Designing an inclusive vaccine registration platform
As someone who had to get inoculated with paid vaccines from a private hospital just because I couldn't find an appointment online for the free vaccines, I realized that this is the case of a whopping 78% of the population who had to give up the idea of registering online to get their vaccine doses. Despite having affluent availability of WHO approved COVID vaccines, most of the nations around the world weren’t able to achieve the desired vaccination rate even after the 2 year mark of pandemic. One of the factors responsible for this unacceptable inoculation rate was because of the haphazard implementation of the apps and websites designed and developed by the government organizations which made the process of searching, booking and tracking a vaccination slot a frustrating one for the general public.
Background
My attention landed on this project idea when I was generating random prompts using Sharpen for the Google UX Design Professional Certification program on Coursera. It was clear that there were no universal design guidelines on how to build and implement a vaccine registration platform, as a result there were a lot of inconsistencies on the platforms made available to the public. Lack of functionality and technical issues were the common hurdles the users were facing while booking and tracking the vaccination slots. As a result people started opting for offline vaccine registration which created long waiting queues outside vaccination centers.
CHALLENGE
Okay Google, book me a vaccination slot!
Lets imagine, how easy it would have been if we could use virtual assistants like Google Assistant or Alexa to make a booking for our next vaccine appointment. That would have solved billions of users problem around the world. Some of the challenges with the current implemented system were that, the vaccination centers listed on the vaccination portals were not interlinked so there was a lack of systemic co-ordination and another bigger challenge was that the registration process at each vaccination centers were different and the availability of slots or vaccines weren’t mentioned anywhere, which made users go though a bunch of pre-vaccination processes only to find out in the end that they were either ineligible or their preferred slots or vaccines were unavailable.
Since the pandemic there has been a spike in the number of new internet users but the vaccination enrollment platforms around the world weren’t designed keeping the next billion users in mind. As a result most of the people aged 45 and above weren’t able to successfully book a vaccination slot for themselves or their family, which impels us to see this challenge as a social concern as well.
I was much enthralled to take up this design challenge for my Google UX project because the project also fits well in the ‘Good Health and Wellbeing’ category of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals for the 2022 Solution Challenge by Google.
Following up to get a shot of the desired vaccine on time is still a vicious cycle in most of the countries. With the new mandate for administration of booster doses in some parts of the world, it has become even overwhelming for people to keep in track of the availability of vaccines and appointments. The infographics above clearly depicts the tedious steps and processes one has to go through as a part of the pre and post vaccination procedure. Unvaccinated people need an easy way to book, manage and track their slot with the ability to choose a preferred vaccination center and vaccine.
The key challenges in designing a better vaccination booking platform were the following:
- A vaccination booking platform should enable users to manage all processes and procedures efficiently and effectively.
- A vaccination portal should be inclusive with accessibility features that would make users feel that they are in control.
- Ensure vaccine equity on the platform across all countries based on needs and regardless of their economic status.
- Establish a universal design system adaptable for all regions and organizations around the world with cross-platform support.
UX Design Process
Project goal: Design an inclusive online vaccination appointment booking platform that would help users search, book, manage and track vaccination appointments easily and efficiently.
Role: UI/UX Designer, UX Researcher.
Project duration: 6–8 weeks.
Deliverables: Fundamental research data, Competitive analysis, User surveys and one-on-one interviews, Information architecture, Personas, UI kit, Low-fidelity wireframes, High-fidelity mockups and prototypes, Usability tests and insights.
DISCOVERY
Ensuring global access to COVID-19 vaccines
Even after successful deployment of WHO approved COVID vaccines, most of the countries weren’t able to sustain an equitable allocation, so I conducted an in-depth formative UX research to find out the root cause and the consequences of not having a unified approach towards the implementation of a reliable and accessible vaccination booking platform.
Analysis & Formative Research
I kicked off the project by analyzing the primary research data and use cases on various vaccination booking platforms which helped me discover significant insights on why common people find it strenuous to get inoculated.
Finding 1: Eight in every ten users who mentioned difficulties said a major reason why they had difficulty registering online for vaccine was that they had problems finding an available appointment online. This reason was more than twice as large as the second most common reason cited.
Finding 2: The vast majority of the users chose the offline vaccine registration process because they had the option to sign up in another way than the online registration process.
Finding 3: 29% of the users who had tried to sign themselves up for the vaccine online said signing up online was at least somewhat difficult. Also citizens above the age of 45 experienced trouble registering for the vaccine because of the low digital literacy and lack of internet access.
Finding 4: More than 40% of the citizens from the least developed countries would experience difficulty in getting vaccinated because of the lack of proper digital platforms which would otherwise enable a fast and reliable vaccine registration.
Personas
The insights from the formative research helped me craft two distinctive personas for this project. They helped me identify the users needs and pain points to move to the next stage of my design process.
DEFINING THE PROBLEM
Decoding users pain points
From the formative research data I gathered some crucial insights which helped me visualize the users problem through a bigger picture. Ever since the vaccine started rolling out to the public, the vaccine registration process has continuously evolved and the people found it difficult to keep a track of the revised guidelines, updated technological changes and especially the overall unpredictable pandemic waves.
