AuraSense
Blazing Audio
Hand Therapy Assessment Tool,
Patient Dashboard Experience
Role: UI/UX Designer on team of 3 designers.
Conducted moderated interview.
Created Persona.
Designed low and high fidelity Home screen and My Health screen.
Worked collaboratively with design team and stakeholder on all stages of design process.
Introduction
Blazing Audio is a biotech start-up company that has created a performance assessment tool for physical therapists to track the progress of their hand therapy patients at home. The biotech device uses sonar and thermodynamics to take measurements of patient's hands and vital signs while they go through therapeutic hand motions.
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Users need an experience that allows them to manage and access their sessions so that they can understand their progress with therapy.
UX Process
Empathize
Ideate
Primary Research
Interview with Occupational Therapist
Role: Interviewed participant and synthesized findings.
​Method
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A moderated interview was conducted with an Occupational Therapist for an expert perspective.
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The interview was conducted in-person, and lasted approx. 30 minutes.
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The AuraSense assessment tool and project focus of the UX team, was explained.
Research Questions
Open ended questions were asked to learn about:
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Who would be a typical patient that would use this product?
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What would be a typical diagnosis of a patient that would use this device?
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What would be the goals of occupational therapy for the typical patient described from the above questions?
Notes from interview
Hand Therapy Goals:
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Goals of patient depend on diagnosis (ex. tendon injury, surgery, arthritis, stroke)
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Goals would specify activities patient would need to be able to do.
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Reducing pain and increasing range of motion are the most common goals for hand therapy.
Example Patient Diagnosis:
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First Dorsal Component Injury from overuse (tendon injury to thumb)
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Results in pain through joints of thumb, base of thumb, and often forearm.
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Can make simple activities of daily living difficult. Ex., buttons, zippers, squeezing toothpaste, turning key in car ignition, holding pen.
Typical Therapy Plan for First Dorsal Component Injury:
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Rest joint with specialized splint.
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Range of Motion exercises.
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OT measures amount of range of motion before patient experiences pain. (This will show how well the patient is progressing as the range of motion increases before the patient experiences pain.)
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Patient reports overall pain using a pain scale.
Persona
The occupational therapist provided valuable insights into who would be a typical user of AuraSense.
Role: Constructed persona based on interview findings.
Cathy College Student
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Age: 20
Occupation: College Student
Diagnosis: Tendon injury of thumb due to overuse.
Lives: On campus
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Went to doctor after experiencing pain and limited use of her right thumb.
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Doctor prescribed occupational therapy.
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Spends 8-10 hours on a smartphone or laptop per day.
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Is very tech savvy.
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Concerns:
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Has difficulty pinching and gripping with thumb.
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Will have to use other fingers or left hand to complete tasks.
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Will have to wear splint several hours per day.
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Traveling to therapy sessions is difficult due to busy class schedule and distance.
Goals:
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Be able to get herself ready in the mornings without difficulty.
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Be able to use smartphone without pain in her thumb and arm.
User Flows
Userflows were constructed for the patient and therapist experience of viewing their dashboard.
Role: Collaborated with team to provide insight and feedback with user flows.
The patient user flow included a more detailed look at the experience surrounding an AuraSense session.
Low Fidelity Sketches
Before designing wireframes in Figma, basic sketches were drawn to get ideas quickly on paper.
Role: Sketched ideas for patient dashboard.
Low Fidelity Wireframes
Role: Designed wireframes for Patient Dashboard Home and My Health page.
Provided insight and feedback to other team members.
Allows users to see progress, schedule sessions, and rate their pain.
Users see this screen immediately following a session with the AuraSense tool.
Patients can read more about their diagnosis.
Allows users to see progress, schedule sessions, and rate their pain.
Low Fidelity Usability Testing
Role: Collaborated with team to discuss research goals.
Usability interviews were conducted with four individuals to determine common pain points in low-fidelity designs
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Key takeaways:
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Participants expressed liking the emphasis on progression imagery.
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Participants looked for ways to schedule next appt. following sessions.
Style Guides
Role: Collaborated with team to approve color palette and icons.
Color Style Guide
Purple - Represents meaning of wisdom, creativity, and peace.
Blue - Represents meaning of calmness, trust, and understanding.
These two colors were chosen as the primary of this color palette to resonate with Blazing Audio's creative entraprenuership and also to encourage users to trust the company's product with their health.
Icons for side navigation bar
Accessibility
Accessibility standards were ensured using the color check tool found at Accessibility Color Matrix
Role: Collaborated with team to ensure accessibility standards were met.
High Fidelity Wireframes
Role: Designed Patient Dashboard Home and My Health screens
Conclusion
The biotech startup company, Blazing Audio, has developed an at-home assessment tool for tracking progress with hand therapy. The company enlisted the help of UX design students to design a dashboard experience for users who are patients.
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The design team comprised of three UI/UX design students provided research in the form of an expert interview and created a persona. User flows were constructed for the journey therapists and patients take to arrive at the dashboard.
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Low fidelity wireframes were designed and tested, and iterations were made accordingly.
High fidelity designs were then crafted and a working prototype was made in Figma.
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Blazing Audio will be able to move forward with creating their online experience with the groundwork that our team has provided.
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