Bay Alarm Medical iOS App
I collaborated with 2 designers to create a companion mobile application for Bay Alarm Medical products that reduces reluctance to use the service.
THEMES
User Research, Information Architecture, Interaction Design, Visual Design, Prototyping
TEAM
3 User Experience Designers
TOOLS
Sketch, InVision, Google Forms
TIMELINE
2 Weeks
Solution Prototype
INTRO
Seniors often struggle in clearly communicating their health condition
For over 70 years, Bay Alarm Medical's singular mission has been to protect the essential things in life – family, health, and independence. With just a push of a button, Bay Alarm Medical's trained emergency operators will be there to contact family, friends, and your local 911 emergency services if necessary.
The family and friends of a typical senior subscriber of Bay Alarm Medical need a better way of receiving information about their relative’s health situation, both in case of an emergency and on a daily basis.
Our team worked to extend the utility of Bay Alarm Medical products and reduce reluctance to use the service. Therefore we crafted an iOS companion app that ensures current subscribers can get and send alerts and other useful information to family members in an emergency.
GOAL
How might we instill confidence in the family of an elderly person that they are safe and healthy?
As we started our project, we mapped out the main goals for the project.
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Notify care circle members about their relatives' health conditions at their fingertips in real-time.
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Easy communication between Care Group members.
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Care Group can keep track of senior’s appointments and medical history.
KEY RESEARCH INSIGHT
“The elderly don’t collaborate. They’re very stubborn and struggle in communicating their needs.”
— an Emergency Medical Technician whom we interviewed
Research Interviews
We started with generative research to better understand the importance of an emergency for a senior that spends most of their time alone, and the feelings of family members during an emergency. We conducted interviews with a professional caretaker, an Emergency Services Technician, and a senior in risk and learned:
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EMS receives little information about the patient, making it slower to check in the patient.
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The family is notified only after the patient is checked in the hospital, which makes them feel guilty for not being there on time.
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Having the patient’s medical history would help the paramedics during an emergency.
In addition, we conducted a survey with 23 elderly people to capture responses and help validate our hypothesis. What we learned from them was:
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86% of seniors’ care group are family members.
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82% of seniors have one person only in their care group.
Hence we determined from our surveys that we could make the biggest impact with minimal change to their business model by focusing on the family care circle.
DEFINING THE USERS
The Primary Users are the far-away relatives.
They will have the ability to track the senior in real-time in emergencies and communicate with the care group to ensure their relative is in good health condition.
The Secondary Users are the close-by relatives.
They can check the elderly medicine times to keep track of their medicines. They can also check their daily schedule to visit or take them to the doctor when they have appointments.
The User Journey
In the final stage of planning, we had to outline how the app's back end would work to get the tip to the artist. This process would be the main function of the app. This journey is for one of the senior care groups who is a current user of the service.
Key Findings:
We found that all the low points in the journey resulted from a lack of communication and information about the senior's health condition.
Design Scope
We had to prioritize the features we will include in our digital solution. I organized the features in (high/low) Value and Cost in order to make a meaningful difference in the value of the alarm medical product and experience.
WIREFRAMING
Bringing it All Together
With our goals, features, and journey’s mapped, I moved into sketching the screens. I specifically focus on iteration, to ensure the app’s functionality was streamlined where assumptions could be tested.
An example of my iterations can be seen in the design of the home screen where all the information a user may need to check on the senior’s health condition.
Usability Test
I conducted usability testing with 7 users. Participants found all the information needed (ID, condition, etc). They knew how the app works in emergency and non-emergency situations.
There were 2 main adjustments we needed to make to enhance the users’ experience:
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Navigation changing places is confusing.
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The alert should be pinned and updated in real-time.
The Final Wireframes
Sign In / Sign Up
Users who subscribe to the service will have the ability to sign up/sign in using their social media or email address.
Keep Yourself Updated
See real-time updates about the senior health condition and check if the medical alarm device is active.
Be There for Them
Find the location of your loved one in emergencies and non-emergency cases so you make sure you’re there for them.
It’s Easy to Stay Connected
Contact the care group and arrange some gatherings that make the senior feel better.
Appointments and Medicine Times
It’s important to know the senior is not missing their appointments or medicine times. The calendar will help you keep track of how they are doing.
All the Medical Information You Need
You might find yourself in a situation where you need to provide more info about the senior to help them in the hospital or for the caretaker. The Medical ID will have all the information you might need.
Emergency Situations
A pinned notification will appear in emergencies and will keep updating until the situation is cleared.
Feel Relived When It’s Taken Care Of
When the emergency is cleared, and the senior feels better, you will be the first to know.
Results
Our work was received well
When our final product was available, users shared their feedback and informed us that the solution is effective and solved the main problems for the care group.
“I wish I had the app last year. It would have been of great help to my family. We would have used it last year with my grandad.”
— Amanda (a potential service user)
NEXT STEPS
Success Metrics
To evaluate the success of our designed product, I’m planning to track the impact of our digital solution on Bay Alarm Medical’s KPIs, which include:
· Percent of successful interactions
· Response time
· Time to dispatch emergency services
In addition to this, I would love to explore features such as:
Motion Sensors
Improvement Opportunity
Users wishing to know more about the senior’s activity during the day.
Proposed Solution
Installing motion sensors in the most used areas of the senior’s house.
Group Video Calls
Improvement Opportunity
Users are not able to spend time with their senior relatives in person.
Proposed Solution
Adding group video calls to make the connection between the care group and seniors more human and sincere.
iPad Version
Improvement Opportunity
Seniors want to be part of the communication with the care group.
Proposed Solution
Designing the iPad version will include seniors in the communication loop.
Feedback on the design? Want to chat over coffee about building an app from scratch?
Feel free to get in touch or schedule a chat.