The Brief
Goal:
Challenge:
Increase User Engagement with app.
In conjunction with Experience Haus I was tasked with developing a research study into Optimi Health, a startup app aimed at providing access to professional physiotherapy support and exercises for people with injuries. The goal was to increase engagement with the app, so that users would commit to the app for the necessary duration to complete their rehabilitation, and onwards.
Users often don't engage long enough to complete rehab
Supporting Recovery with
Our team of three was tasked with increasing engagement with the Optimi Health app.
Optimi Health
Feeling impatient? Skip to the good part
1
Discovery
Initial Research
The Discovery phase was kicked off with an interview with Piers, the CEO of Optimi. The key points raised by him were:
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Optimi's founders all had knee injuries previously. At this stage in the development of the app the focus should be towards users with knee injuries.
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A goal setting feature is very important for users to stay engaged.
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There is a "drop off point" that needs to be addressed, where people tend to give up on their rehabilitation programs.
From this initial interview our team went away and conducted research into the following competitors,
and assessed what was currently being provided.
A key point from this research was the prominence of the progress tracking feature across all apps, yet the limiting of goal setting to only a select few.
User Interviews & Affinity Mapping
In conjunction with our competitor research we also began interviews with users who fit within the following frame:
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Aged 18 - 35
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Knee injury within the last 2 years
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Regularly active on a mobile device
To the right is a snapshot of the mapping taken from the user interview sessions.
2
Define
What we learnt from the research.
From the user interviews we were able to group what was said into a variety of themes. Some of the commonly raised points were related to:
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The effect of the injury on mindset
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Importance of community in exercise and rehab
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The common use of goal setting
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The lack of knowledge in what to do and where to get info
Personas
From the Affinity mapping sessions and subsequent discussions, the following three personas were created:
About
Chloe
19, Waitress
Chloe is a new student and waitress who is on and off with her training. She usually works out with her gym partner otherwise she would find other things to do.
Injury
She has torn her meniscus through running and has started basic rehabilitation but is still searching for ways to strengthen her knee and get back to full fitness.
Motivations
Chloe struggles at time for motivation as she is accustomed to training with a friend. She wants to be supported in her rehabilitation.
Core Needs
A good support system would be helpful for her to regain confidence and to complete practical exercises.
Pain Points
Some concern she will not be able to stick to a plan because she finds excuses. She also feels that due to her injury, she may be too weak to complete exercises.
About
Adam is a self-motivated academic. He makes sure to stay active in everyday life and participates in sports as well as regular running.
Injury
Adam got injured while playing soccer 3 years ago. He has already had rehabilitation but still feels his knee is not at its best and wants to improve it.
Motivations
As he is self-motivated he has a training routine for running and various sports. He would love to get back into tennis if his knee allows it.
Adam
32, PHD Student
Core Needs
Finding more diverse exercises from healthcare professionals would help ease his mind in regards to his continued recovery.
Pain Points
Lacks diversity in his exercise routine. He's not sure where to look for alternatives and is not willing to pay too much.
About
Darren
28, Entrepreneur
Darren is a highly active person who is always looking to push himself physically. Primarily focused on running and the gym, he also cycles and plays football.
Injury
His ACL was torn during a long run a year and a half ago. Continued exercise after this has made the injury worse.
Motivations
Always wanting to push himself further, he is driven by the goal of completing a marathon in eight months time.
Core Needs
Darren requires a way to visualise his goal and track his progress in achieving this. He also requires strengthening exercises to prepare.
Pain Points
He is concerned he will not be able to achieve his goal. Darren also has a tendency to push himself too far.
User Problem Statements
From the development of the personas and the analysis of the user experience, we defined 3 problem statements:
"As a user, I would like to have a support network with my workouts, so that I can keep motivation during my rehab"
"As a user, I would like to track my progress in long distance running, so that I can feel prepared to run a marathon in 8 months"
"As a user, I would like to access a variety of recognised exercises tailored to my needs, so that I can start playing tennis again"
A problem statement was selected and refined, with a possible solution being developed as a hypothesis:
Experience Map
After the creation of the personas, we went on to analyse the experience of the user as they progress through the current App.
The Problem
Hypothesis
Optimi needs a way to give the goal a central place in the app because that is what engages users and will ultimately result in a positive experience
We believe that by giving the goal a central place in the app, we will help to focus the attention of the user and achieve greater engagement.
We will know this to be true when we see users regularly progressing with their goal.
A user flow model was created to understand how the user would go from their dashboard to complete an exercise within the new app design.
User Flow
Ideation
From this ideas were sketched out, exploring the central dashboard and the community feature.
Wireframes
Having developed the structure of the central dashboard and community feature, the flow of the prototype was determined below:
The Central Dashboard
Having been assessed as the "keystone" to the user's experience within the app, a focus was placed in hierarchy and spatial prominence within the dashboard.
The user's attention is drawn directly to the set goal and progress. This information is broken down to allow the user to gauge if they are on target to achieve the goal.
Additional information regarding their exercise program is also displayed in a weekly plan and pain/exercise comparison.
Finally at the bottom of the dashboard, users can easily continue with their exercise routine (also accessible via the bottom navigation bar).
The Exercise Journey
Users are able to access the next exercise and exercise overview via the dashboard and bottom navigation bar.
Below is a display of how a user would progress through the exercise section.
The Community Feature
Having learnt from user interviews the value of community within rehab engagement,
we presented Piers with a social media style community feature within the prototype.
User Testing
From the user testing some of the key points raised were:
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Although the Goal feature was appreciated, a user suggested more prominence on tracking pain level.
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Social interaction was something users highly valued.
After the research and later testing, what stood out for me the most was the desire the users had for a sense of community when completing their rehabilitation.
From this next steps would include a slight shift in focus towards expanding the community feature, along with the inclusion of a more expanded pain tracking feature.