Mobile App
Bullitt Health
A companion app for a residential healthcare program
The project brief was to design a healthcare facility using an existing building in the city of Seattle. I designed, modeled, and rendered this residential healthcare center using the environment-forward Bullitt Center building located in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
The Bullitt Health app is a companion app designed to guide and enhance patients’ personalized healthcare experience in this residential facility. The app accommodates patient needs by allowing them to message healthcare providers, check their daily activity schedule, and make appointments.
My Role
I was the sole designer for both the physical and digital experiences for this project—I designed the physical space from schematic designs to 3D rendering. For the companion app, I conducted user research, created wireframes, built a prototype, and ran user testing to hone the design functionality.
The Space
The Bullitt Health Center provides a variety of diverse programming including private residences, treatment rooms, and communal gathering spaces. The project strives to provide a comforting and inspiring environment for all residents using the concept of “intimacy gradient” to offer both communal and intimate opportunities for healing.
Exterior
Entry & reception
Lounge
Activity space
Kitchen & dining
Residence lounge
The App
The goal of the companion app was to provide residents seamless digital guidance for their in-person experience. For example, users should be able to easily view their upcoming activities, book appointments with their providers, message their care team, and utilize in-app resources and activities in their downtime. The app should both guide users throughout their in-person schedule and also provide them with ample content once their daily scheduled activities have concluded.
Duration
1 year for interior design, modeling, and rendering
3 weeks for UX and visual design
Tools
Sketchup, Enscape, Figma, Illustrator, Photoshop
Awards
Sketchup Ascent International Winner 2022
The Problem
Residential patients shouldn’t have to feel isolated, bored, or confused as they seek care on a daily basis.
Many healthcare apps offer options for booking appointments, managing schedules, and messaging providers; however, these apps often provide an unintuitive and sterile experience for users. While some apps offer additional resources, users may have to wade through dense lists of content to find something that interests them.
Competitive Analysis
I analyzed three Health & Wellness apps to gain insight into pros and cons of the experiences they offer. By examining Equip, NOCD, and Headspace in depth, I discovered that an app with playful graphics, concise copy, and intuitive interactions would be most effective for users.
Equip is a virtual platform that provides remote eating recovery treatment. This site provides access to a robust care team and allows patients to message their providers, manage their schedule, and access support groups.
Headspace is an app that provides a variety of programming aimed at reducing stress and anxiety. The app offers guided meditations (both recorded and live) for a variety of goals including relaxation, sleep, focus, and movement.
NOCD is a virtual platform that connects OCD sufferers with remote specialized therapy. This app connects patients with a specialized therapist and provides resources such as articles, live talks, and community chat threads.
User Research & Insights
In order to gain more insight into the wants and needs of all stakeholders, I conducted user interviews to better understand both patient and provider perspectives.
Residents would benefit from seamless scheduling, access to personal care, and fulfilling content for downtime. And care providers would benefit if residents had constant access to a supportive app that would empower them to be more independent throughout their day.
The User Journey
In order to design an optimal experience where users would feel supported throughout their daily activities, I looked to a few key questions for guidance:
How can users find and easily manage their daily schedule?
What key information would help prepare users for their daily activities?
When and how should users be able to communicate with their care team?
What additional resources and content would feel fulfilling for users?
How might we create a digital experience that guides users through their daily routine in the physical space?
User Persona
My foundational research revealed a common need for users to feel supported as unique individuals in healthcare facilities. Taking into account the wants and needs of these participants, I developed a persona—Amy—who would guide my designs from a human connection standpoint. This persona is intended to guide me in answering the question: Who am I designing for?
Style & Fonts
I conceived of the style for the app based on users’ desire for a warm yet minimal experience. A blue and white color palette draws connection to the healthcare industry, while playful illustrations and a clean aesthetic provide a welcoming experience without causing overstimulation for patients.
Typography
The typography selection and hierarchy are designed to promote clarity and ease of use. Because the app is intended to be seamlessly incorporated into users’ daily routines, the app is designed to present text in a straightforward pattern that provides key information in a clear and intuitive hierarchy. Text size and color are varied appropriately in order to call attention to important details and CTA’s.
