Part III - Personalized Healthspan Coaching: Product Design
Project Type
Product Design
Date
May 2024
Location
College Station, TX
This case study is the third section in an independent study I completed under the mentorship of Dr. Mark Benden through the school of Public Health during my final semester at Texas A&M.
The goal of this case study was to respond to the problem developed in the previous section, problem development, with a tool designed to support users in developing their own healthspan intervention plan.
​
I utilized:
-
The information I gathered through extended research
-
A working knowledge of training design for adherence
-
Human Factors design for displays
to design a wireframe for a SaaS product.
Wireframe for Proposed Solution
Educational Phase
Intuitive arrow buttons allow the user to control the pace and skip screens easily.
The Unique Value Proposition, or the unique way this solution can bring the user value, is highlighted for added emphasis.
The information is shared in text format and is revealed one "idea" at a time to maintain user interest and engagement.
Before any coaching tool can be utilized on a day-to-day basis, there must be a setup process where information about the user is gathered. This includes demographic data as well as personal preferences and learning methods. Another factor is ensuring the user has a personal and individualized experience even though the tool can only access pre-set options.
The educational phase of startup acts as a hook to engage potential users and explain what personalized training for long-term health goals is and how it could impact their lives.
First Information Collection Phase
AI model generates personalized responses to use inputs to reinforce the user's interactions with the Avida "avatar" and make information collection go more quickly.
The avatar is depicted throughout the startup process, reinforcing the user's understanding of this tool as a coach.
This stage of startup before the first value delivery is the point at which the user is most likely to give up on the training tool. With this in mind, the free-form design keeps the user's interest engaged.
This phase collects demographic and health history from the user. These are the minimum data points needed to provide the first round of long-term health insights in the next section.
First Value Delivery Phase
An arrow shows the focal point of the visual, while the description below explains the relevant points so that data literacy is not required to deliver value to the user.
Note that axes are named in a previous screen, as shown in the video demo. This was to decrease the potential for distractions on a potentially overwhelming presentation of visual information.
This phase demonstrates the power of projecting likely outcomes for health given one's current status. The visuals shown are generated using the information provided in the previous section and are personalized to the individual user.
The visual and the summary goals that follow are meant to motivate the user to move toward positive change. This is because in general, people are more motivated to avoid a potential loss than to try for a potential gain.
​
However, "fear-based" initiatives such as this are almost always short-lived. It takes a more meaningful incentive within a lasting framework to create lasting change. This is the goal. Therefore, this initial phase is designed to help the user stay engaged throughout the long startup process until a more substantial framework can be put in place.
Simple and intentional graphics were used to reinforce the idea shared in text format.
Although there will be many factors and user data points forming the individualized training, the user is presented with only two pieces of information on which to focus throughout the remainder of setup.
"Top Ten" Definition Phase
The challenge here is to reduce a list of 30 items to a user's prioritized and ordered "top ten". This screen allows the user to drag and drop a few items into their preferred order using an intuitive interface.
Consecutive screens allow for all pre-set ideas for the "top-ten" to be considered by the user. Next, the "first round" choices are compared until a final, ordered set of "top ten" remains.
In this phase of setup, the user orders a number of pre-set activities based on their own values. Using a sequence of rounds where different activities are compared with each other to determine the user's highest priorities, the user builds a list of the ten activities that are most meaningful and important to them.
The tool then displays the final list and gives the user a chance to make changes before continuing.
In terms of user retention throughout setup, this is useful because the user is now focused on all those aspects of life that are most important. This focus will be a driving motivator throughout the next round of user input, until the training plan is made available.
Current State Assessment Phase
Four possibilities are available in the sliders' design. This design choice is intended to reduce decision fatigue, increase the value of the user's input, and ensure that there is no "middle ground" option.
This phase collects more detailed information about the user's current health condition, their habits, and their willingness to change those habits in light of their commitment to being capable of their "top ten" later in life.
​
It also gathers a self-assessment of the user's preferences for training methods, for example, how heavily numerical goals should be used to motivate the user as opposed to qualitative incentives.
Second Value Delivery & Benchmark Phase
In general, this rectangular shape with a white background is used to consistently denote opportunities for user interaction, while unhighlighted text is reserved for informational training content. (See below)
A training adherence tactic known as "menu-ing" is used here to increase user buy-in and initiative. Users are presented with a list of options and can start where they feel most comfortable.
Finally, this phase allows the user to set a benchmark, or an initial score from which they will strive to improve their capability in that area. This will allow the training to be more specific and to target those areas most in need of additional focus. In this example, physical fitness is the focus instead of another area such as nutrition. However, similar methods apply for all areas of health coaching.
​
"Top ten" activities are translated into concrete goals with a dashboard for each. The dashboard allows the user to see both current status, immediate milestones, and their long-term goal. This long-term goal, alongside the summary statement at the bottom of the page, links the goal to the user's "top ten" and their motivation for engaging in personalized healthspan training.
Unnecessary details are hidden, so that the dashboard for this activity is as clear of distractions as possible.
The checklist is included to set clear expectations for what is necessary to complete setup for this activity. Research shows that including "wait times" increases user satisfaction when compared to an opaque process.
In-app examples make activities more accessible to users, and therefore, goals more achievable.
A summary statement helps keep the user grounded in the Unique Value this training tool is providing; coaching for their personalized health goals.
A simple timeline summarizes the current benchmark "score", future milestone goals, and the projected goal for two decades from the present day. This reinforces both the current trajectory and the big picture.
Colors are used to highlight how the present benchmark score differs from the user's next goal.
The reasoning for the activity is included to help the user stay motivated and focused on the end goal.
This page is intended to provide a sample of my design work.
To learn more about the project, you can reach me directly using the Contact page!