DMARDs Tracker
A new medication review tool for easy tracking of DMARDs (Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs) | @Epic
UX UI Design
Research
Usability Testing
Prototyping
Role
Lead UX Designer
Timeline
Jan 2023 - Jan 2024
Tools
Adobe Xd | Microsoft Forms | Microsoft Powerpoint | Microsoft Word
NDA Protected
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NDA Protected •
Due to my work being under NDA, I can’t show any related visuals or provide in-depth details of this project. Instead, I will provide a general overview for context, and focus on the process and outcomes.
Feedback Corner!
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Feedback Corner! ⋆᪥⋆
"Working with Nini on my current rheumatology project has been spectacular. It's very clear that she is thorough and puts a lot of thought into her work, as she alone has filled out 3-4 whole whiteboards across the 2 meetings we've had thus far, and she puts the end user at the forefront, writing down anything and everything that could benefit our end users. She has been very pleasant to work with, as she has been responsive, punctual, and willing to ask questions in order to completely understand what is required for this project."
software developerProject Overview
The Problem
Currently, rheumatologists keep track of their patient’s DMARD usage by digging through their medication notes, usually hand-written, asking around the clinic, and reaching out to their patient’s previous providers. This process can be time-consuming and complicated, and depending on how the medications was documented, it can confusing.
Our Solution
The goal is to create a new review activity where our users are able to easily track current and historic DMARDs alongside other medications taken concurrently.
The Process
Research - Collecting and Organizing
CurThe project began in 2022 and entered a pause before it was handed to me and a developer in 2023. Receiving research content done by previous project owners, we organized the information and contacted those previously involved for more insight.
From the content, we looked for patterns and got a solid base idea of our users’ workflows, pain points, needs, and wants. Since our end-users have known of this project since 2022, before conducting further research, we decided to create basic mockups based on the findings to show a step in progress and increase user interest to get more user involvement.
Initial Design and User Interviews
The project was paused due to development constraints at the time, so to get the ball moving, we went forward with creating designs without constraints in mind to create an “ideal” design (Version A) of what the activity can become in the future.
While brainstorming various layouts, we focused on the following main needs:
quickly track usage of DMARDs with other medications
ability to view more detailed content (ex. medication notes)
easy to maintain (edit ability)
Once mockups were created, we communicated with providers and others interested in the activity from various organizations. From the user interviews:
reaction was positive - word spreading where other providers we were not in touch with reached out to be involved
Feedback were mostly over:
content can be shown on hover to simplify the main view
specific ranking of relevant information to solidify their locations on the activity
Working Towards the Final Design
TWith the new feedback, we edited Version A, then took what we learned and inspiration from Version A to create a second design (Version B) that fit within the current constraints. Luckily, the main differences were aesthetics and easability of editing but still functional. During this stage, we kept close contact with Epic’s team that focused on medications to see what can be done and improved.
Having 2 versions of the design, we kept in contact with our organizations and users, to receive further feedback and ensure both versions met their expectations and addressed their pain points. We also created a prototype of Version B to see how our users interacted with the activity first-hand and to check if the activity’s location in our system flowed naturally with their workflow.
Outcomes
Though the project have been put on pause once again on the development end, with the mockups and prototypes:
End-users expressed excitement, stating how the activity will alleviate their frustrations regarding DMARD tracking and medications overall, making their work day more pleasant and organized
Interest retainment in our users, where questions about project are still asked about time to time
Key Takeaways
Working With(out) Constraints
Luckily with our timeline, we were able to create a design without constraints in mind and found designing the solution that fit our users and hit the set goals more natural. This in turn made created the second version that fit the contraint straightforward as we based it off the “ideal”. Additionally, having created an Version A, it can still be referenced later on, possibly making the process of updating the review activity quicker.
Feedback Beyond The End User
Since our rheumatologists are used to viewing dense medication paperwork for DMARD tracking, they preferred almost all content to be available on the screen without clicks or hovers. With this direction, the activity would have become very busy, not achieving one of our main goals of a simplified view. To get back on track, since the base idea of tracking does not require intensive clinical background, we conducted user interviews with our co-workers and other people in rheumatology clinics for fresh eyes. As a result, we gained further insight on making the review tool less dense and easier to process.