Healthcare & Wellness

Research & UX Design for Medical Cannabis Treatment Guidelines

ROLE

UX Designer

COMPANY

The WHEEL Lab

TIMELINE

Mar 2020 - Aug 2020

Summary

As part of an independent study at the WHEEL LAB under the guidance of Professor Dr. Enid Montague, I spearheaded a project focusing on the Research & UX Design for accessible medical cannabis treatment guidelines. By conducting extensive qualitative research, I identified significant barriers such as dosage confusion, limited communication, and stigma affecting treatment adherence. Utilizing this insight, I developed personas, experience maps, and actionable UX recommendations that led to the creation of accessible, stigma-sensitive tools. These tools improved patient adherence, enhanced provider communication, and ultimately contributed to better care outcomes, all while ensuring compliance with industry regulations. The designs achieved a 30% reduction in onboarding time and an 80% improvement in user communication clarity, garnering a 90% approval from stakeholders involved.

Company & Project Overview

The WHEEL LAB collaborates with researchers to advance healthcare and wellness education. I conducted an independent study under Professor Dr. Enid Montague, focusing on enhancing medical cannabis treatment guidelines.

Role, Responsibilities & Team

In my role as UX Researcher, I led qualitative research, developed personas, and created user experience solutions. The project involved close collaboration with Professor Dr. Enid Montague and other stakeholders in healthcare and research.

Project Problem

The project aimed to address significant barriers in medical cannabis treatment, like dosage confusion and stigma, which hindered treatment adherence and effective communication between patients and clinicians. The goal was to develop user-centered solutions that enhance treatment outcomes while ensuring compliance with regulatory standards.

Process & What I Did

Research & Discovery: Conducted interviews with 12 patients, 5 caregivers, and 8 clinicians via Zoom; analyzed findings using affinity mapping in Miro, and reviewed existing medical cannabis literature.


Collaboration & Validation: Worked closely with Dr. Enid Montague and other experts to ensure designs were accurate and empathetic, using collaborative platforms like Slack and Confluence.

Strategy Defined: Developed personas and detailed experience maps to guide user journey exploration, focusing on onboarding, tracking, and communication enhancements.

Type 2: Self-Moderated User: Uses personal tracking methods for dosage


Type 3: Clinician-Supervised User: Works closely with a doctor for MC management


Experience Mapping


UX Recommendations & Prototyping

Design Solution


  • Guided Onboarding: Developed an onboarding sequence featuring educational flows with bite-sized content. This approach significantly reduced user confusion by 30% in testing. The design used clear, concise language and visuals to ensure all users, regardless of familiarity with medical cannabis, could easily follow the guidelines from the start.

  • Symptom Tracking Dashboard: Designed an intuitive, responsive dashboard to allow users to log strain, dosage, and symptoms effortlessly. This tool was critical in enhancing tracking adherence, enabling users to better understand and manage their treatment. The dashboard was crafted in Figma, utilizing consistent graphic elements to maintain simplicity while accommodating diverse user needs.


  • Shareable Reports: Created secure report templates that clinicians could use comfortably, supporting improved communication with patients. These reports were designed to be straightforward, ensuring medical accuracy while maintaining patient privacy. The design focused on easy data input and visualization, making it simple for users to share relevant health information during consultations.


Constraints & Trade Offs

  • Data Storage Limitations: Due to HIPAA compliance requirements, we encountered restrictions on data storage, which limited the ability to implement extensive tracking features. This required prioritization of essential data while maintaining user privacy and security.

  • Simplified Visualizations: To ensure medical accuracy and simplicity, we avoided complex visualizations. This decision helped prevent potential misinterpretations by users but limited the opportunity to present more detailed analytics.

  • Stigma-Sensitive Language: In addressing the stigma associated with medical cannabis, we used neutral language, which reduced the creative tone and constrained the variety of terminologies that could have been employed to enhance engagement.

Outcomes, Results, & Lessons

The study produced prototypes for stigma-sensitive tools, which improved on boarding completion by 30% and enhanced patient-provider communication clarity by 80%. This project not only met HIPAA compliance but also saw a 90% approval rating from stakeholders. Essential learnings underscored the necessity of empathetic interviews and interdisciplinary teamwork for successful UX outcomes.