Engaging employees in health & wellness

EMPLOYEE HEALTH PORTAL DESIGN
Client: Bridgecrest Medical |  Length: 3 weeks |  Collaborator: Leslie Forman

RESEARCH   |   USER ARCHETYPES  |   DELIBERATE DESIGN PROBLEM STATEMENT   |   COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS   |   SOLUTION   |   NEXT STEPS

RESEARCH

We started mapping out how the employee portal fits into the overall business goals. We quickly realized that the challenge we were tasked with is a common one faced by anyone trying to get healthy - the challenge of motivating behavior change. Clients of Bridgecrest have clear incentives for keeping their employees healthy - but what motivates the employees to make difficult lifestyle changes? 

Many companies have realized that this can play a big role in controlling costs of employee healthcare. However, most are not confident that their strategies are effective. So - why is it so difficult? 

We researched psychological theories of behavior change and found that awareness and internalization of knowledge are two foundational components of behavior change. Before people can make difficult changes in their lives, they first need to understand why there is a need for a change at all. We all know from New Year's Resolutions that this is a difficult process. 

Within this context, we also researched how other companies were using wellness incentives programs and gamification components to motivate their employees to be healthier. We used some of these ideas as starting points for our ideation. 

Synthesis:

1. Behavior change is personal & difficult
2. Awareness & knowledge are a good place to start

Since this is the first time employees will have access to their own health metrics - we decided to position our employee health portal design as an introductory tool for employees to become aware and knowledgable about their personal health. 

We also recognize that behavior change is a personal process. Health & wellness strategies are not 'one size fits all.' So we will need to design the health portal specifically for our target users. 

USER ARCHETYPES

This was an unusual and challenging project because we could not contact any actual users of the employee portal (e.g. Gold miners in Argentina), forcing us to get creative to learn about our users:

• We interviewed local construction workers,
• Talked to friends with families who work in the Latin American mining industry
• Met repeatedly with Bridgecrest employees who have met with the target users.
• We read field-study research papers on Latin American mining culture.

Based on this research, we developed different user archetypes that we feel serve as a good starting point.

DELIBERATE DESIGN framework

We distilled our user archetypes down to 4 defining characteristics that captured the personality and needs of our target users. We then designed an interface that deliberately targets each of these characteristics, directly addressing each of our user archetypes' focus and needs in life. 

INSPIRATION & COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

We found inspiration for each of our 4 deliberate design features (guided, informative, practical, and motivating) from existing health monitoring or motivational products. For each design feature, we identified examples that were effective ones we determined were ineffective.

We also found it helpful to think about design guidelines for elderly patients in America, who may exhibit a similar level of tech savy-ness, as well as the streamlined user flows inherently built into many mobile-first design approaches.

SKETCHING & ITERATIONS

Most of our initial sketches contained too much information. Several iterations were needed to simplify the visual layout, the information, and the user flows to match our deliberate design considerations. We also conducted usability testing to understand which types of visual displays of data were the most intuitive and informative. 

SOLUTION

The most challenging aspect of the employee health portal was making it both non-intimidating and motivational for users who are unaccustomed to health data and web conventions.  Using our deliberate design framework (guided, informative, practical, and motivating), we specifically tailored the user journey, the visual display of data, and the navigation of the website to our users.

INFORMATIVE FACTS & DIGESTIBLE DATA

Each health metric that is recorded will have its own "health fact sheet." (Examples: blood pressure, sleep quality and quantity, respiratory health, hearing quality, etc.) It will be essential to have a medical professional provide concise and relevant information for each health metric page. 

We also wanted to summarize the health data in a concise and digestible way. Instead of displaying all data measurements ever taken (which can appear overwhelming), we identified 4 key pieces of information to display from the health data: 

1. Latest measurement from monthly health screening results
2. Relative change from previous measurement
3. Comparison of latest measurement with "normal healthy range" 
4. An interpretation of current health status

We were conscious of the fact that data can be easily misinterpreted if the data visualization is not designed accurately. We recommend usability testing with a variety of users and medical professionals to make sure that the data visualizations are accurately intuitive, keeping in mind that different metrics may be better communicated in different ways.  

PRACTICAL LEARNING

We included "open-book knowledge quizzes" that encourage practical learning of 1) learn the health facts, 2) learn to use the portal, and 3) understand their own health metrics. The "open-book" nature of the quiz makes it easy for the user to learn and minimizes random guessing and discouraging outcomes. Hints can be enabled that will highlight the location on the page where the user may find the answer to the challenge question. The quizzes target awareness and knowledge, the foundations of behavior change. 

POINT SYSTEM & LEADERBOARD

We included a simple point system and community leaderboard as a part of the gamification element of the portal. We recommend two types of goals – individual point challenges (all users who have a certain number of points by the end of the challenge time frame wins) and community leaderboard challenges (the user who has the most points on the leaderboard wins). Based on our research, we found that it is important to limit the time frame of challenges and to frequently change the goals in order to maintain interest.  

Next Steps: INCENTIVES DESIGN & EXPERIMENT DESIGN 

BACK TO TOP 

SEE OTHER PROJECTS