During usability testing, participants loved the simplified view of their appointments. They appreciated how clearly the sections were labeled, and how easily they could find what they needed. And when an influx of new users started using the tool, positive feedback significantly increased.
Background
Users needed to be able to quickly understand their appointments, but each type of appointment (in-person, video, phone, and various others) had different content and status variations, making them hard to scan quickly. For example, each appointment might have different instructions on how to attend and prepare for it, and these would appear in different locations without any common structure.
There were over 100 variations across the 9 overall types. Data had been added to each type over time, so there was no clear structure, which made it difficult to find information when navigating from one appointment to the next.
My work
To make this easy to use, the language and structure needed to be consistent whether they appeared on the web, the mobile app, or in an email notification.
To accomplish this, I reviewed existing research to develop an appointment model. I then ran an object-oriented UX (OOUX) workshop with SMEs, stakeholders, and content specialists to define consistent types. I tested this model in multiple usability studies to make sure that it made sense to users.
We took that work and structured the data so it aligned across the various appointment types.
Outcome
This work gave us a consistent mental model for appointments that provided structure for both the underlying data and how we presented appointments data to Veterans. It sped up future design work as we added more appointment types, as it took the guesswork out of arranging the data.
When we saw a massive new influx of users, we received positive input about the tool and appointment structures.
