F.M.
WORK
ABOUT
RESUME
Improving Customer Journey at Anti-Fragility Health
Within 2 months, our team conducted end-to-end research at a healthcare startup, improving the customer journey through 5 qualitative interviews and a contextual design inquiry process that included interpretation sessions, affinity mapping, journey mapping, and product concept development.
ABOUT THE CLIENT
Anti Fragility Health (AFH) is a research-based personal lifestyle medical clinic located in Anaheim, California. AFH distinguishes itself by integrating naturopathic therapy, holistic, and traditional Western medicine with cutting-edge biomarker-driven diagnostics and analysis. Embracing the 5P approach, AFH's philosophy centers on patient-centered preventative care, emphasizing that medicine is not solely about the cure, but also about fostering a well-rounded approach to health. AFH's mission is to offer personalized, predictive, preventive, and participatory health support to diverse populations.
THE NEED
AFH aimed to create a customer journey visualization by incorporating the viewpoints of clinicians, patients, and lifestyle coaches, with the overarching objective of enhancing the user experience and obtaining a comprehensive understanding of the customers’ healthcare journey. This process would enable the identification of current pain points and potential opportunities for AFH to improve its patients' journey.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
To effectively understand the customer journey and elevate their user experience, we focused on a pivotal element - “What sets the AFH experience apart from conventional healthcare methods and what aspects of this distinctiveness resonate with individuals and draw them in”. By identifying these motivations, we can understand the different touchpoints and interactions for customers, and by recognizing differences, we can leverage AFH's strengths, explore new opportunities, and address any identified pain points, thus enhancing the overall patient journey.
“In what ways do customers’ motivations for selecting AFH vary across different contexts?”
“How are customers’ experiences with AFH different from traditional healthcare options?”
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Our research study revolved around methodology known as Contextual Inquiry, where researchers delve deep into the users' world. This method provided profound insights into participants' healthcare experiences, emotions, and behaviors, painting a comprehensive picture of their world.
INTERVIEWS
The interviews were conducted in a semi-structured format, involving 28 open-ended questions, with a total of 5 existing AFH customers who had diverse health issues, spanning different ages, genders, and ethnicities, and varying durations with AFH.
Our questions were categorized into three main themes:
  1. Understanding their introduction to AFH and their perceptions of it
  2. Uncovering how they identified their symptoms and initiated their engagement with AFH
  3. Exploring their current experiences with AFH
AFFINITY MAPPING
We found 4 overarching themes in our analysis of interview notes through affinity mapping.
Link to Complete Affinity Diagram
Healthcare journey to AFH
Frustrated with existing healthcare options, customers sought an alternative that could address a diverse range of health concerns, and that’s where AFH stepped in. Their journey to discovering AFH was a blend of personal recommendations from friends and family, alongside digital exploration, as they browsed online resources to find a healthcare solution that truly resonated with them.
AFH cares about its customers
At AFH, customer satisfaction is at the core of their mission. They strive to create a fulfilling experience, treating customers as valued individuals on a journey to better health. AFH's standout feature is their round-the-clock availability, offering assistance whenever it's needed, making them more than a healthcare provider – they're a trusted well-being partner.
AFH is grounded in their approach to alternative medicine
AFH customers appreciate the well-structured process, guided by AFH's extensive expertise. From accurate diagnosis to effective treatment, AFH stands as a reliable source of healthcare. What sets AFH apart is their tailored approach, offering customers precise guidance on different interventions to match their unique health requirements. At AFH, it's about more than just healthcare; it's about providing a personalized path to well-being.
Intricacies of believing in a novel healthcare option
Customers initially may have had reservations when embarking on their AFH journey, which differs significantly from conventional healthcare choices. However, the unique approach at AFH instills a newfound sense of confidence in their health decisions, guiding them toward a path of greater assurance and well-being.
SENSATION BOARD
After finishing the Affinity diagram, our next step was to craft the experience model, and we chose the Sensation Board model for its strong focus on capturing the emotions and feelings of our customers, which were prominent in our data. The Sensation board revealed the emotions and inner human experience that should be evoked when customers interact with AFH services and products.
JOURNEY MAP
Following this, we designed the customer journey map, which showcased the steps users take to achieve their goals, identifying pain points and opportunities to improve their journey. We sketched a fictional persona based on our affinity diagram for the journey map & then step-by-step went through each phase of the process for Diana.
