Patient Enrolment Portal

Nevertheless, the 5 users from our user testing, oncology drug navigators of Ontario (ODANO), considered our product clear, intuitive and easy to learn. They successfully completed all tasks given to them, which exemplified user goals our software has been designed to accomplish. Yet, some problems and pain points were still interfering our product from being even better. It was my job to take our designs to the next level with evidence.

Templates should be flexible and look generic so that any branding variables such as logos, colours, or background images can be easily swappable and embodied into a template effortlessly. I had to keep that in mind.

Making dashboard more actionable:  According to the testing results, ODANOs spent a majority of their time on the dashboard.

Ensuring responsive formatting of workflows:  According to a one-on-one interview, ODANOs usually use our software on a crowded desktop screen.

Surprising results with TypeForm version:  During the testing, ODANOs expressed that they are not fond of the new TypeForm-like form UI. But, on the new UI, not only it took less time for them to finish the form tasks but also they made less errors compared to our traditional form interface. This may depict baby duck syndrome;  the tendency of a user to compare new systems to that which they are comfortable with. To validate this, more focused research on the phenomenon may be necessary with a larger user group.

Problem:  The testing results showed that ODANOs all used the New Enrolment section on the dashboard for enrolling patients instead of using the nav bar menu. I wanted to find a way to elevate the usage of the new enrolment section more as it is the most used/recommended menu for users.

Solution:  I came up with a new layout that has a clear visual hierarchy with the most emphasis on the new enrolment section. I also incorporated the personalized UX copy, 'Hi [User Name]! Start enrolling your patient here.', to encourage an action from users. And then, I expanded the Action Items section into a whole row as it is the second-most important part. And, naturally, I was able to bring more colours with those 3 colourful illustrations.

Problem:  I made the old nav bar horizontal as there were only 4 menus. This time, I had to consider more menus in the future. I tried adding a 'More Menus' icon, but it was not an intuitive solution as some menus are not visible until the dropdown is open. Also, all menus could be equally important to some clients. The testing results also revealed that ODANOs used the nav bar patient search menu frequently. I wanted to invest some time on it as well.

Solution:  After some exploration, having a vertical side bar was the most ideal solution for its long vertical space. Also, with the option to shrink the side bar, users can make the content part wider to prevent crowded and busy looking lists. The top strip now also has enough space to expand a search bar, which will increase its accessibility, usability, and visibility as opposed to just a search icon hiding its search bar.

Problem 1 - Vague design:  The old filter did not have a header so it looked unclear what those three dropdowns were. Also, it was placed right above the list which made it always firstly visible as if filtering was always required.

Problem 2 - Less flexible filtering:  The separation of the search menu made filtering less flexible. The search menu was designed to be used first before filtering so users had to be careful about the order. There was no other way around: filtering a list first and then searching from the filtered list.

Solution:  I came up with an inclusive filter modal having both filter and search. Therefore, the order of which action should be taken first does not matter anymore. Also, users only see filter options after clicking the menu, which puts more emphasis on the list, the main purpose of the list screen.

Importance of user research:  It was my first professional user research, and I learned again that understanding my users such as their behaviour, personality, pain points, etc, is crucial to make more user-centred solutions and design more intuitive user-interface. There were many new findings that I did not know about before, and it was an eye-opening experience.

Thinking ahead of the future:  At first, I did not know about more menus in the future. When I checked to confirm about it, it was already after I finished a few nav bar drafts without considering possible more menus. Although before starting to design, I came up with a list of questions to understand the project better, I never realized about the future perspective of the software. As a product designer, it is also my job to tackle every design perspective of the business. I should broaden my thinking to not only present but also the future.