Due to budget and time constraints, conducting formal user research was not feasible. Instead, I advocated for prioritizing multiple rounds of user testing during the prototype development phase.
This approach allowed us to gather valuable insights and iterate effectively throughout the redesign process, maximizing our learning within the given limitations.
1. Problem understanding
I examined 5 municipal websites and the mobile application to assess compliance with basic usability principles and minimum accessibility requirements, as well as to evaluate the consistency of the application's implementation.
While I confirmed some findings during the audit, we also gained new insights into how users interpret information and interact with the product. While some users completed tasks with ease, others faced significant frustration and required assistance to finish them.
Main Pain Points
2. Product Requirements
After we identified all the pain points, we started defining the product requirements for the new version. On top of these, I included insights from the stakeholders, new features that were already on the roadmap and new accessibility and security requirements by the state.
Problem Area
3. Brainstorming
How-Might-We…?
Since we already have a good idea of what the next version of the product needs to include to improve the user experience, it was time to start generating some ideas. Constructing how-might-we questions allowed me to easily facilitate brainstorming sessions with the product owners and developers leading to tangible options we explored in the design phase.
Brainstorming
Together with developers and product owners, we explored ways to address both user and customer concerns. At this stage, our focus was on generating as many ideas as possible, which we later prioritized based on feasibility and available resources.
After a few brainstorming sessions, we got a good idea of the key functionalities the new version of the product needed to support. This diagram maps user permissions with a strong focus on privacy and security, ensuring that access is restricted based on roles, age, and legal requirements. Since guardians may not always have full authority over a patient’s data, this approach helps maintain compliance with governmental regulations while protecting patient autonomy.
Once we had a solid grasp of the functionality, we mapped out user flows to make even complex use cases feel effortless. The goal was to create a seamless experience, ensuring that every interaction felt intuitive, no matter how intricate the scenario. These flows helped us refine the journey and remove any friction along the way.
4. Prototyping
Based on the positive results from our initial user testing, we kept the core structure as it was already efficient and aligned with common design patterns. However, we still needed to restructure some information and integrate new features to ensure a seamless and scalable experience.
Wireframing
With a clear content structure and specific ideas we wanted to explore, we iterated on design functionality and navigation. Our focus was on visual hierarchy, seamless page navigation, and usability to create an intuitive user experience.
High-fidelity design
This stage focused on visual design, as the wireframes already provided a solid overview of all the components needed for the new solution. A key priority was ensuring that accessibility requirements were met, such as contrast ratios and button target sizes, while also ensuring the solution could adapt
to any municipality.
Design system
One of our key goals for this application was to develop a scalable yet simple design system that meets all product requirements while ensuring compliance with WCAG levels A and AA. With a set of new UI components and guidelines, the application can now evolve more efficiently while maintaining a consistent visual language.
5. User testing
I conducted two user testing sessions with five different users in each session, based on the new prototype. Between the two sessions, we focused on optimizing user journeys through micro-interactions. While we tested various elements, from the onboarding process to finding relevant clinic information and gathering additional insights, the key conclusions are:
All actions take less than a minute, catering to parents' busy schedules.
100% task completion rate was achieved in both testing sessions.
*Users were also required to explain their choices while navigating through the application, which frequently increased the total time needed to complete the task.
