Portfolio

Preventing Missed Dialysis Treatments

Project Overview

Missed dialysis treatments significantly impact patient health outcomes, with a small subset of “frequent missers” contributing disproportionately to missed treatments. This research aimed to understand the root causes of treatment non-adherence and validate feature concepts addressing these barriers.

Key areas of focus included:

• Rescheduling flexibility.

• Transportation challenges.

• Housing instability.

• Motivation and messaging strategies.

Through user-centered design, the goal was to develop solutions that support patients in maintaining their dialysis schedules, ultimately improving their health outcomes.

My Contribution

As the lead UX researcher, I:

• Conducted qualitative interviews with patients to identify barriers to treatment adherence.

• Developed personas and journey maps to clarify patient behaviors and pain points.

• Designed and facilitated prototype testing for five feature concepts.

• Analyzed feedback to prioritize the most effective solutions for development.

Research Objectives

1. Identify the primary reasons for missed dialysis treatments.

2. Validate feature concepts that address these challenges and motivate patients to adhere to their schedules.

3. Determine the usability and desirability of proposed solutions to refine the design process.

Research Methods

1. Qualitative Interviews:

• Conducted in-depth interviews with 20 dialysis patients across multiple clinics to explore barriers like transportation, housing, scheduling, and motivation.

2. Concept Testing:

• Tested five feature prototypes to gauge usability, desirability, and alignment with patient needs:

1. Goals Tracker: Patients could track treatments attended and earn digital badges for reaching attendance milestones.

2. Brag Board: A social leaderboard that celebrated treatment adherence with badges and visible progress.

3. Health Messaging Strategy: Reminders highlighting the health risks of missed treatments.

4. Rescheduling Chatbot: An AI chatbot that assisted patients in rescheduling missed appointments.

5. Calendar Integration: Automated addition of appointments to a patient’s digital calendar of choice.

Personas and Journey Maps

To contextualize findings, I developed personas and mapped their treatment adherence journeys:

1. Rare Missers:

• Typically adhere to their treatment schedule.

• Barriers: Occasional life disruptions, like work or family emergencies.

2. Moderate Missers:

• Experience regular but manageable barriers, such as transportation or motivation issues.

3. Frequent Missers:

• Account for the majority of missed treatments.

• Chronic barriers: Housing instability, transportation, motivation, or personal stressors.

These personas and journey maps informed the design and prioritization of feature concepts.

Facilitated Brainstorming Session for Solutions

Key Findings

1. Best Performing Concept: Goals Tracker

• Patients highly valued the ability to track their attendance and celebrate milestones with digital badges.

• It motivated consistent attendance by providing a sense of accomplishment.

• “I like seeing how well I’m doing. It feels like progress.”

2. Next Best Concept: Brag Board

• Social competition and visibility of progress motivated patients to stay consistent.

• “It’s nice to see my effort being recognized.”

3. Health Messaging Strategy:

• While informative, reminders of health risks were less effective at motivating behavior change compared to reward-based solutions.

4. Rescheduling Chatbot:

• Patients appreciated the convenience but wanted more customization in rescheduling options.

5. Calendar Integration:

• Viewed as a useful but secondary tool, primarily for tech-savvy patients already using digital calendars.

Insights and Impact

• Motivation Over Messaging: Patients responded better to positive reinforcement (e.g., goals tracker, brag board) than fear-based messaging.

• Personalized Scheduling: Flexible rescheduling tools were essential for accommodating life disruptions.

• Practical Barriers: Transportation and housing instability remained critical barriers to address alongside digital tools.

Design Influence and Next Steps

This research directly informed design iterations and feature prioritization. Key recommendations included:

1. Prioritize development of the Goals Tracker and Brag Board for their motivational value.

2. Integrate rescheduling features into digital tools for greater convenience.

3. Enhance messaging strategies to complement reward-based features.

4. Explore partnerships to address transportation and housing barriers.

Next steps involve collaborating with the product team to refine these solutions and test them in real-world environments.

Conclusion

This project highlights the importance of user-centered research in tackling healthcare challenges. By validating feature concepts with direct patient input, we identified solutions that align with their needs and behaviors. The findings underscore that motivation, flexibility, and accessibility are critical to improving adherence, which ultimately leads to better health outcomes.

Improving Hospitalization Communication for Dialysis Patients

Project Overview

Dialysis patients often experience communication challenges during hospitalizations, which can delay necessary care and disrupt dialysis schedules. This project aimed to validate and refine feature concepts within DaVita Care Connect (DCC) to improve communication between patients, dialysis clinics, and hospitals.

Key features explored included:

• Hospitalization Notifications: Automating alerts to notify clinics when a patient is hospitalized.

• Information Sharing: Allowing patients to share critical health details with hospitals via DCC.