Usability study on the current platforms
Instead of conducting a dedicated primary usability study on the current platforms, I decided to interview a few candidates who have taken at least one dose of their vaccine through online registration, as it was impossible to do mock tests on the government websites/apps with unreal data. I interviewed 5 candidates from different countries and asked about their experience registering online for their vaccination. They key pain points and problems I noted down from the interviews were sorted down under the following heuristic categories.
- Usability issues - Users wanted to easily access information like availability of slots and vaccines at a center, know their eligibility status to get vaccinated and complete all pre and post vaccination processes on a single platform.
- Accessibility issues - Users were frustrated that there were lots of accessibility features missing like the voice assistance, screen reader and use of low contrast colors on the UI.
- No user guides - The major concern with most of the registration platforms were that they failed to include information about vaccination which helps to people educate about precautions, procedure and learn more about their vaccine.
- Technical issues - There has been lots of reports on apps/websites crashing which created roadblocks while booking an appointment online.
- Lack of cross-platform support - While most of the western countries have relied on websites for vaccine registration, countries like India, Japan and Malaysia rolled out a mobile based application. The lack of cross-platform support and continuity is still a big concern.
- Flexibility deficit -Since there were no established universal design guidelines for designing a vaccine registration portal, most of the countries, even the states adopted their own design frameworks which made the users frustrated, especially the travelers and immigrants who had to switch to various registration processes as they moved to different parts of the world.
CONCEPT & VALIDATION
Finding feasible and viable ideas
Before starting the design process, I gathered the insights from the usability study and the formative research to understand better how to effectively solve the identified issues and pain points. An in depth competitive analysis was inevitable and I had to compare some of the live vaccine registration platforms and their features that would help me come up with some feasible and viable solutions for the identified problems.
Competitive analysis
I started off the competitive audit by analyzing five different vaccine registration platforms. To make sure that my audits are not biased, I had to choose platforms from different regions of the world and I also thought of including both mobile and web based apps to compare KPI’s on both platforms. To better conceptualize existing design solutions I included 2 indirect competitors along with 5 direct competitors for the competitive analysis.
Information architecture
The competitive analysis helped me structure a robust information architecture for the vaccine registration platform that would enable the users to find the information they are looking for without having to fiddle around. To IA was structured based on the priority of the most important tasks users want to carry out on the platform, which are: finding the right vaccine and available slots once the eligibility criteria is met, track and manage appointments and in addition, get information about vaccines and guidelines.
DESIGN
Designing an inclusive platform
I went back and studied the key challenges and pain points before starting the design process, as the goal of the whole project was to design an inclusive and accessible platform. I started off by sketching design solutions on a paper first and then recreating the same on my tablet.
Initial sketches
The paper wireframes guided me in creating a low fidelity designs for the problems and pain points identified. After multiple iterations of the main screens I finalized the user flow for the vaccine registration process.
Low fidelity designs
I used the rapid sketches as a guide in designing low fidelity digital wireframes and prototype to test the user flow and rethink about my visual design choices at an early stage of the design process.
Design solutions
It was time to start curating design solutions that would help me address the problems identified on the existing vaccine registration platforms. I focused on designing an effective and efficient user flow from onboarding to searching, booking and tracking a vaccination appointment.
“A problem well rendered is already half solved”
Problem #1: Missing guided onboarding
The lack of proper onboarding on most of the vaccine registration apps and websites made users feel stranded as they were unsure about how the portal works and how the product is going to benefit them. Moreover, it was the main reason why more than 77% of the users gave up trying to register online for the vaccine.
Solution
A good product experience starts with the right onboarding process. It helps users give an orientation about the features the product has to offer and build the rapport and trust with the end users. I designed a set of onboarding screens informing the users what they can expect using the app and how it will benefit them.
Problem #2: Overwhelming login and registration process
All existing vaccination portals had different login procedure and usually the first time users had to go through a painful registration process like getting ready with a bunch of health and personal documents to just get done with the registration process. Some platforms were differently structured where users had to search, find slots first and only in the end to realize that they were not eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.
Solution
To make the registration and login process efficient, I introduced a simple first time user registration form where the only information users have to enter is their name, DOB, personal ID number and some basic medical history to inform users about their eligibility status early in the process. Once the registration was done, users can easily login and access their account by either using the MPIN set by them or the biometric unlock feature that’s available on their device.
Problem #3: Lack of context
Imagine trying to find an important information which would make one feel like searching for a needle in the haystack , that’s exactly how users felt while on some of the vaccination portals. Users had a hard time searching nearby vaccination centers, vaccines of their choice, managing appointments and even downloading their vaccination certificates.
Solution
The dedicated home screen of the Spot app shows all the upcoming events like vaccination appointments and pre health checkups. Users can easily search their appointments, members and the vaccination certificates. The integrated voice assistant feature not only aids in searching but also in automated booking of an appointment at a preferred vaccination center or even for setting up a reminder for upcoming appointments.
