smartherapy
UX Research | Information Architecture | Content Strategy | UI Design
SmarTherapy application is designed for those recovering from surgeries and debilitating injuries to use in the privacy of their homes with the flexibility and added benefits of on-site physical therapy.
problem
There is a direct correlation between the cost of treatment and the necessity of treating an illness or injury. As the cost of treatment increases, the patient is less likely to seek help or continue the healing process. Therefore, SmarTherapy aims to help alleviate this burden.
Design Goals + Objectives
For the patient, the mobile platform will provide an interface to create an extensive profile and a description (text, photos, and videos) of the exercises for their particular need. Their profile will be custom to them and with interaction to their doctor and therapist.
research
In order to empathize with physical therapy patients and offer effective design recommendations for a new app, we need to understand the barriers that currently existed for these patients. The research included background reading, surveys, contextual inquiries, and competitive analysis.
prototype + ui design
In order for physical therapists and patients to want to use this app, the UI to be very simple and user-friendly. Since patients need to use it every day during therapy, the initial thought was for users to open the app and experience comfortable and warm feelings; this required some consideration to find the right color palette and typography.
View UI Kit
user testing + feedback
The SmarTherapy app was tested in InVision with both physical therapists and patients. Test subjects were curious about the entire app but broke the test into specific tasks that patients would need to complete. For example, one task asked users, “Where would you go if you wanted to do knee exercises?”
The patients and physical therapists had overall positive feedback about the app:
"This is great! I wish something like this really existed so I can do more at home."
"I love the concept - the only piece that is truly missing is biofeedback and billing."
Physical Therapy covers a variety of muscles and body parts. It is a broad subject to understand. It took a while to learn the relevant background knowledge needed for an effective design.
It is important to include realistic content in the design so that it’s easier to visualize the app’s design elements. Through several designs, checking to see if the design met user needs, several iterations were done. This was challenging and time-consuming, but rewarding: the end result was an app that accomplished all major goals and functional objectives.