AstraZeneca
6 months
Digital Health Platform
Figma, User Testing, Miro, Adobe Creative Cloud
Ovarian Cancer Digital
Health Platform
I'm Not Alone is a patient-centric Ovarian Cancer digital health platform that addresses the core need for personalization by providing the right support at the right time to patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers.
Challenge
Establish AstraZeneca as a prominent leader in Ovarian Cancer.
Develop a groundbreaking care and support platform that sets new standards for Ovarian Cancer patient assistance. By offering personalized support precisely when patients and caregivers need it, we aim to position AZ as a pioneer in innovative and compassionate care, revolutionizing the landscape of Ovarian Cancer treatment.
Solution
Developed an MVP that was the foundation of an enterprise digital health platform.
Our solution aims to mitigate three critical issues in the Ovarian Cancer care ecosystem. By introducing a groundbreaking platform, we tackle the lack of personalization, ensure scalability, and provide comprehensive support from pre-diagnosis to post-diagnosis. Through this innovative approach, we empower Ovarian Cancer patients with personalized resources and bridge the gaps in the current care system.
The Team
AstraZeneca + 3 Outside Partners
- Brand Leaders
- User Research
- UX Design
- UI Design
- Engineering
- Content Strategy
- Oncology Experts
- Partner Hospital
- Product Management
My Role
Experience Design Director, Team Leader
- Stakeholder management.
- Conducted interviews and user testing with patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers.
- Created a stakeholder value map, user flows, patient experience map, Intelligent User Profiling (IUP) process, and engagement model.
- Managed multiple vendors while creating over 200+ content pieces for the initial MVP.
- Led the design of the entire platform, including wireframes, information architecture, user interface design, design system, and brand guidelines.
Process Overview
Our approach was guided by user-centered design principles, leveraging design thinking to deeply understand patients' and caregivers' needs and pain points. We employed agile methodologies, allowing us to iterate rapidly and incorporate feedback at each stage of development. This iterative approach, combined with continuous user involvement, ensured that the platform evolved in line with user expectations.
User Research
We conducted nominal surveys, focus groups, and user interviews with 325 ovarian cancer patients, caregivers, and Oncology specialists to gather Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) data. This data provided valuable insights into user demographics and factors affecting access to care and health outcomes. We did a deep dive into some of the following areas.
- Health System: Coverage, Access
- Lifestyle: Sex, Exercise, Activities, Music, Comedy, Emotional Support, Wellbeing
- Personal Environment: Home, Work, Transportation
- Community: Family, Friends, Colleagues
Streamlining Stakeholder Management
As the project lead, I understood the importance of managing dynamic stakeholders during the development of an unbranded digital health platform. To promote alignment and project focus, I created a visual tool that effectively communicated our objectives to internal stakeholders. This streamlined decision-making, improved communication channels, increased support, and ultimately mitigated risks, ensuring the successful development of the platform.
Key Stakeholders
Patients
Empower patients to make more informed decisions while improving their quality of life throughout OC Journey.
Caregivers
Empower to make more informed decisions while improving the quality of life throughout the OCJourney of patients they care for.
Patient Advocacy Groups
Helps drive patients to their respective properties at relevant points (resources/support groups) of OC Journey
Gyn Oncologists / HCPs
Helps provide better patient outcomes in health: timeliness of care, the effectiveness of care, and adherence to care guidelines.
Oncology Institutions/Clinics
Data & insights: Helps institutions improve patient outcomes in health and provide competitive differentiation
AstraZeneca
Data & insights: Institution, TA, and patient-level data to develop a better patient experience
Personalized User Experience through Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
By gaining a deep understanding of users' personalities, motivations, and needs, we have created a platform that delivers a tailored and inspiring online experience. Our Intelligent User Profiling (IUP) mechanism collects valuable data to drive personalized interactions for patients and caregivers throughout the INA platform. This streamlined onboarding process encourages users to become passionate advocates, actively contributing to the community and empowering the creation of impactful content.
Dynamic Experience Map
The dynamic nature of this experience map enables us to remain agile, swiftly adapting our approach to stay ahead of evolving user needs. By continuously updating and refining our map, we proactively optimize the user experience, delivering solutions that resonate with our global audience. Deeply rooted in comprehensive research, our experience map is the cornerstone for informed decision-making at Ovarian Cancer at AstraZeneca.
Identifying the Peak of Negative Emotions
During our journey mapping process, a significant revelation emerged – a crucial gap in the patient journey where emotions reached their peak. It became evident that patients and their families lacked personalized information and support when seeking online resources. To address this critical need, we developed a focused Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that caters to individuals during the suspected diagnosis through the initial treatment phase. By delivering tailored information and support, our platform aims to alleviate fear and enhance patient confidence, ensuring they receive the care they deserve.
Ideation Workshops
Our design thinking process involved conducting numerous ideation workshops with patients, caregivers, healthcare providers, and internal stakeholders. These workshops played a pivotal role in our journey, allowing us to tap into diverse perspectives and expertise. By fostering collaboration and embracing a user-centered approach, we generated a wealth of innovative ideas and solutions for our digital health platform. Workshop participants' creativity and insights ensured we met all user groups' unique needs, providing a genuinely impactful and inclusive experience.