By addressing gaps in the current communication process, the goal was to ensure patients received timely, proper care during hospital stays.

My Contribution

As the lead UX researcher, I:

• Conducted interviews with patients, care partners, and teammates (TMs).

• Facilitated feature validation and prototype testing with patients and TMs.

• Delivered process maps to optimize workflow integration for TMs.

• Collaborated with product owners and adjacent research teams to align findings and ensure impact.

Research Objectives

• Understand barriers to effective communication during hospitalizations.

• Validate feature concepts to address these barriers, focusing on:

• Patient and care partner needs.

• TM workflows and hospital collaboration.

• Usability and adoption of geolocation tracking and manual notifications.

Research Methods

1. Interviews:

• Conducted 28 interviews with patients, care partners, and TMs to explore the current communication process and challenges.

2. Feature Validation & Prototype Testing:

• Tested two versions of hospitalization alerts:

• Manual Notifications: Patients/care partners notify clinics.

• Geolocation-Based Alerts: Automatic alerts sent based on patient location.

• Gathered feedback on notification preferences, geolocation adoption, and usability.

3. Workflow Analysis:

• Created process maps to integrate hospital alerts into the existing TM workflow.

Key Findings

1. Patient Challenges:

• Patients often struggle to notify clinics during hospitalizations due to being unwell or unconscious.

• “A patient shouldn’t have to do that when they are hospitalized.”

• Geolocation-based alerts resonated with most patients but raised privacy concerns for some.

2. Care Partner Role:

• Care partners help reduce the patient’s burden but often fail to prioritize notifying the clinic.

• “I have two granddaughters that take care of me, and they are not thinking of it.”

3. TM Process:

• TMs rely on labor-intensive communication methods, such as calling patients, care partners,or hospitals, when patients miss treatment.

4. Hospital Collaboration:

• Hospital staff, particularly nephrologists and case managers, are critical in providing timely updates.

5. Geolocation Tracking Insight:

• 17 out of 28 patients supported geolocation tracking to reduce communication gaps, while others cited privacy concerns.

Feature Validation and Design Influence

Prototype testing revealed:

• Geolocation-Based Alerts: Scored highest on usability and helpfulness. Patients appreciated automated alerts that reduced their responsibility.

• Manual Notifications: Less preferred due to the burden it placed on patients and care partners.

Key design iterations included:

• Ensuring patients could control geolocation sharing preferences to address privacy concerns.

• Simplifying notification settings for clarity and ease of use.

• Incorporating a medical ID form feature for patients to share critical details with hospital staff.

Process Integration and Workflow Optimization

We mapped the TM workflow to identify opportunities to streamline communication. Insights included:

• Pinpointing what information TMs need at each stage of hospitalization.

• Optimizing alerts to align with existing TM processes, reducing redundancies.

Impact and Results

This research directly informed the design of the hospital alert feature by:

• Validating the geolocation-based notification concept as the most effective solution.

• Addressing privacy concerns through customizable preferences.

• Aligning feature functionality with patient workflows and TM processes.

Patient Value: Patients gained a streamlined way to share hospitalization information, ensuring continuity of care without additional burdens.

TM Efficiency: Automated alerts reduced manual communication efforts, saving time and improving care coordination.

Conclusion

By identifying communication gaps and validating digital solutions like geolocation tracking, this project enhanced the functionality of DCC’s hospital alert feature. These insights contributed to a patient-centered and team-friendly experience that ensures timely dialysis care during hospitalizations.

This project highlights my ability to integrate patient feedback, team workflows, and digital tools to drive innovation in healthcare communication.

Lab Results Feature Iteration: Empowering Dialysis Patients Through Accessible Health Information

Background

Dialysis patients receive monthly lab results from a dietician, who explains these results and provides nutritional recommendations to improve health outcomes. Traditionally, this is done in person with a paper handout.

But what if lab results could be accessed through a health portal or app? This project aimed to reimagine how patients receive, understand, and act on their lab data to support better health outcomes.

Context and Goals

• Primary Goals:

• Help patients make informed nutritional choices to improve lab results.

• Centralize lab and nutritional information in an easy-to-use, easy-to-understand digital feature.

• Long-Term Outcome: Empower patients to stay engaged with their health, ultimately improving lab results and overall well-being.

My Contribution

As the lead researcher, I conducted end-to-end UX research, including:

• Creating a moderator guide for usability testing and A/B tests.

• Running in-clinic moderated sessions and remote A/B testing with proxies.

• Analyzing findings and presenting actionable insights to stakeholders.

Stakeholders

Collaboration with:

• Designers: To iteratively refine the feature based on user feedback.

• Product Owners: To ensure alignment with business goals and patient needs.

