MediNav Kiosk
Digital wayfinding, indoor GPS for hospitals, is designed to help patients, visitors and staff navigate their way around a hospital campus with ease and reliability. The outcome is an improved patient experience and efficiencies for both patients and staff, including a reduction in missed or late appointments– a problem that costs a typical hospital in the US $10M annually.
MediNav began primarily as a smart phone app however, we knew that not all hospital visitors use smart phones or tablets and some users don't want to download an app for a place they only plan on visiting once. Digital Kiosks are a great to make wayfinding accessible to a wider range of users.
Hospital visitors can use the Digital Kiosks to browse the map, search for a person or place within the hospital and even send directions to their smart phone or email. This reduces the need to visit an information desk which benefits both hospital visitors and staff.
Project Overview
As a UI/UX designer at Connexient, one of my main roles was to update MediNav across all systems (Mobile, Web & Kiosk). The first iterations were designed without a clear design process or UX team. Our goal was to research users and find out what elements could be improved upon to provide a more helpful, enjoyable experience.
Objective
Update Kiosk designs to align better with redesigned mobile app and improve user experience
Timeline
May - August 2016
My Role
UI/UX & Visual Designer responsible for user research, wireframing, prototyping & testing Android, iOS, mobile web, web & Kiosk platforms
Understanding the User
Our foundational research consisted of interviews with target users, on-site surveys, field studies and competitive audits. Our goal was to learn what users liked about their navigation experience and what they felt could be done better. We found many Kiosk users experienced similar pain points to those using the mobile app:
Pain Point
User flow
"Too many taps to get me where I want to go"
Pain Point
Ease of use
"There were too many options. I couldn't figure out how to search for my doctor"
Pain Point
Overall Experience
"It got me from A to B but I think the app could be more enjoyable to use"
Refining the Design
Taking our findings from user research as well as changes made to the new app, we updated the Digital Kiosk layouts as shown below.
Home Screen
Original
Updated
Image Credit Krista Feierabend
The original kiosk home screen had a lot of text and looked more like a notification sign. During our research we found many users would walk by the kiosk giving it little notice. It wasn't immediately clear that visitors could interact with the screen at all.
The updated design opens directly to the Kiosk location on a map. This makes it clear that the kiosk can be interacted with and used as a navigation assist. From this screen users can browse the map, search for a person/place or browse the hospital directory. It also notifies users of the mobile app and gives them the option to download onto their personal device.
Search
Original
Updated
The original kiosk search page would take users away from the map which many found jarring and confusing. There was a lot of wasted space on the screen and users were required to take more steps to find a location.
The updated design keeps the map screen front and centre at all times. This allows for a more seamless user flow with fewer taps.
Location Information
Original
Updated
The location information screens were simplified, unnecessary buttons were removed from the screen. The new design defaults to a zoomed-in location on the map which gives users a clear visual of their searched location. From here, users have the option to set this location as their destination and get directions, browse the map further or search for another location.
Routing
Original
Updated
Users found the routing experience difficult to follow so we simplified it by only displaying buttons and information that was necessary to the route. We simplified the copy used to describe each step and added text to the route prompts on the map to make them clearer to understand.
Takeaways
After the initial launch of the redesigned kiosk we once again conducted a series of interviews with target users and on-site surveys. The finding were as follows:
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66% of users felt the updated app was easy to use and would recommend to others.
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84% said they would use the app again.
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10% didn't realise the screen was interactive, these were mostly users with less tech experience
We saw a 40% rise in the number visitors approaching the kiosks.
Next Steps
We want to ensure the kiosk is easy to use and accessible for all users, even those with less tech experience. We've begun the process of designing kiosks which are ADA compliant to better serve our users.
Indoor navigation is a field which is constantly changing. The technology is always evolving and we want to ensure our product evolves with it. We plan to conduct research on a regular basis and continue to upgrade the kiosks, providing users the best navigation experience possible.