Thorne lab
Project Specs
Role: UI/UX Designer
Timeline: Two Months
Platform: Web Portal, Tablet App, Large Format Data Visualizations
Supporting Team: Business Analyst, Project Manager, Off-shore Development
Context
Thorne Lab, created in partnership between Thorne Healthcare and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is a hands on patient experience that aims to transform the landscape of healthcare measurement and delivery. The lab uses advanced technology to harness patient data and aims to transform the landscape of healthcare measurement and delivery. The experience aims to empower patients to monitor their health over time through a comprehensive and cutting-edge health assessment.
Simultaneously, as a research hub, Thorne Lab aims to equip scientists with valuable health data and an experimental environment for the development, validation, and deployment of new products and services.
This client came to us to assist in taking their proof of concept of the future and turning it into a reality, bridging the gap between discovery science, technology, and patient care.
My role in this project was to design both a web portal, a native tablet app to be used in the lab by clinicians, and rich data visualizations that would be displayed real-time in lab during the patient’s journey, and on the web portal upon completion.
Challenge
Right from the start, this project posed a unique challenge:
I would have to design everything in parallel to the lab’s construction at Mount Sinai. There wasn't a chance to go hands-on with the lab tech itself. To aid in knowledge transfer I was provided print and video materials that detailed each station in the lab. This allowed me to get a grasp on just how the tablet app was intended to fit into the overall experience.
In lieu of any access to UX research, I relied on the CTO of Thorne to be my expert liaison. She was an invaluable stakeholder throughout the design process. We met-up alongside a business analyst to first solidify requirements and more regularly 1:1 a couple of times a week for design review sessions. As the only designer on this project, her feedback helped me stay on track and shape out an experience that met the business needs while demonstrating sound usability for the target audience.
Process & Solution
My first task was to design the Patient Web Portal.
The requirements for Patient Portal were straightforward. It would need to encompass the following features and scale across desktop and tablet screen sizes.
- Patient Screening & Registration
- Pre-Visit Assessments
- Schedule lab visit
- Return to view Health Report Data
- Schedule a follow-up
Patients were the only user role for the MVP phase of the portal, though there were plans to expand this to feature an admin role and its own feature set down the line.
I faced some initial challenge in deciding how best to format each assessment. Because survey completion is required to make an appointment, I didn’t want the experience to feel cumbersome by overwhelming the user with a wall of questions they would have to vertically scroll through. My solution was to separate each survey into its own flow. A progress bar at the top of each form informs the user how close they are to finishing up a survey. Longer surveys were split across multiple screens in order to appear more easily digestible. The side-navigation tracks survey progress and also permits the user to navigate between surveys to allow for completion in whichever order they choose.
Thorne's style guide influenced the use of black and white with only touches of color to bring a bit of extra contrast. The result is a clean and simple interface that guides attention through custom icons and strong CTA's.
Tablet App:
The tablet app was designed for only a single user type, trained Lab Clinicians. Its core functionality is defined by two modes:
- Appointment check-in & management (Staging Mode)
- Patient Lab Journey (Encounter Mode)
Once a patient is checked-in, the encounter begins. I designed the app to seamlessly integrate into the lab journey. The Clinician simply pairs up with the patient, and uses the app as a control pad to guide the encounter forward and trigger events at each station. Events range from simple processes such as playing a video on a station’s TV screen, to syncing data with external devices such as vital instruments, scales, VR rigs, and more. Much like the web portal, minimalism defines the UI. I utilized large instructional cards and buttons with clear labels to instruct the Clinician and guide the journey forward without friction.
Health Report & Final Consultation
The last component I designed for this project, and the most unique challenge were the visuals for the Health Report & in lab Final Consultation. These designs had to present all of the metrics gathered in the lab encounter in an easy to digest format, while also fulfilling the requirement of displaying across three formats:
- In lab at the Final Consultation station on 65” 4K TV.
- In a pdf.
- On the Patient Portal under “Past Visits”.
The client provided sample data visualizations to use as a guide. While helpful, the challenge was figuring out how to layout such a dense amount of information to be digestible and not overwhelming at a glance. The solution was a balance of visual hierarchy, typography and white space, while maintaining a futuristic look & feel.
Reflections:
My involvement in this project came to a close after a few months. I had to work quickly and efficiently to produce the many UI deliverables that fulfilled the MVP requirements that were integral to the Thorne Lab experience. In the end, the client was more than satisfied with the efforts I put in. I am confident that the work I did demonstrates solid user-centered design principles. Last I heard work on the Gold Lab was still underway.
Next Steps:
- Given the chance to continue iterating, I would have liked to introduce stronger visual design elements into the portal and tablet app. I think that the black & white contrast serves the MVP well, but the addition of some colorful custom illustrations could taken portions of the portal to the next level of delight.
- Feature wise, we had discussed including the option for a patient to compare and contrast health data across multiple visits. This would be valuable enhancement that could serve to encourage patients to make return visits to the lab.
- We briefly talked about an admin portal where users could access scheduling features and view patient data.
