Dupage Dietitians

CASE STUDY

Research:

Research highlighted that chronic conditions, particularly diabetes, disproportionately impact minority groups like Black and Hispanic populations. Users often struggle with managing their diets, tracking carbs, and finding reliable resources. While health apps can provide significant help, they need to be both user-friendly and culturally tailored.

Design UI:

For the mobile app, the UI is designed to simplify diet and lifestyle management. It features straightforward navigation for tracking nutrition and exercise, seamless communication with dieticians, and culturally relevant meal planning. The app prioritizes ease of use and quick access to vital information to support effective chronic condition management.

Table of content

Introduction

  • Executive Summary

  • Hypotheses

  • Assumptions

  • Problem Statement

Research

  • Background Research 

  • Screener Survey 

  • User Stories 

  • Business Research 

  • Competitive Analysis 

  • User Interviews 

  • Affinity Map 

  • Persona

Design

  • User Flow

  • Sketches

  • Design System

  • Lo-Fi Wireframes/Prototype

  • Lo-Fi Prototype Usability Testing

  • Lo-Fi User Journey Map

  • Hi-Fidelity Prototype

Implementation & Test

  • Hi-fi Prototype (included with suggested changes)

Introduction

Executive Summary

Dietitians work closely with hundreds of patients who suffer from chronic health conditions. These patients often face unique challenges in managing their health for diverse reasons. 

To better support these patients, DuPage Dietitians aim to develop a comprehensive app that allows dietitians to manage their clients digitally. The objective of this project is to create a user-friendly and effective digital tool that enhances patient care and engagement. 

DuPage Dietitians website

Goal: The objective of this project is to create a user-friendly and  build  an effective web-app application from scratch that enhances patient care and engagement. 

 A website- app that can communicate between a professional dietitian and chronic health patients. 


Assumptions

The rise of digital health solutions offers promising opportunities to improve the management of chronic conditions. However, many users struggle with managing their health through multiple applications, leading to fragmented experiences and inefficiencies. This case study presents a project focused on developing a native mobile app tailored for dietitians and their patients, addressing the need for a consolidated solution that enhances user engagement, communication, and overall patient care.

Problem Statement

“Patients with chronic conditions need one place to manage their diet/ wellness, because most users are doing so by using a variety of apps. This can be time-consuming and be a barrier to achieving the lifestyle they need to manage or improve their condition”.

Research

Overview

This case study explores the development of a sophisticated mobile application designed to address these challenges by integrating dietitian services, patient tracking, and wellness management into a unified platform. The app's design and functionality were informed by a comprehensive research process, focusing on the needs of users with chronic diseases, particularly within minority groups. By leveraging design thinking methodologies and user-centered research, the project aims to enhance patient care, streamline communication with dietitians, and foster improved health outcomes.

Methodologies: Background Research, Surveys and Interviews, Affinity Map, Personas.

Background Research

To address the issue effectively, they first needed to gain a comprehensive understanding of the problem. They approached this by employing various research methods, which would be detailed later.

They started with background research to explore chronic diseases and the populations affected by them. It was discovered that chronic conditions such as cancer and diabetes are among the top health problems in the U.S. However, these issues are not evenly distributed. Minorities, including Black, Hispanic, and Native American populations, are up to twice as likely to experience these conditions.

They made sure to reflect this disparity in their research. Additionally, they found a notable study where mobile health apps were successfully used to improve blood sugar levels in Black and Hispanic adults with type 2 diabetes. This finding led them to consider similar potential solutions for their own research.

Survey

To best empathize with the target population, I conducted a survey to identify individuals for interviews, focusing specifically on Black and Hispanic adults with chronic diseases. My goal was to understand their health habits and how they use technology.

I administered the survey in both English and Spanish. I successfully surveyed 42 participants, the majority of whom were Black and Hispanic. I found that nearly 70% of these participants were already using health and fitness apps, while about 70% had never spoken with or seen a dietitian.

Interviews

I interviewed 10 users, and 8 of them have had or currently have chronic conditions like diabetes, obesity, cancer, or food allergies. During the interviews, I asked them about:

  • How they manage their diet and lifestyle concerning their chronic condition

  • The challenges they face in managing their diet and lifestyle

  • What makes it easier for them to handle their diet and lifestyle

  • How, if at all, they use technology to manage their condition

  • Their experiences with patient portals

  • Their experiences with activities such as tracking nutrition and exercise, receiving meal plans, and engaging with community or educational resources

Users were asked about how they manage their diet in regards to their chronic condition, what pain points they have in regards to that, what makes it easier how they're already utilizing tech to manage their chronic condition, their experience with patient portals and experience with tracking, with activities such as tracking, receiving curated meals, and participating in community or forums. So to make sense of all that, we affinity mapped. And we found 4 major categories.

Use of Health Apps:

Notes 

  • All users interviews are using additional fitness/ health apps on their  smartphones and smart watches. 

  • Popular ones are the Apple fitness app, MyFitnessPal, and apps that pair with glucose trackers such as Dexcom and FreeStyle Libre . 

