Vania Ramadhan

UniMed

A mobile app designed to help non native English speakers better understand their personal medical records through translation and credible description. Created for no-code hackathon at Tufts University, 2024.

0-1 Product

Hackathon

Role: Lead UX Researcher
Team: 2 product designers, 1 marketer
Timeline: 36 hours
Date: Feb 2024

Project Overview

UniMed helps non native English speakers understand their medical records.

Developed during a 36-hour producthon (think of a hackathon, minus the programming), UniMed supports non native English speakers through translating their personal medical records and providing accurate descriptions of what test results actually measure. As the head of research, I found that non native English speakers tend to have lower medical literacy, which puts them at a higher risk for health issues. Through explaining medical terms by only using credible sources (CDC, NIH) and translating a patient’s documents, UniMed bridges a disparity in patient-physician communication.

Problem

American healthcare services fail to meet the basic needs of non native English speakers.

Non native English (NNE) speakers struggle with comprehending their personal medical documents. While many people of differing linguistic backgrounds struggle to understand what medical tests are truly assessing, this difficulty is even greater for NNE speakers. Doctors try to aid the problem through explaining terms multiple times and using visual aids, but are often under strict time constraints and unable to completely fix the issue.

Solution

Translating and explaining personal medical records. Anytime, anywhere.

UniMed lets patients check their medical test results in their native language and explains what tests are assessing using information sourced from academic journals. For instance, a user could have a cholesterol test done during their doctor's appointment and later use UniMed to read about cholesterol's role in the body.

01 Convenient

UniMed allows users complete control over viewing their records, without having to call the doctor.

02 Credible

Explanations of medical tests are written using only peer-reviewed academic articles, sourced from places like the NIH.

03 Accessible

Translation options help non native English speakers understand their medical tests.

Research

Low health literacy is a risk factor for poor health.

After conducting a literature review, I found that NNE speakers are at higher risk of low medical literacy, which correlates to “greater difficulty understanding prescription drug labels, limited knowledge of disease self-management skills, a higher incidence of hospitalization, and higher mortality rates” (Kripalani, et al).

“Individuals with both limited-English proficiency and low health literacy are at high risk for poor health.” - Office of Public Health, University of Hawai'i

The research my team accomplished supported the conclusion found in the literature. We interviewed 5 medical professionals and 4 non native English speakers to hear their perspective on the issues that a language barrier presents in patient-physician communication. We obtained 60+ survey responses that had similar sentiments of frustration when dealing with medical jargon.

"When I didn’t speak English, I went months without seeking medical help.”
- survey respondent

"There’s not enough time to explain everything to patients with limited English proficiency.”
- medical professional during interview

"When I didn’t speak English, I went months without seeking medical help.”
- survey respondent

"There’s not enough time to explain everything to patients with limited English proficiency.”
- medical professional during interview

Ideation

Medical literacy features were implemented based on research insights.

Due to the time constraint (36 hours!), we decided to use the lean UX methodology, which meant that our designers were creating before the research was viable. As a result, the key takeaways from our research led to multiple changes in our product. (Image credit: Think360 Studio)

UniMed was initially only a translation service, but we implemented more features that addressed medical literacy and promoted a holistic and comprehensive understanding of medical tests. Below is a chart of implemented features based on interview responses.

Prototype

Personalized explanation of medical results.

Credible and relevant explanations, accessible at any time.

Understand how medications perform.

Centralize prescription information to support informed medication use.

Learnings

Research powers design.

This was the first time I worked on a team with other designers and had a delegated role. As a result, I was able to focus in my research and provide a comprehensive understanding of our problem space for the team. I’m drawn to synthesizing data into tangible action items.

The other designers on my team were incredibly experienced and supportive. I definitely learned a lot from them about effective collaboration. I learned to hone in on big-picture goals, redirect the team's focus, and document our product decisions to reduce redundancy.

The length of this producthon forced me to prioritize. Consequently, I learned how to identify what was most important for our users and our product, and to not stray far from our mission statement.

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