Colors
The color scheme of the app is designed to promote a sense of calm and healing for users who may be experiencing a difficult time with their mental and physical health. With accessibility in mind, the dark text colors are selected to create high contrast with the white background, while the selection of serene blue backgrounds and surfaces are intended to create a clean and calming aesthetic for users.
Wireframes
The User Experience
Home Page
The home page should provide key information up front while displaying clear paths to all functions of the app.
Goals
Provide users an at-a-glance overview of all that the app has to offer
Provide a home base for all user needs
Experience
Receive the most useful information up front to effectively plan your day
View Schedule
Users should be able to access an at-a-glance list of their upcoming appointments as well as the option to take a deeper look at individual activities. With this in mind, I provided a quicklook timeline on the homepage as well as activity and appointment detail pages that provide key information and help users prep for their day. The homepage timeline is indicated with a vertical visual motif that communicates both the time of day as well as the passage of time to help orient users. Clicking “View Full Schedule” will show users their schedule for the next three days and will give users the opportunity to read more about individual activities including the time, location, activity description, number of participants, etc.
Goals
Provide users a linear timeline of their upcoming schedule for the near future
Provide easily-accessible information for individual activities
Experience
View schedule without overstimulation and learn key information to prep for upcoming activities
Book Appointments
Booking appointments should be efficient, intuitive, and satisfying for patients. With this in mind, I designed the booking flow with guided calls to action and celebratory animations to delight and engage the user. I designed the booking flow as a drawer that would guide users through a step-by-step process that would give users opportunities to double check their selections to ensure that they felt supported and comfortable throughout the process.
Goals
Provide a seamless, step-by-step flow that guides users through the process of booking an appointment
Congratulate users on completing tasks using celebratory text and animation
Experience
Take simple, guided steps to book an extra therapy appointment
Send a Message
Because communication is key to patients’ positive experience, they should be able to message their care team at any time through the app. Users have access to their messages through the tab bar and can easily view previous conversations or start a new message.
Goals
Provide instant access to users’ personal care providers
Offer an intuitive path to communicate with users’ care team whenever needed
Experience
Get to know your care providers through their profiles and easily send a message when questions arise
Room Key
Users should be able to access their physical residence throughout the day using their app. A digital key should always provide a convenience rather than a burden, so this feature is accessible through the tab bar and only takes one tap to function. The key illustration along with the simple and useful action of unlocking a door with the app is designed to delight and satisfy the user.
Goals
Provide an accessible and functional digital feature for users to access their personal residence
Spark joy for users when accessing their physical space with a digital key
Experience
Easily access and use digital key feature to unlock personal residence and find pleasure in this small, daily interaction
Find Resources & Activities
Patients should never have to feel isolated or bored between scheduled activities, so to promote stimulation and healing, I designed an explore page for users to view additional content such as guided meditations, worksheets, and educational videos. Clicking the “Explore” tab takes users to a page that includes the options of “Meditate,” “Learn,” “Journal,” and “Sleep.” I designed these options as individual buttons with distinct colors and pattens in order to guide users to distinct categories based on their specific mood. The explore page also includes a “For You” section that demonstrates to users that the program cares about their unique preferences.
Goals
Provide a wide variety of additional programming for users to explore in their down time
Offer recommendations and save recents for easy access
Experience
Discover additional activities such as meditations and guided worksheets. Save favorite activities to easily return to later
Test Results
In order to test the functionality of the app, I conducted research with 10 subjects from diverse backgrounds. While all subjects found the app to be useful and functional overall, some subjects had unique expectations that were not met by the app. For example, because several participants did not have prior experience with in-patient treatment facilities, they expected the “Explore” page to offer opportunities to add more activities to their personal schedule—but in in-patient treatment programs, patients are not able to curate their own schedules.
Based on feedback from test users, I added clarifying copy to the explore page, included the messaging function in the tab bar for easy access, and added a graphic timeline motif to the at-a-glance schedule on the home page. These changes helped to clarify the areas that were causing pause or confusion for test participants.