  • Many like features of diet/ nutrition apps but many feel like tracking/ have issues counting calories/ tracking for home-cooked meals 

  • Insights

    • Most express that frustrations that apps don’t “talk to each other” and would like the manage them in one place

“Ideally something like myfitnesspal- where i’d track my calories could talk to my Dexcom which tracks manages my blood glucose levels that way I can understand the impact my diet has on my glucose.” - Marcos, Type 1 Diabetes 

Recipes:

Notes 

  • Want to filter recipe by cuisine type such as: Asian, Mexican,Italian 

  • Want to bookmark recipes

  • Want to filter for the condition: allergies, diabetes, obesity

  • Other tags for lifestyle diets such as vegetarian, keto, dairy free, vegan ect

  • Want to enjoy cultural food they ate before, in a way that’s healthy 

  • Insights

    • Users need access to recipes that are tailored to their condition and foods they like. 

Tracking:

Notes 

  • Most users find tracking useful but also time consuming 

  • Good for fast food, chain restaurants, packaged products

  • However, becomes more difficult when you’re cooking your own meals

  • Insight

    • Most users are interested in counting calories, protein, carbs, macros, ect but they find it too time-consuming- especially for home cooked meals. 

Communication:

Notes 

  • The DM function on patient portals is a very popular function that most users utilize and they often do so from their smartphone 

  • Many patients also want to continue seeing dr in person but also like telehealth 

  • Users would like more quick accountability check-ins rather than just long visits every couple months 

  • Insight

    • Users would like to see the dm function leveraged for more frequent check-ins. 


Persona

I’d like to introduce you to a persona we’ve been working with. He’s 33 years old, has a toddler, and was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. As a result, he’s working on making significant adjustments to his lifestyle and diet.

His main goals are to reduce his carb and sugar intake, cook healthy meals that his whole family can enjoy, and exercise regularly—something that’s manageable for individuals with type 2 diabetes. He’s seeking more access to diabetes-friendly recipes, a quick method for tracking carbs, and reliable resources and information about diabetes.

One challenge he faces is his Hispanic background, which influences his diet and means he’s accustomed to high-carb foods. This cultural aspect makes carb tracking especially challenging and time-consuming. Additionally, while he’s using several apps to help manage his condition, coordinating all of them has become quite frustrating.

Problem Statement:

“Patients with chronic conditions need one place to manage their diet/ wellness, because most users are doing so by using a variety of apps. This can be time-consuming and be a barrier to achieving the lifestyle they need to manage or improve their condition”.

Solution:

Designing an Integrated Mobile Application for Chronic Disease Management: Enhancing Patient Experience through UX/UI Innovation

Competitive Analysis: Feature Inventory Chart

Evaluated existing apps like MyFitnessPal, Weight Watchers, and MyChart to incorporate best practices and identify gaps to address.

Design

App Features:

  • Core Functionalities: Integrated features including personalized meal plans, nutrition tracking, communication tools for dietitians, and health metrics tracking.

  • Competitive Analysis: Evaluated existing apps like MyFitnessPal, Weight Watchers, and MyChart to incorporate best practices and identify gaps to address.

  • User Experience and Interface Design:

    • Wireframes and Prototypes: Developed low and high-fidelity wireframes, incorporating feedback from usability tests to enhance user navigation, dashboard functionality, and communication features.

    • Design System: Established a design system with a vibrant color palette, typography, and iconography to ensure consistency and appeal.

User Flow

We aimed to begin with the sign-up and login process, followed by the onboarding steps to access the dashboard. This approach allowed us to demonstrate how users interact with dieticians, access their meal plans, and utilize various forms and resources.

Sketches

These initial sketches illustrate our design concepts and how we evolved our ideas. They provide a visual representation of our thought process and design development.

Design System

Established a design system with a vibrant color palette, typography, and iconography to ensure consistency and appeal.

Lo-Fidelity Wireframes/Prototype

Developed low-fidelity wireframes, incorporating feedback from usability tests to enhance user navigation, dashboard functionality, and communication features.

Usability Test

We conducted a usability test to evaluate how our user interacts with the app. The test, which involved completing various flows, took 18 minutes. During this process, we observed several key areas where improvements were needed.

For instance, the user struggled with logging in and managing their phone settings, so we implemented Face ID for easier access. They wanted to track both consumed and burned calories, so we updated the main home dashboard to include this information prominently.

The user was confused by the "Settings" option in the navigation, so we removed it. We also made changes to the chat feature for dietician support, replacing the voice memo icon with a more intuitive microphone icon. Additionally, the user found the combined display of water intake, meals, and workouts confusing, so we separated these elements and placed essential ones on the main dashboard.

For tracking daily intake, the user wanted a quick way to add and view calories, so we added a search feature for easy access to quick additions.

These updates are reflected in our high-fidelity prototype, which aims to address the user’s pain points and enhance their overall experience.

Implementation and Test

By integrating various functionalities into a single platform, the app aims to improve patient engagement, streamline communication with dietitians, and enhance overall health management. Future work will focus on further refining the app based on user feedback, expanding its features, and exploring its impact on health outcomes.

Hi-Fidelity Prototype

App Walkthrough

The developed mobile app addresses the need for a comprehensive and user-friendly solution for managing diets in chronic diseases. By integrating various functionalities into a single platform, the app aims to improve patient engagement, streamline communication with dietitians, and enhance overall health management. Future work will focus on further refining the app based on user feedback, expanding its features, and exploring its impact on health outcomes.