Problem Statement

How might we improve dialysis patients’ health outcomes by creating a comprehensive and actionable view of lab results, paired with nutritional guidance?

Research Methodology

1. Moderated Usability Testing: Conducted in clinics to observe patients interacting with early designs.

2. A/B Testing: Used Lyssana with dialysis patient proxies from the general population to evaluate design iterations.

Recruitment

• In-Clinic Patients: Convenience sampling from clinics in cities with specific demographic characteristics.

• Gen Pop Proxies: Recruited as stand-ins for dialysis patients for certain A/B tests.

Tools and Techniques

• Usability Testing: Focused on understanding ease of navigation and clarity of lab information.

• A/B Testing: Compared design variations, including pinned lab features and trended graph views.

Findings and Results

The final iteration of the feature included:

1. Lab Result Bar View: An at-a-glance bar showing whether a lab value was in or out of range, labeled for clarity.

2. Trend Graphs: A deeper dive showed a 3-month trend for each lab, helping patients visualize progress over time.

3. Guidance for Out-of-Range Values: For any out-of-range results, actionable nutritional recommendations were provided.

4. Pinned Lab Feature: Tested extensively, including naming and visual design, to ensure clarity and utility.

Themes and Insights

• Actionable Guidance is Key: Patients wanted more than just numbers—they wanted step-by-step guidance, similar to the chairside conversations with their dieticians.

• Labs as a Report Card: Patients viewed their lab results as a measure of their overall health. Engaging with labs led to stronger motivation to make changes.

• Design for Health Outcomes: A clear, actionable feature fosters better engagement and health outcomes over time.

Impact and Design Influence

This project is a prime example of how research and design worked hand-in-hand to deliver a patient-centered solution. Key design outcomes included:

• Enhanced user engagement by providing actionable insights within a clear, digestible interface.

• Improved health literacy, empowering patients to take charge of their health.

• Increased alignment with patient-dietician workflows, bridging the gap between chairside interactions and ongoing self-management.

Reflection

• Challenges: Recruiting in-clinic participants while balancing demographic diversity was an obstacle, but leveraging convenience sampling proved effective.

• Lessons Learned: Testing features with proxies provided valuable insights, but patient-specific input is irreplaceable for understanding unique needs.

• Future Opportunities: Explore how behavioral nudges (e.g., notifications or reminders) could further support patient engagement with lab results.

This case study highlights my ability to conduct rigorous UX research while driving collaboration with design and product teams.

Home Treatment Records: Simplifying Dialysis Treatment Data for Patients and Clinicians

Background

For dialysis patients performing nightly treatments at home, recording and sharing treatment data with clinicians has traditionally been a manual process. Patients would jot down their treatment data by hand, which often led to inefficiencies and communication gaps.

To address this, DaVita introduced the Home Treatment Records (HTR) feature, enabling patients to digitally input treatment data, streamline clinician communication, and ultimately help prevent hospitalizations.

Context and Goals

• Primary Goal:

• Ensure the Home Treatment Records feature integrates seamlessly into patients’ workflows, improving their experience and reducing friction in their daily routines.

• Business Goal:

• Retain current patients and attract new ones by providing a user-friendly feature that enhances patient-clinician communication and supports better health outcomes.

My Contribution

I served as the primary researcher, leading the research efforts, including:

• Conducting moderated usability testing to identify pain points and areas for improvement.

• Facilitating 1:1 behavioral interviews to understand patient workflows and habits.

• Delivering actionable insights that informed the design of the HTR feature.

Stakeholders

Collaboration with:

• Designers: To refine the HTR feature based on patient feedback.

• Product Owners: To align the feature with business goals and patient needs.

Problem Statement

How can we improve the Home Treatment Records feature to better align with patient workflows and meet their needs?

By addressing this question, the project aimed to:

1. Retain existing patients and attract new users.

2. Provide clinicians with accurate, timely data to help prevent hospitalizations.

Research Methodology

1. Moderated Usability Testing: Conducted with existing HTR users to observe how they interacted with the feature and identify usability issues.

2. 1:1 Behavioral Interviews: Focused on understanding patient workflows, habits, and challenges in recording treatment data.

Recruitment

• Patients using the app were randomly sampled and invited to participate.

• Participants self-selected based on their interest and availability.

Findings and Results

1. Workflow Insights:

• Patients had distinct routines for recording treatment data:

• Nighttime Input: Key treatment data (e.g., start/end times, fluid levels) were typically recorded immediately after treatments.

• Morning Input: Additional data or adjustments were often recorded the next day.

• The existing design required patients to input all data at once, disrupting their natural workflow.

2. Design Iteration:

• The feature was redesigned to allow patients to:

• Save data incrementally at night or in the morning.

• Submit data at their convenience, better aligning with their routines.

