Bridging the Gap in
Adult ADHD Well-being
HealthTech, B2C
End-to-end design of the comprehensive ADHD and well-being app, OLIVE.
Role: UX researcher & designer
Team: CareerFoundry, UX peers
Timeline: 5 months
Tools: Figma, FigJam, Google Forms, Optimal Workshop, Usability Hub, Miro
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The Project Scope
OLIVE is a user-centered app supporting individuals with ADHD and health-conscious users, featuring mood and medication tracking, appointment management, and access to ADHD resources. This project was part of a full-time UX Design course with CareerFoundry.
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My Role
As the sole UX researcher and designer, I led the user research and end-to-end design. My tasks include conducting surveys and user interviews, data analysis, creating user personas and journey maps, wireframing, prototyping, and usability testing to create a digital product.
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The Challenge
During my UX design boot camp at CareerFoundry, I created a health app by conducting user research, surveys, and interviews to gather insights. This informed the design of an all-in-one app for health-conscious individuals and adults with ADHD, addressing their need for comprehensive information and tracking features.
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The Approach
Discovery Phase:
User Research: conducted screening interviews with 7 participants, followed by a user survey with 8 respondents, and user interviews with 3 participants.
Analysis: created 3 personas, empathy maps, user journey maps, and user flows. Used affinity mapping and the rainbow sheet method to analyze data.
Design & Test Phase:
Prototyping: created 29 mobile and 9 desktop low-fidelity wireframes, 24 mid-fidelity, and 36 high-fidelity wireframes.
Usability Testing: conducted usability testing to refine the design.
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The Outcome
I developed an all-in-one digital product that supports individuals with ADHD and health-conscious individuals, featuring mood and medication tracking, appointment management (e.g. booking mental health professionals), and access to ADHD resources. The project emphasized iterative design and usability testing to deliver a seamless user experience.
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Learnings
1. Through the research process I learned the importance of adaptability and staying flexible. While I initially expected a straightforward process, I encountered unexpected challenges, such as last-minute cancellations from almost half of the participants. This experience has taught me to always plan for backup user interviews and be prepared for unforeseen circumstances.
2. My understanding of the target audience, specifically neurodiverse individuals with ADHD, became a significant learning outcome. By conducting interviews, surveys, and observations, I gained valuable insights into their preferences, behaviors, and pain points. This comprehensive understanding allowed me to create a highly tailored and effective product that addresses their specific needs.
3. Although this was a full-time solo project, I recognized the value of collaboration and communication. While I wished for the opportunity to bounce ideas off team members, I made the most of regular sessions with my mentor and feedback from my tutor. These interactions helped me align my thinking throughout the project, leading to improved decision-making and a more successful outcome.
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Deep Dive
Discovery Phase
OLIVE's development followed the Design Thinking Process, starting with understanding the project requirements, conducting competitor research, and gathering user insights. This phase also included creating personas, engaging in ideation and prototyping, and conducting user testing.
Understanding the Market
I started and conducted a competitive analysis of eight health and wellness apps, identifying key features and market opportunities to inform OLIVE's design, and providing insights into user expectations and market opportunities.
This analysis helped:
Identify underserved market opportunities
Explore competitor weaknesses to outperform them
Develop a distinctive marketing strategy
Make informed decisions for creating sustainable competitive advantages
Empathize with the User
OLIVE's design was guided by comprehensive user research focusing on the experiences and needs of adults with ADHD, considering their unique needs and challenges. The app's features were tailored to real-world experiences, creating a deeply insightful and impactful user experience.
Research Goals:
Understand users' experiences and coping mechanisms for ADHD symptoms, exploring both positive and negative impacts.
Identify current solutions users use to manage their ADHD symptoms.
Analyze how users utilize tools and products for other health-related topics.
User Research
Since I had no data, I decided to start with a screener survey to find the right people to meet the target group and conclude with a detailed user survey to collect demographics, information about how symptoms are managed, what related health apps people use, and opinions about well-being and mental health.
Finding People to Meet the Target Group
Distribution:
The screening survey was shared via Slack
Participants: 7
To prepare for user interviews, a screening interview was conducted to find individuals diagnosed with ADHD or experiencing adult ADHD symptoms. The screening questions, based on the ASRS-v1.1 from WHO, aimed to identify participants meeting the inclusion criteria. Four or more check marks on the screening suggested possible adult ADHD symptoms, indicating the need for further evaluation by a healthcare provider.
