Herb RX is a a holistic health created with my client, who makes her own herbal tinctures, lotions, elixirs, and other products. She did not want to go the traditional route of just selling products on Etsy or social media. Instead, she wanted to create an experience where people could both learn about holistic practices and also easily purchase products thru the app. We brought her ideas and my design thinking together to create an app that is both a tool and a resource for people interested in holistic medicinal practices.
PROJECT
/DETAILS
Herb RX
Brief
Can we create a tool and resource for users to learn about holistic health?
Research
To begin my research, I looked at another app with a similar concept as mine. This app gave me some ideas on what works well and what doesn't for similar apps. I was able to see holes in the market and gained a better understanding of what I wanted to include in my app.
Many people don't know where to start when it comes to holistic healthcare because information on the internet is so saturated and hard to trust. My task is to work with my client to create a mobile app that both sells her goods and is a trusted educational resource for people to learn more about holistic medicine practices.
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We identified the most important user needs to create a solid product:
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Create a platform that expands peoples knowledge of medicinal herbs.
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Create a way for people to easily identify what they need.
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Make it easy for users to purchase said goods thru the app.
Project Timeline: 3 Week Design Sprint
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WEEK 1
Research & Understand
Surveys
User interview
User stories
Competitive analysis
Personas
WEEK 2
Ideate & Decide
Minimum viable product
User flow
Wireframes
WEEK 3
Prototype & Test
Clickable prototype
User testing
Iterations
Accessibility
What was learned
Next steps
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Very clean, minimal layout
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Easy to navigate
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Helps with routine
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Helpful articles
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Mental health help
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Illustrations make a stressful process less stressful
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Colors alleviate mood
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Easy to use
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Recommended for you section
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Scope is a little too broad
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Lack of focus, and stretched too thin
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lack of on boarding process and personalized information
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Not clear where information is sourced from
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Hard to find specific information
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Bottom menu could be hard to read for people with vision problems
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No on-boarding
Competitive Analysis
WEAKNESSES
STRENGTHS
Surveys & Interviews
For my surveys and interviews my aim was to gain in site on what people would like to see in a holistic health app. To do this I asked about thoughts about a traditional health environment, which was overwhelmingly negative. Based off these results, I decided to make my app as far from a traditional health/ medical environment as possible. I also found that trustworthiness was something people highly valued in a health based app. I also learned that there is a market and need for an app such as this.
Respondents said they worry about the long term effects of taking prescription drugs.
15/20
Respondents would choose a natural remedy over a prescription drug for a non-emergency health issue
Feeling when at the doctors office?
"I like when there a community aspect to an app, like workshops or interactive experiences"
"I'd like to be able to see the origins of the plant, the health benefits, and the different uses for it."
"I'm more likely to trust a source if it comes from someone with credentials in the field, or if it's part of their heritage"
User Personas
Dana, 26
Social Worker
Robert, 66
Retired Pilot
GOALS
PAINPOINTS
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Get rid of her chronic headaches by targeting the root of the problem
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Gain more knowledge about herbs & holistic medicine
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Overwhelmed by saturation of information on the internet
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Doesn't know which sources she can trust
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Doesn't know of many sustainable, small brands & businesses to purchase from
GOALS
PAINPOINTS
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To live a healthier lifestyle
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Wants to understand holistic health so he can use it to prevent illness
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Overwhelmed by saturation of information on the internet
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Doesn't know much about holistic health and needs to be motivated to start
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The older he's gotten the more pills he has to take, and wants to be able to cut some of them out
User Stories
HIGH PRIORITY
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As a new user, I want to be able to easily find the right holistic medicine for me.
As a new user, I want to be able to purchase what I need in app, so its more efficient.
As a new user, I want to learn about holistic practices.
As a new user, I want to be able to speak to a trusted source about what I am purchasing.
SECONDARY
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As a new user, I want to be able to save things to look at or add to my cart later.
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As a new user, I want to be able to pay with a payment plan, so certain things are more accessible to buy.
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As a new user, I want to be able to put in my allergies, so that I don't accidentally buy something that has an allergen.
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As a new user, I want to know where the product I'm getting is sourced from so I can make informed decisions.
Scenario
Dana has chronic headaches, but is sick and tired of taking ibuprofen and other drugs for her ailment. She wants to try a homeopathic route but doesn’t know where to start
Goals & Expectations
She expects to have trustworthy information that will actually help her. She wants a personal and intuitive app experience.
User Stories
1. Has to stop working at her computer because it's getting worse
2. Goes to medicine cabinet to get ibuprofen, then changes her mind and throws out bottle
Comes down with headache
My friend said that Ibuprofen is bad for the liver! I shouldn't take these so often...
Ugh, the blue light from my computer is making this headache worse.
3. Looks up remedies online
4. Chugs a bunch of water
5. Doesn’t know where to get herbs for remedies online, and doesn’t know which to choose
Tries to get rid of it
Theres so much information on here! I don’t know what’s accurate.
Where can I even get there ingredients, they don’t sell it at the grocery store I go to.
6. Headache gets worse, fishes Ibuprofen bottle out of trash
7. Takes Ibuprofen
8. Lies down, frustrated and annoyed
Lies down
I’m just gonna pop an advil and sleep it off, maybe next times I’ll be prepared with a more holistic solution.
Ideate and Decide
After thoroughly discovering the users needs, wants, and motivations, I was able to envision a a scope for the app, and had an idea of what to include and how to start organizing. To begin cranking out design ideas, I started sketching using a few different brainstorming methods.
How Might We's
Sketching
Sketching
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I made a storyboard to further illustrate and tell my user's story. Additionally, I wanted to add context for internal teams and stakeholders, in order to help them make better decisions about my product's direction.
Prototyping & Testing
Paper Prototype
Next, I created some paper prototypes so that I could do some simple user testing before digitizing my ideas. This process was instrumental for the iteration process, because I received some really helpful feedback before taking my time to create my clickable prototypes.
Clickable Prototype
After much ideation and feedback, I was able to quickly come up with some clickable prototypes.
Visual Design
To begin the visual design process, I took a lot of the info I had learned during my informational interviews and created a style tile. I had learned from my research that a calming and natural app environment was ideal for an app such as this. Essentially, I wanted to make the environment the opposite of a typical healthcare app; so not sterile or anxiety inducing.
Accessibility
I made sure the text and background had a heavy contrast so that anyone who is colorblind or poor eyesight could see everything clearly.
All my font choices were made with accessibility in mind, while still adding to the overall feel I wanted to evoke from the app. All font was size 16 and in most cases a lot bigger than that. Most of the text on the smaller size of the spectrum was bolded to make sure it was readable to anyone with less than perfect eyesight.
Heavy Contrast
Readability
The overarching purpose of the app is for educational use, so I made sure there were multiple ways to access information. First, there is a chat where you can ask a specialilist anything. Secondly, you can search or see suggested information.
Multiple Ways to Find Information
High Fidelity Prototype
Paper Prototype User Testing Feedback
Next, I created some paper prototypes so that I could do some simple user testing before digitizing my ideas. This process was instrumental for the iteration process, because I received some really helpful feedback before taking my time to create my clickable prototypes.
Add an about this app section, to explain practices and more about app context.
Add filter to search area.
Add descriptions to product thumbnails.
Give background on her herbalist you are getting information from.
Add more suggestions based off popular herbs or products, maybe sort by symptoms.