Medict - A medical translator app
A platform that allows users to search, book and connect with human medical translators easily and effectively. Medict provides affordable access to medical translators for ESL patients throughout North America. We save lives by giving patients the comfort and assurance of being there when they need help through on-demand services and future bookings.
Problem and Solution
For my final project of my UX/UI Columbia Bootcamp, a group of classmates I were challenged to create a meaningful application and tech solution for an everyday problem. We were inspired by our multicultural team composition, medical training of some team members, and personal experiences with family members struggling with translation when receiving medical care. Our solution was to grant users access to certified medical interpreters that can join them virtually at their next doctor’s visit in order to bridge the gap between non-native speakers of English and the quality healthcare that is currently unattainable to them simply due to a language barrier
My Role:
UX Researcher and UI Designer
Technology Used:
Miro, Figma and Trello
Research
We performed 4 user interviews of non-native English speakers and shared a survey to our social media accounts. From these interviews and surveys we learned that our users felt very uncomfortable with medical terminology and rely on family members to fill in any gaps for them, 50% of our interviewees mentioned it would be “make things easier” for them if they were accessible and affordable and 27% of our survey participants currently rely heavily on translation services when it comes to discussing their healthcare.
User Insight Statement
During our research, we discovered that ESL patients do not seek out doctors that speak their language when choosing medical providers even though they do not feel comfortable discussing their healthcare needs in English.
Therefore, we believe that ESL patients are relying on friends and family members to help translate their medical needs and might be missing critical information in their medical care. We might be able to help if we provide easy access to on-demand certified medical translators.
We will do this by building a platform where ESL patients can easily connect to medical translators that fits their needs. Doing this will allow our product to bridge the language gap between provider and patient and ensure our users receive the same quality of care as their English speaking counterparts.
Definition and Ideation
User Persona
Problem Statement
We observed that non-native English speaking patients don’t feel comfortable discussing medical terminology in English.
Additionally, the costs of current medical translation services are expensive, causing patients to often rely on family and friends for any translation needs.
How might we ensure that ESL patients feel comfortable discussing their healthcare needs with medical providers, regardless of language barriers?
UX Hypothesis
We believed that by creating a platform allowing for easy accessibility to medical translators, it would achieve a safer and higher quality care for ESL patients.
Value Proposition and Competitor Analysis
Medict provides affordable access to medical translators for ESL patients throughout North America. We save lives by giving patients the comfort and assurance of being there when they need help through on-demand services and future bookings.
MARTTI, which stands for My Accessible Real Time Trusted Interpreter, is an actual device on wheels that HCP’s operate via touch screen and connects them with a skilled certified medical interpreter via both audio and video. This allows the interpreter, patient and provider to see each other, provides access to interpreters for more than 150 languages and includes ASL. Both of these competitors are widely known and trusted however they are purchased through hospitals and usually not available in outpatient settings.
“Google Translate” and “All Languages Translator” do provide translation services to anyone with an internet connection however the services are not provided by a certified medical translator and instead a computer which leaves a lot of room for error- and in the medical field can have terrible implications. Auto translation methods such as these are not permitted to be used by healthcare workers due to their lack of validation when it comes to medical terminology.
Sketches and Wireframes
Before beginning to sketch and starting the design process, we created our user flow. I was assigned to the task of perfecting the flow and making it a seamless process from beginning to end. Once I completed that, we came together as a group and iterated on it as we started the design process for our app. Our biggest struggle was deciding on how important having an “on demand” translator was versus the option of scheduling one in advance. Part of our team felt that if it was an urgent situation, the user should not have to go through a lengthy sign up process and the other part felt that the sign up process was important for returning users. We ultimately came to the conclusion that we would have an option to choose be connected to a certified translator instantly or choose to schedule. If the user chooses that they want to schedule a translator, then they will be prompted to complete the full on boarding process. Return users’ information and preferences will be saved for the next time they are in need of a certified medical translator.
Prototyping and User Testing
After creating our original prototype, we performed 4 user tests. Our participants had 4 common themes of feedback. Many users felt that the original font size and weight was difficult to read, especially for our middle aged or older target user. Some of our CTA buttons could be confusing to some non-native English speakers so the verbiage needed tweaking. Our users felt our homepage was a little confusing and were unsure about how we had ordered the steps for booking a translator. We also changed the colors of our gradients based on failed accessibility tests and moved towards an infinite scroll for our mobile prototype to help prevent user error.
Final Prototype
Conclusion and Reflection
My group and I were all extremely proud of our final prototype and app idea. It won “Best Project” of our class! It was an exciting idea to work on, and one close to my heart as a healthcare professional. Together as a group, we created something that has great potential to change the way ESL individuals receive healthcare.