Problem #4: Inefficient user flows
Inconsistent user flows were the main reason why users felt stuck while trying to complete important tasks on the portals like searching for a vaccine or a nearby vaccination center and book an appointment. There were no established guidelines on how the user flow should have been structured for a vaccine registration platform and the ones that already existed were outdated.
Solution
The most common process of booking anything online involves three main steps:
- The user searches for the product/service.
- Basic information input is requested from the user. In case of vaccination portals, its the time and date for slots, member information and vaccine preference.
- User tracks the product/service.
Keeping in my mind these three simple processes, I designed an efficient user flow with the help of the new information architecture. The new design solution lets users easily search, book and track their vaccination appointments without distress. However, I was aware that the efficacy of the new user flow could only be determined after conducting an in-depth usability testing with the end users.
Problem #5: No cross-platform support
With more than a billion population not having access to a mobile device or the internet, the vaccination portal was inaccessible to users of the underdeveloped countries. Even though some countries managed to develop both a website and a mobile app for effective online vaccine registrations, they forgot to design a consistent platform, keeping in mind the edge cases that would offer a seamless booking experience. The lack of flexibility made the online vaccination portals unreliable to the users who were new to the concept of technology and internet.
Solution
To design an inclusive experience for the end users, particularly user groups who are traditionally underexposed to technology and needs a moderated supervision to navigate through an interface, I designed a dedicated website for the convenience of booking of vaccination appointments online. The new cohesive and consistent platform enables users to seamlessly search, book and manage their vaccination appointments with the minimum support available.
Click the following link to access the Adobe XD prototype.
Integrated Google technologies
With the help of google technologies like, Google Maps, Google Assistant and Google Pay integrated into the app, it would become easier to navigate, control and manage tasks on an app rather than introducing a whole new technology which would require more time for the users to adapt to. The Google Maps helps users to find a desired vaccine or a vaccination center nearby, which also provides them the directions to the center. The Google Assistant on the other hand serves as a virtual assistant that can search for vaccines, schedule and track appointments seamlessly. Google Pay serves as an UPI payment system when users have to pay for their booster doses of vaccines in some countries.
TESTING
Gathering unbiased user opinions
Now that the design for the web and mobile platforms were ready, it was time to test the minimum viable product version of the vaccination portal to test the efficiency, understand new users frustrations that might be caused because of system switch. I planned an unmoderated usability study to test the whole user flow and learn how equitable and useful the new design was for the users to register, search, manage and track appointments online. A group of 10 participants were interviewed and given the task of completing some core tasks using the design prototype.
Listed below are some significant insights I derived from the unmoderated usability study.
Final iteration
Based on the key insights from the usability study, I focused on implementing the needs put forward by the users and make the final design as equitable as possible. There were 5 key areas where I had to rethink about the design decisions I made earlier.
1. Included a “new appointment” button on homescreen
Most users couldn’t navigate properly to the search page and find a vaccine using the map feature, as they were trying to find an option to initiate a booking from the homescreen. I introduced a ‘new appointment’ button would make it easy for the first time users to quickly navigate to the vaccine finder/search screen as it is one of the core primary tasks, users would intend to initiate on the app.
2. Accessible button to add new members
To make the process of adding new members easy, a dedicated “add new” button was introduced so that users don’t have to rely much on the least accessible text button at the bottom of the screen.
3. Advanced map filters
Since most of the users had a hard time choosing the right center from the auto populated center list, advanced map filter options were integrated into the map which would give users the flexibility to filter out the results and choose the preferred vaccination center based on their preferences.
Final Prototype
Click the following link to access the Adobe XD prototype.
CONCLUSION
Lessons learned
I was very much excited to take up this project as a part of the Google UX professional certificate program. I always wanted to put my knowledge and expertise into designing something for the social good. The whole process of designing a better vaccination booking platform has helped me identify the key issues that would help solve one of the most important sustainable development goals and design an inclusive product that would help serve the multifarious underrepresented communities around the world.
Key learnings
- I started off this project by assuming that the product is going to serve only an use case: to book a vaccination appointment online. But during the process of designing I learnt that it could serve as an essential information management tool to the users.
- Users gave up the idea of registering online for the vaccine because the existing systems failed to serve what they were looking for. The product had to be equitable, useful and accessible to eminently address this issue.
- While designing an universal system, factors such as flexibility, consistency, continuity should be kept in mind to make the design as versatile as possible.
“The users would always switch to something which they would understand better, even if it is considered infeasible”
Future improvements
Organizations like Google and UN are aiming to use technology and design to develop solutions for the sustainable development goals in 2022, with “Health & Wellbeing” being the category that needs more attention in the current scenario. It was an honor to wear the Designer cape and take up a project that would help address one of the major global issue.
Conducting further usability studies and reiterating the solutions would help bring this project into the limelight and influence the future design decisions on the vaccination portals that are made available to the general public.
Thank you! 🍫
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