10 weeks
Design Question
"How might we redesign the 'Find a Location' feature to optimize clarity and simplicity for patients of all technical and medical knowledge levels?
Design Objectives
A new plain language search system to lower barriers to access to care.
A new map search result system to provide better user understanding of the care available to them.
A new template for location pages that expands user understanding of a single location and can be customized to hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and any relevant offices.
Guiding Questions For Research
Who are UWM’s current site visitors?
How do site visitors use the location webpages currently?
Why do visitors use the locations webpages the way they do?
What from the in-person hospital visitor experience can we bring online?
Which user centered design methods will be helpful in our redesign process?
Competitive Analysis
We conducted a field study at UW Medical Center-Montlake in order to understand the availability, discoverability, and usability of the amenities inside a UWM hospital.
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Parking - Identify the parking area (employee, patient, and long-term parking areas) and the method by which you pay for parking (kiosk, app, etc.)
Emergency Department - Locate the entrance to the Emergency Department and identify the signage indicating emergency services.
Cafeteria - Read the menu and order something to eat.
Coffee Shop - Purchase a medium-sized coffee and note the price.
Gift Shop - Find a small gift item priced under $10.
Vending Machine - Purchase a bottle of water from the nearest vending machine and note the price.
Information Desk - Find operational hours and hospital maps at the desk. Also, take a photo of the signage on the desk.
Quiet Place - Find a designated quiet area and take a photo of the signage indicating it as such.
Wi-Fi Access - Connect to the hospital Wi-Fi network and take note of the network name and password and the pricing if it’s not free.
Pharmacy - Locate the hospital pharmacy and evaluate its proximity to other hospital services.
Charging/outlets - Locate charging stations or outlets and evaluate its proximity to other hospital services, especially dining tables and sitting areas.
Field Study at UWMC-Montlake
Most tasks were rated as a 3/5 difficulty. However, we found the following constrains:
Services (Parking Cashier, detours) are not communicated online
No information online about the amenities (cafeteria, Wi-Fi, power outlets)
Signs and directions are not clear inside the hospital.
To evaluate the current UW Medicine website's usability and identify pain points, we conducted 6 moderated "talk-aloud" usability tests. These tests provided valuable insights through direct observation of user interactions and collection of subjective feedback.
Key aspects of the testing process:
6 moderated tests were conducted via Zoom or in person
Real-time, interview-like usability tasks were followed by immediate Q&A sessions
Test scripts and tasks were developed by the team with sponsor input
Affinity Grouping
Takeaways
Confusing navigation and search: Users struggled with unclear layouts, limited search features, and difficulty returning to home pages.
Language and terminology barriers while searching: Non-native speakers and seniors were hindered by unfamiliar terms and similar location names.
Unclear services and locations: Vague “Specialties” lists and poor info led to missed details, prompting some participants to prefer calling directly.