MediNav Mobile App
Connexient's MediNav™ mobile app for hospitals uses the world's most advanced bluetooth technology to provide true turn-by-turn indoor navigation on your smartphone.
Available on iOS & Android, this white label app provides users with an indoor navigation experience similar to what they've come to depend on outdoors.
Project Overview
Objective
Update app to simplify user-flows and improve functionality.
Timeline
January - June 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 3 stand-out user pain points:
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"
Revised User Flow
Taking our findings from the user research, we created a more simplified user flow.
The revised user flow removes a welcome screen and other pages which were creating pain points in the overall user experience.
The revised flow uses the map as the home page. This allows users to browse and search for a destination as soon as they open the app which helps them navigate to their desination faster.
It also made the settings page easily accessible so that users can change font size and other accessibility settings if needed.
Starting the Design
We began by sketching out various layouts. The goal here wasn't to find the perfect solution but to come up with lots of ideas.
We then explored how each of the key screens would interact with each other. From this, we took the features we liked and created digital wireframes.
Home Screen
App opens to user's location on map which removes unnecessary steps in user journey.
User can search directly from this screen which helps get them to a destination faster.
Navigation button allows users to access the menu from all screens, improving user flow.
Wireframing
Usability Study Findings
With a low-fidelity prototype on Figma, we were able to test our initial layouts with regular users of the app as well as some first time users. We conducted two rounds of tests. Our findings were as follows:
Round One Findings
Users liked opening to the map as the home page but thought the search bar blocked the map too much.
The Navigation Menu helped users to move around the app quickly but some users felt it was too easy to miss.
The Directory List was very long and users disliked the time it took to scroll through the page.
Round Two Findings
Some users didn't know which direction to start walking in. Some sort of visual cues along their route path would help.
When browsing the map, users wanted the ability to switch between floors.
When color was added to the prototype, users found the navigation menu button more easily.
Refining the Design
Original
Updated
Home Screen
In the original design, the app opened to a page with two buttons. Users had to select one in order to continue.
The updated design opens to show the user's location on the map, something users have come to expect when using other navigation apps. From here, they can browse the map, search or open the navigation menu.
Removing the unnecessary page from the original design allows users to navigate through the app faster with fewer clicks.
Image Credit Krista Feierabend
Directory
To reduce the amount of time spent scrolling, we made the directory icons smaller so they could fit on one page.
Users of the original app didn't always realise they could search from this page as the icon was small and off to the side. To address this, we added a full search bar at the top to ensure users wouldn't miss it.
Updated
Original
Original
Updated
Location Info
We wanted users to be able to preview their destination on the map before starting a route. When a location is selected, the app will bring the user to it's position on the map with a card displaying information on the lower third of the screen.
From here, users can learn more by swiping up on the card, favourite the location so it's easier to find or route to the location by clicking "Get Directions".
Route
Users found the routing experience difficult to follow so we simplified it by only displaying buttons and information that was necessary to the route.
Other route options can be accessed by swiping up on the card at the bottom of the screen. From here, users can edit a route, add a stop, share route etc.
We also added visual landmarks to the map. Users can select the camera icon to view a picture of the area. This can be used as a reference for users along their route.
Updated
Original
Takeaways
After the initial launch of the redesigned app we once again conducted a series of interviews with target users and on-site surveys. The finding were as follows:
-
73% of users felt the updated app was easy to use and would recommend to others.
-
92% said they would use the app again.
-
12% felt the app wasn't very intuitive to use. This was mostly users with a lower level of tech experience.
We saw a 20% rise in the number of app downloads in the first month after launch.
Next Steps
We want to ensure the app is easy to use for all users, even those with less tech experience. The majority of users who rated the app as difficult to use were in the 55+ age range. We plan to do further research into this user group and see how we can improve their experience.
Indoor navigation is a field which is constantly changing. The technology is always evolving and we want to ensure our app evolves with it. We plan to conduct research on a regular basis and continue to upgrade the app, providing users the best navigation experience possible.