台灣e院：線上醫療諮詢APP

Overview

The Taiwan e-Hospital website is a free medical consultation service composed of 32 hospitals under the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The platform allows the public to seek advice on health issues by using a message board, with an annual average of over 10,000 questions and a response rate as high as 98%.
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Despite the convenience it offers, the website's design is relatively basic and struggles to increase its user engagement.Therefore, I based my work on the original website and redesigned a mobile application. By enhancing the platform's information architecture, consultation process, and overall interface design, the aim is to make it easier for users to find the medical information they need and guide them to communicate more effectively with physicians. The goal is to create a reassuring medical consultation experience.

TIMELINE
SEP 2022- NOV 2022

MY ROLE
User Research, User Interface

TOOLS
‍Adobe XD、Illustrator、Photoshop、Miro

The design of the Taiwan e-Hospital website is basic and lacks practical functionality, and the information layout makes it difficult for users to find resources.

User Research

Starting with an understanding of the medical consultation users, identified the existing problems.

Medical consultation users encompass a wide range of roles. I conducted the following research to understand their needs and objectives, as well as to explore their behaviors and habits when engaging in medical consultations.

User Interviews

I conducted interviews with a total of three Taiwan e-Hospital website users and one doctor. The interview process was divided into two main areas of focus:

Q. How do you feel when using the Taiwan e-Hospital website？
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Q. What are your experiences and habits when searching for medical information online?

Female, Marketing Specialist (30)

The doctors on Taiwan e-Hospital respond quickly and conveniently, but not being able to see the doctor's appearance creates a sense of distance for me.

Female, Designer (25)

While I do want to receive professional responses from the doctors, I also like to explore other information and learn from others' experiences before that.

Male, University Professor (33)

I always forget what I want to say during seeing a doctor, similar to ordering at McDonald's. I prefer using a self-service kiosk rather than interacting with a cashier.

Male, Doctor (39)

We hope that users can make more use of the historical Q&A, checking if someone has already asked the question to avoid repeatedly asking the same questions.

User Story

By observing the product and conducting research through academic papers, I have compiled a list of Taiwan e-Hospital's current primary target users. Explored potential solutions for the product based on their motivations, situations, and purposes for using medical consultation.

Self-aware feeling unwell

Cathy Lin

Femail, Marketing Specialist (24)

As a recent graduate entering the workforce, I have been experiencing frequent fatigue, palpitations, and a sense of restlessness. I'm seeking advice on which department to consult and would like to see what diseases or conditions young women with similar symptoms have been diagnosed with. This would help me reduce anxiety before I see a doctor.

Caregiver for elderly or children

Eliza Chen

Femail, Teacher (35)

As a mother with a 7-year-old son and a father in stage II colorectal cancer undergoing chemotherapy, I need comprehensive and professional cancer care guidance. I also require a convenient way to access these care instructions at any time, enabling me to take care of my father effectively within the constraints of limited time and energy.

chronic conditions requiring long-term monitoring

Allen Huang

Male, Engineer (32)

As a busy executive in the IT industry, I have been dealing with a herniated disc issue. I would like to provide my previous medical reports to consult with doctors for their recommendations. Additionally, I'm interested in understanding the recovery outcomes of patients with the same condition. This way, I can assess the most suitable treatment path without visit multiple hospitals.

User Journey

To better understanding of the user's actions and thought process during online medical consultations, I conducted testing and interviews with two target users. From this, I created a 'Consulting Physician Journey' to identify the issues and opportunities users encounter during the consultation process.

Define the Problem

#1
Difficulty in finding historical Q&A.

Taiwan e-Hospital has a wealth of historical Q&A resources for users to refer to. However, it is user-unfriendly for those outside the professional field, as it relies solely on categorization by department, lacks keyword guidance, and filtering options. Users need to sift through a vast amount of information to find answers.

Why is the resource search necessary?
Most free consultation websites encourage users search for answers before posting their questions to prevent wastage of medical resources. Through interviews and literature research, I have also found that many users have a habit of searching for resources first, for them, finding answers through search may be quicker and more convenient than posing questions to a doctor.