Steps within Diana’s journey
Within each step, we identified the Actions, Needs & Pains, Touchpoints, Customer Feelings & Opportunities.
Link to Complete Journey Map
IDEATION & VISIONING SESSION
Using our findings above & after the Wall Walk with the class, we conducted an ideation and visioning session. We went through our Miro file and noted our individual ideas inspired by the opportunities from the journey map and sensation board, as well as themes extracted from the affinity diagram. We then brainstormed together evaluating each note, and identified two main themes: Redesigning the current website and Developing a mobile app to support existing AFH customers on their health journey These ideas were then categorized as positives (green), negatives (red), and potentials (yellow), in order to prioritize our features in this implementation since we had limited time.
Most of these ideas were based on using the unique aspects of AFH and building on them so that we are able to create a truly amazing customer experience.
PRODUCT CONCEPTS
Based on our customer interviews, affinity diagram, and journey map, we found that customers needed more efficient and effective ways to manage their relationship with AFH, and also interact with AFH services. To solve this, we decided to come up with a mobile app concept. In addition to that, customers indicated that proper guidance and information during their initial phase of interaction with AFH would have been helpful. To solve this, we designed a concept to revamp the homepage for the existing AFH website.
MOBILE APP
Home
The app's home page features an inspirational quote aimed at offering encouragement and support to customers.
Another focus of this page is a personalized widget designed to prompt customers to regularly track their symptoms, tailored to each individual's unique health concerns.
Furthermore, the home page showcases a banner to keep customers informed about upcoming appointments, promoting organization and ensuring they never overlook important scheduled visits.
My Plan
The ‘My Plan’ page allows the customers to view their personalized treatment plan as well as monitor their daily and weekly components. Additionally, customers can click on the info icon associated with each component to understand what it entails and why they are doing it.
Appointments
The ‘appointments’ page acts as a central place for all actions related to appointments. It enables customers to schedule new appointments, modify existing ones, view details of each appointment, and view past appointments if required.
Reports
Similarly, the ‘reports’ page gives customers the ability to access all reports easily from
one single place.
Contact
Since AFH is always available for their patients, the ‘contact’ option  makes it easy for customers to get in touch with the AFH clinic easily
through chat or call, whichever is preferable.
WEBSITE
‘Contact Us’, ‘Banner Image’, and a ‘Caption’
The header of the website contains a ‘Contact Us’ button, which highlights the most prominent action that potential customers would want to take.
An engaging banner with an image and a caption on the first view of the website sets the vibe of the product and the company. This in turn directs the potential customers to begin their journey with AFH.
Also, a sticky chat with a live expert button to show that AFH is very accessible to its users.
‘Why choose AFH” and ‘What sets us apart’ section
Further down, ‘Why choose AFH’ introduces the mission of the company and what they bring to the customers.
The ‘What sets us apart’ section further strengthens the confidence of potential customers by clearly highlighting the uniqueness of customer experience at AFH compared to traditional clinics. This also helps in sending a clear message that AFH does things differently and better.
‘How we work’ section
Followed by that is a ‘How we work’ section, which details the well-structured process at AFH and provides information about how holistic care works. This helps remove the apprehension that potential customers might have in regard to the new approach. In addition, this section also helps in establishing the fact that AFH has expertise in the domain.
‘Customer Testimonials’ section
The ‘customer testimonials’ section provides social proof and validation for potential customers to believe in AFH. This helps build trust among people who are considering joining AFH.
‘Partners & Sponsors’ section
To further reinforce this sense of trust and confidence, the partners and sponsors section displays the verified institutions and companies that support and back AFH. Lastly, a clear call to action at the bottom completes the browsing journey of the potential customers on the AFH website’s home page and encourages them to contact AFH.
LEARNINGS
Working on a research project from scratch and building products based on research findings was a truly intriguing experience. It was remarkable how we progressed through each phase, starting with just a problem statement.
I also realized the importance of effective team communication, especially in such discussions where you are making critical design decisions. Being aware of my own biases was also crucial so that I could make sure that they did not influence my judgement and decision-making.
I discovered that there can be numerous ways to make any kind of decision, but ultimately, the team must find a common-ground. Additionally, we had a lot of back and forth with our client regarding their goals and expectations for the project. This reinforced the importance of clear and collaborative communication with stakeholders, ensuring that we have a shared understanding and alignment of goals.
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