+Psico APP: UI Process

TL;DR
The project aimed to enhance pandemic-era psychology accessibility, utilizing the Double Diamond methodology and UX tools. Research, benchmarking, and surveys informed a focus on optimizing telemedicine for vulnerable Brazilians' mental health. Prototyping, using paper sketches and low-fidelity designs in Figma, led to a refined telemedicine platform after the first usability test. The outcome significantly improves mental health access for vulnerable populations in Brazil.

Low Fidelity
High Fidelity
Paper Prototype
Prototyping
Usability Test

Platform
Mobile

Year
2021

Project

This project's goal was to come up with a way to make psychology more accessible during the pandemic while taking into account both patients and psychologists as well as all the factors applied to this particular moment.

Development

“How can we optimize telemedicine chances to assist vulnerable Brazilians' mental health?"

Solution Alternatives

To define a solution, after brainstorming using techniques such as How Might We, a 4-step sketch technique was used (Annotations, Free Drawings, Crazy 8’s and Scribbles) where we focused on an intuitive platform for the patient, organized and that allows support for the clinic for the psychologist and, above all, that makes it possible to direct the patient to the appropriate psychologist for their profile.

Paper Prototype

In the prototyping phase, it is possible to make tactile interactions, close to the reality, of the developed ideas.

This prototyping was done with MarvelApp using freehand drawing.

Click here for the paper prototype and here for the UI process in more detail.

Prototype and Delivery

Low Fidelity

At this stage, all ideas were discussed remotely by the team using Zoom and developed with Figma.

First Usability Test

Five patients and five psychologists were recruited for the first test, and it was discovered that:

In general, patients were able to schedule appointments online, and psychologists were able to conduct the day's first appointment according to their schedule;
Although they had no trouble completing the activities, we found that some users required some time to comprehend that the search results screen was a scrolling page. The screen's scroll bar can be used for this.
We observed that the psychologists required a few seconds to understand what was on the patient's file screen. This issue will be resolved by including the title of the open menu, such as “file”, “schedule”, etc.

See the prototype of the low-fidelity patient here and the low-fidelity psychologist here.

Wireframes and User Flow

Based on the sketches, wireframes were designed along with the flow to be followed by the patient to book a remote appointment and by the psychologist to open the first activity of the day:

a) Patients

Mockup and Prototype

View the patient’s prototype in high fidelity here.

Conclusions and Learnings

I remember the nervousness of investing in the course. The fear of not being able to develop myself well, but I also remember the desire to learn and the motivation to start working on something challenging and passionate.

I started UX Unicórnio knowing that UI was not for me after all, “During college Design was not my best subject, why would it be different now?” and today, I see that study, persistence and dedication overcome any difficulty.

Furthermore, one of the most valuable lessons that the experience brought me was to truly work in a group, listening to everyone’s ideas, criticisms and suggestions, and always focusing on delivering the best to the user. In the first canvases I developed I used some references chosen by me and no one else. In the final product, I took these references to my teammates and together with the references brought by them, we were able to discuss and adapt the idea into the best product we could have (at that moment).

We know that like the product, learning is continuous and will never be truly complete and finished. I still have a long way to go, but seeing how much I was able to evolve in just two months, I’m sure I’m capable of being an excellent professional and I’ll keep dedicating myself, studying and looking for my first opportunity.

Summary

🙋🏻‍♂️ - Hey, since I value your time, I've decided to present the project in three parts so you can skip to the sections you're most interested in if you like.

Part 1: UX Design

Part 2: UX Research

Part 3: You’re here!

Current scenario

The Brazilian populace has been through a revolution since 2019, prompted by the new COVID-19 pandemic, and forced to adapt to the online world where remote care has been legal since 2020. Problems like anxiety and depression that already existed in this new setting were significantly more evident.

“During the pandemic, the situation worsened: a study carried out by the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) revealed a 90% increase in cases of depression. The number of people with anxiety attacks and symptoms of acute stress practically doubled between March and April 2020.”

Even though before the COVID-19 epidemic, Brazil was already one of the top countries in the world for stress, depression, and anxiety cases, the rising figures emphasize how important it is to continue receiving psychological support in the face of such a pressing need in adaptation.

The IBGE estimates that the country's worst average unemployment rate occurred during the pandemic and will affect 13.4 million people by 2020.

As a result, the population in this scenario is worried about the possibility of losing their jobs.

On the one hand, this has led to a rise in the number of people who need psychiatric treatment but are either unable to pay for it or are not aware that they do. On the other hand, some psychologists work across various platforms and are attempting to figure out how to best adapt to the environment that is primarily digital and the way their patients are arranged while emphasizing the importance of ongoing psychological care.