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Overview
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Purpose
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Research
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Analysis
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Findings
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Diagrams
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Main Functions
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Wireframe
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Solution
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Learning outcome
WHAT I DID
Project Lead
Interview
User Research
Data Analysis
System Map
Wireframing
Prototyping
High Fidelity Screens
Overview ▼

PharmaMed

Human-centered design & Research | Oct - Dec 2019 (3 months)
What is PharmaMed?
PharmaMed is a health care and pharmacy service App. Users can store their information and contact a doctor at any time to ask about their health status and medication safety. In the App, they can buy prescription medicines. After the purchase, the user can order the medicine to be picked up at the pharmacy, and similarly, the pharmacy can also provide a door-to-door delivery service.
Potential benefits of the research results:
With this research, new ideas can be formed to create better products and services for the pharmacy home experience. This research can further benefit the people who cannot easily access the pharmacy due to life factors, such as; Disability, location, long work hours, family needs to take care, etc. And also create a better, more efficient pharmacy system, that could potentially decrease the workload of medical professionals.
Project Process Overview
TOOLS USED
Adobe Xd/Ai
Google Sheets
TEAM MEMBER
Jody Hosang
Michelle Lillo Meza Zheyuan Xiao
Yuehan Chen
Our Client ▼
Kalo Health Solutions is an organization dedicated to providing consulting and delivery services in the healthcare and pharmacy fields. Kalo is committed to producing interconnected and far-reaching digital solutions and helping companies bring these solutions to end customers or patients.
Purpose of the study ▼
To conduct exploratory research and discover new possibilities for a pharmacy experience offered at home.
Research ▼
Our first aim was to gain a high-level understanding of the interconnecting relationships that exist between potential users and the pharmacy industry.
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Participants involved in pharmaceutical practices in this research:
Pharmacy companies(such as Johnson & Johnson)
Pharmacists
Pharmacy students
Nurses/Caregivers
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For collecting data we will conduct:
1.Interviews:
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Our team conducted interviews with ten people from a variety of occupations, which includes pharmacists, students, and retired people. The questions we asked were focused on users' pain points, current procedures, and industry trends. The Interviews are audio-only. And by interviewing these people, we can understand the actual situation of the pharmacy and come up with a better pharmacy experience offered at home.
2.Observations:
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Going only off the self-reporting of different people could be a potential source of bias, especially when there's not a lot of reference data and interviewees. This being the case, our researchers team conducted passive observations at different pharmacies across the GTA. This gathered primary qualitative data on a range of activities such as how our participants interact in their environment.
3.Consent and Confidentiality:
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Before conducting an interview, each participant was briefed, and consent was insured. The consent form highlights the steps taken by the principal investigators to protect the identities of the participants and respect the rights of these participants.

Data will only be collected and share for the research and for developing a better pharmacy experience. All data from the interviews will be first collected by hand and later transfer to digital format. Confidentiality was ensured by using an encrypted drive, accessed through a VPN. Interview recordings were also deleted, on completion of the project.
The research will take place at:
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Pharmacies
Walk-in clinics
Schools
Hospitals
A few ethical issues to consider would be:
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Bias
Privacy
Potential Risk
Confidentiality
Lack of knowledge
Emotional stress from the participants
Analysis ▼
Our collected data
Detail analysis and comparison ▼
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● Picked most common issues amongst answers and categorized them.
● Used collected responses to create various solutions.
● Consider the user and the system.
● Itemize user actions and functions required.
● Gap between a user’s goal for action and the means to execute the goal.
What to do with what we got?

The interviews were then transcribed and carefully examined to identify common themes, topics, ideas, and patterns. Below is shown the extrapolated themes and sub themes from our analysis.
A zoom-in view on the group data analysis ▼
Findings ▼
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Interview Answers Conclusion:
● About half of the respondents visited the pharmacy regularly.
● The vast majority of respondents were frustrated by the long wait times at the pharmacy and thought they were inefficient.
● Most people want someone to instruct them to buy medicine.
● Medicine safety is everyone’s concern.
● More than half of respondents wanted to talk to a doctor face to face.

