Assessment of telemedical applications for nurses
Client
Hospital of Fribourg
Content
- Context
- Role
- Methodology
- Hypotheses
- Hypotheses validation
- Conclusion
Abstract
The research revealed gaps in telemedicine needs
While current solutions seem sufficient for routine care, opportunities exist in niche areas such as extreme condition support, where tailored telemedicine could thrive.
Context
Exploring the need for telemedicine in supporting home-care nurses
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fribourg Hospital successfully implemented telemedicine (remote medical consultations). Patients were discharged earlier and continued to receive monitoring remotely. The emergency department also used telemedicine for triage, and consultations were conducted through telemedicine applications.
Looking beyond the pandemic, the hospital is now exploring whether telemedicine could further support home-care nurses in delivering patient care.
Role
Driving UX research to define and validate solutions
Working with the Hospital of Fribourg, I led research efforts to uncover nurses’ challenges and explore telemedicine opportunities:
- Hypothesis testing: Collaborated with stakeholders to identify needs and potential solutions.
- Validation methods: Conducted contextual interviews and shadowing to refine approaches.
Methodology
Understanding stakeholders and workflows
- Personas & Journey Mapping: Developed user-profiles and documented key workflows to highlight pain points.
- Focus: Communication gaps, data-sharing inefficiencies, and decision-making barriers.
Hypotheses
Identification of the hypotheses driving stakeholders to perceive telemedical applications as an opportunity
- Collaborative Workshops: Engage stakeholders to identify their goals, challenges, and desired outcomes.
- Hypothesis Development: Formulate hypotheses that align potential solutions with stakeholder objectives.
- Validation Strategies: Design and propose methods to test and confirm the proposed hypotheses effectively.
*EMS : Emergency Medical Services
Output
- Nurses need external medical expertise when a doctor is not on-site
Core Questions: Have you used remote doctor, why, when, how often? - Nurses need to improve the communication of medical data to a remote doctor
Core Questions: What is the call’s content with the remote doctor, how data are exchanged, pain points…
- Nurses need to improve the type and amount of medical data provided to a remote doctor to establish a basic diagnosis
Core Questions: Which data do you need to make basic diagnoses, which data did you miss to make basic diagnoses, why, could you make a diagnosis based on [tyto/nomadeec data], what kind of diagnosis could you carry out of [tyto/nomadeec data] - Nurses need remote Swiss and/or senior doctors to increase the remote diagnosis quality
Core Questions: What is the aim of the call, what did you get out of the remote doctor diagnosis, did you get what you needed out of the call, is the level of expertise provided satisfying
Hypothesis validation method
Shadowing
Shadow and conduct interviews to quickly gather insights, supplemented by shadowing when possible for more in-depth observations.
Core questions:
- Have you used remote doctor services? If so, why, when, and how often?
- What is the content of your calls with remote doctors? How is data exchanged, and what pain points do you encounter?
- What types of data do you need to make a basic diagnosis? What data have you found to be missing or insufficient for diagnosis, and why? Could you make a diagnosis based on [Tyto/Nomadeec data]? What kind of diagnoses could you make using [Tyto/Nomadeec data]?
- What is the goal of the call with the remote doctor? Did you get the information you needed from the diagnosis? Was the level of expertise provided satisfactory? Is the level of expertise provided satisfying?
Interviewees:
- EMS nurse
- EMS nurse manager
- EMS resident
- EMS director
- Remote doctors
Insights
- Personas: Profiles of stakeholders we are addressing.
- Journey mapping: Insights into how the problem is addressed, highlighting pain points and opportunities.
- Opportunities: Clear recommendations for solving identified issues.
Recommendations
- Repeat interviews and shadowing in various establishments to gain certainty and granularity.
Hypothesis validation
Nurse journey and opportunities
Conclusion
Telemedicine solutions currently fall short in addressing the primary challenges faced by home-care nurses.
- Fragmented patient information from multiple health professionals (e.g., chemists, doctors, and other nurses) using different systems (emails, notebooks) hampers centralised record-keeping and efficient care.
- Communication challenges with doctors persist, complicating diagnosis and care coordination.
- The examinations performed by nurses are generally adequate for diagnosing life-threatening conditions, but gaps remain in supporting broader diagnostic needs.
