Remedy

A mobile application intended to relieve chronic pain through meditation, expressive writing and education.
client
Remedy
role
User research, UI/UX Design, Prototyping, Branding
duration
8 weeks

Overview

Millions of people suffer from chronic pain every day. Remedy aims to help people that are affected by chronic pain to find relief through mindfulness-based stress reduction protocols. Studies have shown that these methods can be an effective treatment for various chronic pain conditions.

Challenge

The founder approached the team when his application was experiencing a 0% retention rate, and about a 20% conversion rate. He wanted us to design an on-boarding experience that convinced his users to trust the suggested methods of treatment.

We aimed to create an educational and engaging onboarding experience that builds trust and communicates the efficacy of these treatments.
In order to do so, we had the following goals:

  • Improve conversion of the on-boarding flow on the iOS app
  • Establish and convey brand values
  • Explore future features and develop a product road map

Research and Problem Definition

Usability Testing

First, we interviewed people who suffer from chronic pain to gain an insight on their history of pain and the steps they’ve taken towards finding relief. We then gave them the task to use the current app and complete the fist lesson to uncover the major pain points within the initial on-boarding experience.

"I felt like I was forced to listen to the first lesson. I wasn't expecting a two minute audio intro"

Comparative and Competitive Research

In order to discover what makes for a good on-boarding experience, we looked at competitive and comparative apps such as Curable, Mend, Headspace, and Duolingo to understand how their onboarding process works and how to keep users engaged with potentially sensitive topics. Common elements included explaining core features, the ability to customize the program, and providing a clear value proposition from the very beginning.

Highlighter Testing

To understand what type of copy helps establish trust in the case of such a sensitive topic, we took copy from various articles, scientific papers, and apps talking about chronic pain and asked people who suffer from chronic pain to highlight words that they found trustworthy or not. We compared all the test results to give us an insight to the type of language to use that would help establish trust among users.

Through the feedback received from the various research methods, we decided to guide our design exploration around two key principles:

  1. Manage expectations: it’s important to have a transparent stream of communication throughout the app.
  2. Establish trust: the combination of displaying scientific evidence while showcasing a sense of empathy in regards to the tone of language used seems to resonate most with users.

Design Solutions

Rebranding

Unique Value Propositions

First time users are greeted by series of screens on a carousel to show the unique value proposition, set user expectations and display a sense of empathy for a sensitive topic. It was important that research-backed and science-based evidence was presented early on in the user experience. This provides users with information on the benefits of the using Remedy as well as insight as to how it would be applied within the application.

Dashboard

It was important for us to create a dashboard that not only highlighted the different features of Remedy, but also allow for the founder to build out future features as well. Using the data from our competitive analysis and input from the founder, we came up with the features that would be most popular among users.

We created a progress tracker that would encourage users to complete each lesson, and continue on their healing journey. The main focus is given to each lesson card and the content within. Each lesson has a short description to minimize any confusion. Once a user completes a lesson, the lesson card will slide forward and unlock the next one in sequence.

The Inspiring Stories feature provides our users with real life stories about users like them - providing inspiration for their own recovery.

Enhance and Encourage Engagement

Remedy is composed of writing and meditation exercises to achieve user goals. In order for users to get the most value from the app, it was important to keep them engaged within the program. Options to set reminders and a daily tracker were implemented to help keep users accountable and engaged.

Validation Testing

We tested our prototype with individuals who suffer from a type of chronic pain and found an increase of about 80% in users who were more likely to use Remedy.
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While we largely accomplished the original goal of establishing trust and clarity throughout the onboarding, a new set of issues came up, largely having to do with the dashboard screen.

Lessons and Takeaways

Scope Creep is Real

The dashboard wasn’t part of the original scope, but it turned out to be a large element within the project. It didn’t go through a comprehensive design process and the feedback from the validation testing was a result of that. Throughout the design process, there was an emphasis on constantly developing creative solutions for users, but they may not necessarily be the ones users asked for.
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Don't assume users always take the most logical options

While this may be the one of the most common and easy mistakes to make, making assumptions about the user is never helpful. Assumptions can work out in some circumstances, but it’ll mostly lead to confusion and more issues - as reflected with the feedback via the prototype.

Throughout this project, I learned how to capitalize on the value of our research and refine the design process to effectively curate a streamlined experience.