#2
Users are unsure how to describe their problems to doctor.

Most users lack the skills to describe their medical issues. Moreover, the limitations of text-based descriptions often result in forget the key information when they detailing their symptoms. Users spend amount of time thinking how to descript their problems, which can lead to poor communication between doctors and patients.

Skills to describe medical issues：
frequency of occurrence, affected areas, lifestyle habits, overall health status (medical history, medication usage), etc. Without the guidance of a doctor, users may find it challenging to provide comprehensive information all at once.

#3
Overall, users feel that product lacks in human touch.

One of the primary reasons people use online medical consultations is the desire for emotional support from professionals to reduce anxiety. The lack of personalization and standardized presentation of medical information can make users feel like they are missing a human touch.

Ideation

Existing Resources：

‍1. Medical information database in hospital website
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The websites of hospitals under the Ministry of Health and Welfare contain a wealth of medical articles, including information on diseases, medications, and various columns. However, these resources are seldom accessed by the users. If we can integrate existing databases into the product, it would provide users with accurate medical knowledge.
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2. Health Insurance Reform Diary APP
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It is an application developed by the National Health Insurance Administration, providing users with access to various medical records, medication history, and test results. After conducting user research, it was found that many users often inquire their test results and medication-related questions. However, they have to manually input this data, which is time-consuming. It would be more convenient if there was a way to link the medical information within the application and share the data with doctor.

functional map

Design Deliverables

Onboarding

Setting Personal Health Information

Users can set their personal health information and interest health topics during registration.

Home

Conveying a Brand Image of Human Touching and Caring

The primary focus of Taiwan e-Hospital is on resource browsing and search.
In addition to offering departments for quick reference, the system also recommends relevant Q&A and articles based on the personalized settings made during registration, reducing the cognitive burden and anxiety caused by irrelevant information.

Intuitive Categorization and Enhanced Search Experience

In addition to categorize by department, Taiwan e-Hospital also allows searching by body part and symptoms, avoiding the common issue where users get stuck on 'Which department should I see?' question."

filter
Filter allows users to narrow down search results more precisely using keywords, gender, specialty, body part, age group, and other criteria to find relevant information.

Explore

Rich & structured information

On the explore page, users can browse all the resources including Q&A, doctor information, and medical articles. Due to the abundance of resources on Taiwan e-Hospital, it's important to maintain a clean and read-friendly design for presenting different types of information. Relevant topic or keyword links are provided to assist users in discovering more resources that suit their needs.

Q&A
On the Q&A page, users need to navigate through a significant amount of text to find information. Therefore, the design will prioritize an easy-to-read presentation and emphasize visual hierarchy based on the importance of the content.

Doctor Info
To help users select a doctor more quickly, we present several key criteria: department, response time, popularity, enabling them to choose a physician that suits their needs.

Medical Articles
By integrating hospital medical article resources, we provide users with accurate disease and healthcare information while reducing the constant repetition of questions and the waste of medical resources.

Medical consultations

Guide users to communicate more effectively with doctor

Using a question-based approach, guide users step by step through the completion of consultation content. Users can also choose to share personal health information with doctor, Facilitating a better understanding between doctor and patients.

Auto-fill feature
‍Offering users an auto-linking feature to medical terminology while filling out consultation content, assisting them in providing more accurate information.

Upload photos or medication and test result
‍Integrating with the Health Insurance Reform Diary APP for personal medical record access, users can upload medication and test data to physicians. With the assistance of these reports, doctors can offer more detailed advice, saving users time in data entry.

Doctor Recommendations
Based on the consultation content, the system will automatically recommend suitable doctor to users, eliminating the need for them to worry about choosing a department and doctor.

Others

Note
Highlight the doctor's advice and allow users to bookmark it on the homepage.

Family Management
Assisting caregivers to more conveniently inquire and record the health of their family members.

Taiwan-e-Hospital: Medication Online Consulting APP