3. Behavior-Driven Design:

• The redesign emphasized starting with patient behaviors and workflows as the foundation for the feature.

Themes and Insights

• Patient-Centered Design: Patients need flexibility to match their natural workflows, which vary between night and morning.

• Behavioral Fit Drives Engagement: Aligning with patient habits fosters sustained use of the feature, improving data accuracy and consistency.

• Workflow Integration: HTR should feel like a natural extension of the patient’s nightly and morning routines, reducing friction and boosting adoption.

Patient Value

• A feature that fits seamlessly into their routine, allowing them to input data at times that work best for them.

• A more user-friendly process leads to better engagement, ensuring accurate data for clinicians and reducing the likelihood of hospitalization.

Impact and Design Influence

This project demonstrated how UX research drives product innovation:

• Improved Patient Experience: Flexible input options made the feature more intuitive and easier to use.

• Stronger Patient-Clinician Communication: Accurate and timely data empowered clinicians to make better-informed decisions.

• Enhanced Business Value: The redesign supported patient retention and positioned DaVita as a leader in patient-centered solutions.

Reflection

• Challenges: Engaging patients to participate in usability testing was initially challenging, but providing flexibility and clear communication about the study’s value improved participation.

• Lessons Learned: Understanding patient habits early in the process is critical for designing features that integrate seamlessly into their lives.

• Future Opportunities: Incorporating reminders or nudges could further enhance patient engagement with the HTR feature.

This case study highlights my ability to uncover patient needs and translate them into actionable design improvements.

Wellbeing Survey: Concept Testing and Pilot Evaluation

Project Overview

The wellbeing screener (PHQ9/PHQ2) is a critical tool administered by social workers to detect depression and support timely interventions. By identifying and addressing mental health concerns early, the screener helps prevent hospitalizations and missed treatments.

This research focused on piloting an online version of the wellbeing screener for monthly distribution via the app. Before launching, we conducted concept testing to explore patient attitudes toward sharing health information online, prototype testing for design feedback, and a feedback survey post-pilot to improve the patient experience.

My Contribution

As the lead UX researcher, I:

• Conducted concept testing to understand patient attitudes toward sharing mental health information online.

• Led prototype testing to evaluate the design and layout of the online wellbeing survey.

• Analyzed pilot feedback to identify improvements for future iterations.

Research Objectives

1. Assess patient attitudes toward sharing mental and physical health information online.

2. Validate the usability and design of the online wellbeing screener.

3. Gather feedback from pilot participants to optimize the experience.

Stakeholders

• Product Owners

Research Methods

1. Concept Testing & Feature Validation

• Explored attitudes toward sharing health information online.

• Assessed willingness to participate in a digital mental health screener.

2. Prototype Testing

• Tested various layouts and designs for the PHQ9 and PHQ2 surveys.

• Collected usability feedback to refine the survey interface.

3. Pilot Feedback Survey

• Surveyed patients who participated in the pilot to gather insights on their experience and areas for improvement.

Recruitment

• In-Clinic Sample: Convenience sampling of patients to test concepts and prototypes.

• Phone Interviews: Conducted interviews with patients who completed the online screener until thematic saturation was achieved.

Key Findings

1. Attitudes Toward Sharing Information Online:

• Patients are generally willing to share health information online if it directly benefits their treatment.

• However, there is greater hesitance to share mental health information compared to physical health data.

2. Questionnaire Preferences:

• Patients found the PHQ9 (9 questions) more effective and comprehensive compared to the PHQ2 (2 questions).

• Longer surveys were acceptable when patients understood their value.

3. Targeting and Cadence:

• Patients without wellbeing concerns reported frustration with repetitive surveys.

• Better segmentation and varying survey cadences by patient type can improve the experience.

Patient Value

The online wellbeing screener offers patients:

• Improved Health Outcomes: Early detection of mental health issues enables timely interventions.

• Convenience: The ability to complete the screener via the app reduces the burden of in-clinic assessments.

Design Influence

Key insights informed design recommendations:

1. Ensure clear communication about how sharing mental health data benefits patient care.

2. Prioritize the PHQ9 format, as patients prefer more comprehensive assessments.

3. Implement targeted survey distribution to avoid overwhelming patients without wellbeing concerns.

Impact and Next Steps

This research validated the feasibility of an online wellbeing screener and identified critical areas for improvement. Based on the findings:

• The PHQ9 will be the primary format for the online screener.

• Patient segmentation and targeted survey cadences will be implemented.

• Enhanced messaging will address patient hesitations about sharing mental health data.

Future efforts will involve iterative testing to refine the survey experience and measure its impact on patient health outcomes.

This project highlights the importance of patient-centered design in creating digital tools that support better health outcomes and timely interventions.