User Survey
Participants: 8
age ranges: 18 - 24 (3), 35 - 44 (3), 25 - 34 (2)
Distribution:
Reddit: r/ADHD, r/adhdwomen
Following the initial user interviews on managing health and medical information, a survey was conducted to supplement and expand the findings. Since 2 participants canceled last minute out of the initially scheduled 5 user interviews, the survey was strategically posted on April 4, 2023 (after user interview), on Reddit's r/ADHD and r/adhdwomen channels to ensure a diverse and representative sample.
Utilizing Affinity Mapping to Gather Insights
After gathering all the necessary data, it was crucial to organize and classify it in a way that would improve understanding and produce valuable insights. To achieve this, a comprehensive analysis was conducted, and the information was grouped using affinity mapping.
The decision to utilise affinity mapping was driven by the following reasons:
1. Efficiently isolating concepts and information for improved understanding.
2. Facilitating the visualisation of information, revealing previously unnoticed patterns and hierarchies.
3. Enabling collaborative extraction and grouping of information within the team, promoting effective teamwork.
Key Insights
Based on the data, 9 key insights were identified. Below, I have highlighted the 3 most crucial insights:
1. All three participants expressed the need for a reminder function with various features like multiple alarms, additional locations, and the ability to save reminders.
2. One participant emphasised the importance of a simple app design to avoid overwhelming cognitive load while using the app.
3. All three participants noticed a positive impact on their condition from exercise, indicating its significance in managing ADHD symptoms.
Design Phase
Site Map
The sitemap was created and refined to develop OLIVE using card sorting to align with user expectations. Card sorting provided valuable insights into how participants interpreted and grouped items, identifying clear clusters of high agreement as a foundation for analysis. Additionally, post-study questions revealed users' likes and dislikes about their most used health-related apps.
Number of cards:
30
Participants:
5
An important lesson learned was differentiating between screening and pre-study questions to avoid excluding potential participants based on ADHD diagnosis.
Wireframes
I developed OLIVE's structure through low-, mid-, and high-fidelity wireframes and prototypes, focusing on creating an accessible and user-friendly app.
How User Testing Enhances OLIVE’s Usability
I conducted usability testing and preference testing to refine the app's design and ensure it meets user needs and expectations. I carefully planned and conducted moderated usability testing both onsite (1) and remotely (5), and developed a comprehensive usability test plan and script to define clear objectives and scenario tasks. I made sure that each task was designed to evaluate learnability, user requirements, and task execution. I obtained an accurate and insightful assessment of OLIVE's usability by directly engaging with participants and closely observing their interactions with the prototype. Furthermore, I utilized the feedback from the testing sessions to make design updates and enhance the app's usability.
After analyzing the test results, a detailed report was created to improve the prototype by addressing usability issues and making adjustments. The results were clustered based on severity ratings to prioritize and address critical issues first, improving the app's overall user experience.
Visual Design
OLIVE's visual identity was developed based on emotional design and color psychology, including the logo, color scheme, and typography. The design applied Gestalt theory and material design to create clear wireframes and used soft and cool colors to provide a calming user experience, especially for individuals with neurodiverse conditions. Adherence to Material Design standards ensures a seamless user experience and accessibility compliance, contributing to OLIVE's overall aesthetic impression and usability.
The Final Design
The valuable feedback and evaluations from my UX design colleagues were crucial in refining the design of OLIVE, leading to further improvements. Their insights and suggestions played a critical role in ensuring the seamless integration of all aspects of the app. Through collaborative efforts and iterative refinements, OLIVE's design has reached its final state and is now ready to deliver an exceptional user experience.
Project Summary & Retrospective
Lessons Learned
1. User-Centered Focus: the importance of user research in making informed design decisions.
2. Simplicity with Functionality: balancing complex functionality with a user-friendly interface.
3. Iterative Design: the value of regular user testing and feedback loops.
Challenges
1. Scope management: the integration of numerous features into OLIVE posed the challenge of scope management. Ensuring that each feature was seamlessly integrated without overwhelming users required careful consideration and prioritization.
2. Accessibility: developing an application for users with ADHD requires a strong focus on accessibility. Creating a design that accommodates different cognitive styles and preferences was an ongoing challenge.