Streamlining Healthcare Analysis with Instant Insights

In the complex world of healthcare, analyzing data can be a daunting task. One of the most challenging processes is risk adjustment, which involves predicting the healthcare costs of individual patients based on their medical history and other factors. To simplify this process, a team was tasked with creating a user-friendly application called Instant Insights.

The challenge was to create a full user experience (UX) layout for a product that had not yet been built. To make the presentation more immersive and engaging, the team decided to create a website, promotional videos, interactive app mock-ups, and other content to showcase the product's features and capabilities. The goal was to present the product to a board of directors to secure funding.

Instant Insights was designed to reduce the dependency on cumbersome applications like Excel and Microsoft Access. The application provides summarizing metrics at a glance, allowing providers and company analysts to quickly access content and drill into inquiries. The two main components of the application are risk adjustment and provider insights, which offer unique experiences but require consistency in usage and understanding.

Despite strict design parameters and a tight deadline, the team utilized various strategies to plan and execute the project. This included behavioral research through tree testing, A/B testing, and healthcare analytics, as well as qualitative research through usability testing and field studies. Quantitative research was conducted through surveys and five-second testing, with the goal of creating a most viable product (MVP) that would meet project deadlines.

When it came to the actual UX, the project required a team effort to create a dashboard that would impress the board of directors with something they've never seen before. While I had an interest in UI/UX design, my professional skills at the time were focused on strategy and development. Unfortunately, the UX team was unable to effectively communicate the vision the Technical Product Owner had in mind.

To tackle this challenge, I began researching "How to design a UX Dashboard" and quickly found myself overwhelmed by the vast amount of information available. Despite the initial chaos, I created a plan of action that included consulting best practices and associates in the field, as well as online courses and creative brain breaks to spark creativity and innovation.

As someone who prefers traditional methods, I utilized pen and paper to draw, sketch, cut, paste, rip up, tear apart, and start again until I had a solid foundation. Using a super lo-fi mockup helped me get honest and actionable feedback quickly, which was invaluable for the project.

Although most senior leadership was initially opposed to this seemingly rudimentary process, we soon found that ideas were flowing and quick suggestions were being made. After considering all the content presented to us, I created an initial UI mockup to gain interest in the project and explore all the possibilities and options available to visualize this cutting-edge analytics software.

I presented the UI mockup to the team and received huge success. The Technical Product Owner loved the contrast and modern aesthetic. This project was meant to take our organization into the next phase of healthcare analytics, and the team as a whole was extremely excited. However, I soon realized that this was only the beginning of the UX and product design process.

When we met with the development team, they quickly informed us that the design was not feasible by any means. Beyond the UX itself, the features and functionalities we proposed were extremely complicated and would require huge amounts of data repositories, security criteria, and healthcare algorithms that required constant updating, along with other legal ramifications.

This setback was discouraging, but I learned quickly that it was simply part of the process. The next step was to sit down with the development team and understand all their requirements, restrictions, and other vital information needed to evolve the current iteration of the UI/UX. After tons of meetings, tutorials, and trial and error with Power BI, C++, and frantic YouTube searches, we were able to create an updated version that met our tech requirements and capabilities.

The new UI was based on multiple perspectives and aspects, not just the customer and users. We created a simpler UI/UX that was easier to produce and maintain while also offering a more fluid and intuitive feel for the users. Our unexpected obstacle resulted in a total update that improved our product considerably.

The final output was a fully immersive experience, and we created a website called Instant Insights to showcase the entire project and proposed output. The website featured proposed images and videos of the product in use, functional Invasion App mockups (Private Access), as well as content reviewing the product features and functionality. A brief infomercial was also made to promote and explain the product.

This project taught me many important lessons, and it was my first opportunity to work on all aspects from brainstorming to presenting to the board. While I don't consider myself solely a UX designer, I take pride in the time and dedication I've spent learning about the discipline. It's thought-processes, techniques, and practices have inspired the way I look and work in other fields of design and art, allowing my ideas and aspirations to achieve far larger levels than I could ever imagine