- Future generations of home-care nurses may require additional training to carry out more advanced diagnostic tasks as their roles evolve.
Potential areas for telemedicine applications in extreme environments
- The telemedicine market is highly competitive, dominated by well-established brands and solutions. No clear gaps were identified where telemedicine could effectively address the daily challenges faced by home-care nurses.
-
Niche opportunities may exist in specialised fields that demand telemedicine for extreme conditions, such as mountaineering, deep-sea diving, or warfare, where customised solutions could address unique challenges.
UGG’s e-commerce website optimisation
Client
UGG
Problem
Conversion rates plummet after redesign
Following the relaunch of its website with updated UX and design, UGG faced a significant challenge — a 50% drop in its conversion rate. This dramatic decline raised concerns about the site’s usability, user engagement, and overall effectiveness in driving sales.
Approach
Diagnosing the root causes
To uncover the reasons behind the conversion rate drop, I adopted a two-pronged research approach:
Behavioural analysis through heatmaps
By leveraging heatmap analytics, I examined user behaviour, including clicks, scroll depth, and interaction patterns. This provided valuable insights into areas where users were dropping off or encountering friction.
Benchmarking against industry standards
I compared the website’s performance and design against industry best practices. This highlighted gaps in functionality, navigation, and overall user experience, identifying specific areas for improvement.
Outcome
Data-driven recommendations to increase conversions
The combination of behavioural analysis and benchmarking allowed me to pinpoint critical issues affecting the website’s performance. These insights enabled the creation of targeted recommendations to:
- Optimize user flows for smoother navigation.
- Reduce points of friction in the checkout process.
- Improve content placement and clarity to align with user expectations.
The analysis set the stage for a focused redesign strategy aimed at restoring and improving conversion rates while enhancing the overall user experience.
Abstract
During the analysis period, 3,865 visits were recorded on the homepage.
Tool used for observations
- SessionCam
Device usage breakdown
- Desktop/laptop: 39.8%
- Mobile: 48.9%
- Tablet: 11.3%
Limited engagement beyond the homepage
- Exit Rate: 43.8% of users left after visiting only the homepage, without exploring additional pages.
- Menu Interaction: Users also exited after opening the menu but did not navigate further, indicating they couldn’t find what they were looking for.
Scroll behaviour (based on the desktop heatmap)
- 25% of users left the site upon reaching the first new section of the homepage.
- 75% scrolled to the row of three tiles (Shop Women, Shop Kids, Shop Men).
- Only 25% or fewer users scrolled past the tiles to reach the bottom page navigation
Click behaviour & hero image engagement (based on the click heatmap)
- The hero image captures significant attention, but its CTA (“Shop Women’s Casuals”) receives little interaction.
- The header navigation garners more clicks than any CTA on the page.
- The hero image’s carousel shows forward engagement, but little to no backward interaction.
Opportunities for Captain’s information systems
Client
Lufthansa
Problem
Fragmented information hinders efficiency
Captains play a critical role in flight safety and success, but their workflows are hampered by fragmented information systems. Currently, Captains rely on multiple touchpoints—apps, devices, and communication channels—leading to increased cognitive load and reduced efficiency.
Role
Understanding the Captain’s journey and identifying opportunities
Summary
Method
- Focused on the Captain as the primary user.
- Reviewed the journey transcript, the article “How Airline Crews Work,” and the video “Two Cool Ladies Piloting the Heavy MD-11F Ultimate Cockpit Movie” to deepen understanding.
- Created a Captain persona and mapped the journey for a flight from Zurich to New York.
- Identified key goals, needs, and touchpoints (apps, devices, personnel) at each stage of the journey.
- Analysed how an increase in information sources leads to higher cognitive load and reduced satisfaction.
Key insights
- Multiple touchpoints (apps, devices, personnel) often overwhelm the Captain, increasing cognitive effort.
- More information sources negatively impact decision-making and overall satisfaction.
Recommendations for improvement
- Streamline information flow to reduce cognitive load and improve decision-making.
- Consolidate touchpoints to create a more efficient workflow.
- Simplify communication and data sharing to enhance the Captain’s experience, ensuring better focus and satisfaction.
Details
Personas & journey