Workshop
One Outputs
Initial personas
3
problems prioritized
18
Jobs to Be Done
6
Journey navigation tool
Chat tool/assistant
Side effect tool and resources
Difficult conversation facilitator
Patient/Caregiver stories
Community & Peer-to-Peer
Identifying and Validating
Prioritized MVP Features
Through a combination of moderated and unmoderated testing, we gathered valuable feedback on an early prototype that included the platform's essential features, allowing us to refine and shape our initial product. These user-driven insights were critical in ensuring that our prioritized MVP features effectively addressed user needs, laying a solid foundation for the development of a successful and user-centric platform.
Patient Feedback
Deliverables
The screens below are by no means representative of everything that came out of this complex project, but meant to provide a high-level example of some of the deliverables that resulted from all of the work above this section and beyond. If you would like to see more, please do not hesitate to reach out as I would love to share more.
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Establishing a Solid Foundation
As a crucial part of my role at I'm Not Alone, I led the development of an atomic design system using Figma. This transformative approach enhanced global collaboration and streamlined our design and development processes. By following the atomic design methodology and crafting a comprehensive style guide, we optimized typography, color palette, layout structure, and guidelines. The result? AstraZeneca experienced up to a 50% reduction in design and development time, facilitating rapid product rollouts within weeks.
Consistent Design Elements
By establishing consistent design elements, such as typography, color palette, and layout structure, we ensured a seamless and cohesive user experience that is widely accessible to all users.
Typography
Our carefully chosen font duo consists of PT Serif and Inter, with Inter taking center stage due to its exceptional legibility and adaptability across various screen sizes while PT Serif is reserved exclusively for large display headlines, adding an element of elegance and warmth to the site.
Inter: Our Workhorse Font
Inter, as our main font, is the backbone of our design system. Its versatility allows us to achieve visual consistency and clarity across all platform elements. With an extensive range of weights, Inter delivers a seamless reading experience, ensuring effortless content comprehension for all users.
PT Serif: Distinctive Display Headlines
This minimal and strategic use of PT Serif elevates the overall design, creating visually captivating focal points that draw the users' attention. We only use the font in bold to maximize the impact of the headlines, making key messages stand out and reinforcing the platform's brand identity.
WCAG 2.1 Level AA Color Scale
Accessibility and legibility are at the heart of our design principles. We crafted a WCAG 2.1 Level AA-compliant color scale that ensures an inclusive and user-friendly experience for all individuals, regardless of their visual abilities.
Inspired by our brand identity, our color palette seamlessly blends soft pastel hues with vibrant accents, creating a soothing and inviting ambiance. Leveraging the Foundation Color plugin in Figma, we achieved optimal contrast ratios, enhancing readability and ensuring every text and interactive element is effortlessly discernible.
Hooked Model:
The Art of Engagement
In crafting our Minimum Viable Product (MVP), we leveraged the 'Hooked Model', integrating its principles across the Diagnosis, Treatment, and Maintenance phases of the patient journey. This thoughtful approach has been instrumental in creating a profoundly impactful and user-friendly platform, designed with utmost compassion and sensitivity.
Empowering Users
We employ a delicate balance of internal and external cues to prompt our users to take positive actions within the platform. Whether it's sending personalized emails with tailored resources, or SMS messages and push notifications, our aim is to offer support that seamlessly integrates into their lives.
Additionally, user recommendations from friends and peers play a crucial role in fostering a sense of community and trust, encouraging patients and caregivers to engage and make the most of the resources available. Our trigger strategy is not about manipulation, but rather about creating an environment that empowers our users with the right information and resources.
Simple & Intuitive
We focus on empowering our users and removing any barriers hindering them from taking positive steps forward. By crafting a user interface that prioritizes ease of use and accessibility, we aim to make every intended action as simple and intuitive as possible.
Our platform offers a range of tools, resources, and support that cater to the diverse needs of our users, ensuring they find what they need to move forward confidently. Through thoughtful usability design and a deep understanding of our user's journey, we enhance their motivation, making it easier for them to make more informed decisions.
Inspire & Connect
- Avatars serve as important identifiers, facilitating connections among patients and caregivers based
- Through peer-to-peer chat, you find connections, share experiences, and provide valuable support, fostering a sense of belonging and camaraderie.
- Our chatbot delivers personalized messages, reminders, and helpful tips, ensuring you receive timely and relevant information.
Health and Well-being
The Investment phase encourages users to invest their time, effort, and social capital in shaping a vibrant and supportive community. By sharing personal experiences, engaging in learning, and building virtual assets, users play an active role in their health journey. This reciprocal commitment fosters growth, personalization, and continuous improvement, making each return to the platform even more rewarding and empowering. Together, we embrace the power of investment, nurturing a collective of resilience and success throughout the entire ovarian cancer journey.
