Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis
Non- profit:
Overcoming MS
Role:
Lead UX Researcher
Time:
2018-2019
Product:
Mobile Application
The Challenge
Non-profit organization, Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis (OMS) promotes a scientifically backed 7 step recovery program to improve the lives of those living with MS.
Participants were struggling keeping track of the 7 daily steps (ex: meditating 30 minutes a day) that are essential to relapse prevention.
Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis (OMS) is a non-profit organization that promotes a scientifically researched 7 step holistic lifestyle program to help people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) live a better life.
Multiple Sclerosis is difficult enough, the OMS program, for most, requires a drastic lifestyle change. Our cross disciplinary team of UX Researchers, Designers, and Computer Scientists were challenged to create a mobile application to keep OMS participants on track.
We aimed to build an educational, habit forming and motivational space where people can track their daily progress.
The Challenge
Goals
Our objective was to design a mobile application with
OMS specific usability practices & to construct an app that makes the lives of those following the OMS program easier.
Research Schedule
Step 1: Desk Research
Competitive Comparative Analysis (CCA)
Step 2: Stakeholder Informational Sessions
Step 3: Research Phase 1
User Survey
Contextual Interviews
Step 4: Research Phase 2
Persona Creation
Contextual Interviews
Physician Contextual Interviews
Affinity Mapping
Step 5: Research Phase 3
Usability Testing
Researcher Personal Testing
Pain Point Analysis
CCA
Step 6: Research Phase 4
Heuristic Evaluation
Usability Testing
Concept Testing
Affinity Mapping
CCA
Step 7: Research Phase 5
Heuristic Evaluation
Usability Testing
CCA
Step 8: Research Phase 6
Quality Assurance Testing
User Acceptance Testing
The First Steps
We had heard of Multiple Sclerosis, but needed to learn more about the disease & Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis's (OMS) program. We unearthed facts about MS symptoms that later turned into usability findings.
Stakeholder Interviews
The research team met with project stakeholders at OMS (all volunteers) & OMS program leaders that have been following the program for 5+ years. The sole purpose of these informational sessions were to gain a complete understanding of the 7 step OMS program.
Participant Survey
As a team we wanted to experiment with a survey, we sent out a short survey before recruiting for contextual interviews. We sent the survey to a group of OMS ambassadors. This survey unearthed basic information about our participants that otherwise would have had to been asked during interviews. (ex: diagnosis date, age, location). The results also assisted the team in selecting candidates for contextual interviews.
Contextual Interviews
Contextual interviews were conducted with persona creation in mind. We diversely recruited participants from various countries as well as the amount of years participants were following the program. We spoke with people who weren't 100% diagnosed to people following the program for 5+ years.
Persona A
"The New Recruit"
This person is new to the OMS program (0- 2 years) and needs the most guidance as they form healthy habits. Persona A is the primary target for the app.
Personas
"The Experienced User"
Persona B
"The Experienced User"
The experienced user is someone who has been following the program for 2+ years, they know what works for them and how to do it. This group required less hand holding yet desired tools to analyse how they are doing. Persona B participants tended to be older and require very clear user experiences.
Usability Testing
We put a huge emphasis on Usability Testing. Every design and or workflow that the design team created, was tested with OMS users. We learned quickly what worked and what didn't. Major changes such as global color schemes were altered early on to improve usability for those with symptoms of impaired eyesight.
After our first round of Usability Testing, the research team concluded that moving forward we would conduct a quick Heuristic Evaluation before testing with OMS users. This proved to be highly effective, we were able to call out small design mistakes, the designers would make edits, and then we would conduct usability testing sessions. It seemed as though we were provided with stronger findings when we conducted the heuristic evaluation first.
After each session we created a document of what stood out to us the most. This made our analysis workshops run smoother and kept the design team up to speed on testing results.
Our remote usability testing sessions were conducted using a mix of Invision Prototypes and Google slides presentations. We took advantage of the programs MURAL and Airtable for analysis.
Analysis Workshops
After we gathered the data from the survey's & interviews we were able to move on to synthesize the data. We started by doing what we called an Initial Call Out, this is where each researcher shared their top findings. The diverse background of each researcher aided us as a team, for each researcher had varying findings.
This called for an affinity map. Below you can see what our whiteboard looked like after a workshop. Enjoy the drawings which were from a previous meeting & were too cool to erase.
Competitive Comparative
Our survey and contextual interview questions aided in our competitive comparative analysis. We asked participants what their favorite applications were and why they enjoy using those applications. This provided the team with a target list of applications to study.
We created research team tasks where each member was individually assigned a different application or experience to study.
We held read-outs with the design team to share our ideas and findings.
Curious about what applications we studied?
Here's a few:
Strides, Aby, MyFitnessPal, WeightWachers
Research Readouts
After each analysis workshop, the research team would prepare a research readout presentation to share with the rest of the team. These were fun, informal, and HIGHLY informative meetings.
Each phase of research, we iterated the way we presented to create presentations that were most useful for the design team.
Phase 3 Research Readout
Phase 5 Research Readout
We learned that creating research readout documents with clear indicators (red arrows & boxes) with screenshots worked best for our design team.
Final Application
The OMS application will be able to be downloaded on the App Store soon!
Awards
This project was proudly recognized in Drexel's College of Computer and Informatics Final Design Competition & won first place!
A note from the stakeholder
Alex Twersky
Global Marketing & Communications Manager for OMS
“Overcoming MS is a global nonprofit that educates and empowers people with MS around the world about diet and lifestyle changes they can make to improve their health outcomes. We had been contemplating the urgent need to develop a comprehensive smartphone app that would make it easier for people to adopt and stick to our evidence-based program, and fortunately for us, we were selected by an amazing group of Drexel University students as their senior thesis project. From the start, it was hard to imagine we were working with a group of students. The Design and Computer Science teams conducted the development process with unparalleled professionalism, dedication and creativity.
The Design team dove into the complexities of MS, and the intricacies of the lifestyle changes that our program recommends. They conducted dozens of interviews with people around the world, from those on our program to medical professionals, in order to form a solid foundation on which to develop numerous iterations of UX and UI design that would most effectively accomplish the app’s goals of helping people with MS adhere to a wide range of lifestyle modifications. They collaborated seamlessly with the excellent team of programmers that comprised the Computer Science team, and who translated the front-end requirements into highly functional code. The entire effort was kept on track by super project management on both sides of the development coin. Throughout the process, the two groups worked together in close coordination in order to anticipate issues before they become problematic, come up with creative user-friendly workarounds, and ultimately produce an app that will undoubtedly make a positive impact on thousands of lives.
We at Overcoming MS were thoroughly impressed with the entire team’s performance and commitment to the project they had embraced, and we are ever grateful. We were not working with students; we were working with young professionals whose contributions went well beyond a student project. We would happily offer the highest reference for each and every member of the team, and we know an employer who hires any of these 11 amazing students will quickly see the extent of their talent and know how.”
Accomplish
OMS promotes a daily 6 step lifestyle program. The main function of the app is assist users in tracking the steps in efforts to form habits.
Educate
The first step of starting the OMS program is understanding it. Participants need to access resources where they can quickly learn or reference program specifics and details.
Accomodate
MS is a degenerative disease which affects each individual’s body differently. The OMS app is designed specifically for people battling MS. It abides by MS researched accessibility standards
Motivate
OMS app users feel encouraged to use the app without being punished if they cannot complete a step due to a symptom flare up.