We narrowed down findings and decided to focus on solving two problems ▼
1.DRUG EDUCATION
Of the people prescribed a drug, one-third of them won’t fill the prescription. Half of the remaining won't take the medication correctly. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that non-adherence causes 30 to 50 percent of chronic disease treatment failures and 125,000 deaths per year in the United States.
“Pharmacists play a critical role in monitoring for complications and ensuring patients are taking their medication at a good level.”
- Pharmacist Technician

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“It’s not just about giving medication. The patients may have questions. Also there may be complications which affect which drug is recommended.”
- Doctor
2.ACCESSIBILITY
Many elderly and disabled people struggle to have their prescriptions renewed. This often leads to reliance on family members to pick up and provide education on administering the drug.
“A home care pharmacy would be useful for the elderly population because we could come to them.”
- Pharmacist Technician
“It is important professionals can come with any homecare service. This makes sure patients get what they needed.”
- Pharmacist Manager
Diagrams ▼

System Maps▼
● Visual description of service with different people involved, with their mutual links and flows in the system.
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Process Map▼
● Sequential approach to mapping process
Main Functions ▼
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● Medication: A Medicine list as a homepage.
● Prescription: Rely on electronic prescriptions for prescription medicines.
● Chat: Contact a doctor Online.
● Pick-up: Book to pick up the medicine at a specific time.
● Delivery: A door-to-door service.
Wireframe ▼
Solution ▼

A medium fidelity prototype:
Limited functionality but clickable areas which presents the interactions and navigation possibilities of an application.

To help clients conceptualize the results of exploratory research, our team developed a conceptual solution called PharmaMed. This digital solution has been designed to consolidate patient health data while providing a simplified process for prescription fulfillment and home care services.

And because we are only focusing on research and providing an effective solution in this project. We didn't put as much attention to the usability and visual of the UI. if you want to see my high-fidelity prototype, here are some of my other proud projects that include high-fidelity UI:
Reminders ▼
Building on the function of drug education, our solution is designed to assist patients in taking their medication. Even before entering the app, a patient would receive push notification reminders. When a patient enters the application, they would see a prompt for which medication they need to take. The reminder function will also include when your ordered medication will arrive, and important message from doctors.
Pill identification tool ▼
If the user is having trouble finding specific drugs and medications. They can identify them by their imprint, color, or shape of the pill.
Wrong medication or the wrong dose of medication is a common problem. Medication errors can cause serious consequences. This function further reduces this situation.
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Safety ▼
As a consumer, users need to protect themselves and ensure they have the correct medication. Know the medication and dose they should have received, and understand their condition.
If the user is unsure about certain drug information, they can always chat with a doctor or use the "question" button to see more detail about this medication.
Delivery and Pick-up ▼
Not only people can enjoy quick medication pick-up service without wait time at a drugstore, but they can also enjoy home delivery service if they have accessibility problems. Medication delivery will have extra security by using barcodes.
Outcome ▼
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Group Learning outcome ▼
● Compromise
● Communication
● Criticism
● Management
● Efficiency
● Get more comprehensive information
Challenges & Surprises ▼
● Demands are Contradictory
● Users Problems
● Improving The Application
● Difficult to have more elaborate answers from interviewees
● Most answers are similar
From this research project, our group did an incredible job at motivating each other and working through the challenges. We learned that when we properly structured the project workflow and break complex tasks into parts, we are able to accelerate our progress much faster. Plan and manage each group member's task and time as a team lead can also be very challenging. However, through these challenges, I had definitely developed stronger communication skills.
Check out some of my other works.
◀ Rainforest
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This doesn't have to end.
Email me at leogeng.slgz@gmail.com and let's talk about anything!

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