I worked solo on this project with a few licensed acupuncturists to further improve the product by adding additional functions. I conducted user research, wireframing, prototyping, and usability testing in Figma. Upon the usability testing, 80% of the users stated that the function is very beneficial for their needs.
Three Months
6 Acupuncturists
UX Designer
Team of 1
Managing the project
Figma
Whimsical
Adobe Illustrator
The primary acupuncture point resource used in colleges and universities worldwide. It is designed to help students and practitioners with every aspect of their study and practice. It used to be a physical manual, which is now made into an app and website.
The app is an excellent resource for students to understand acupuncture points in school. However, it isn’t helpful for students in real-life practices because it doesn’t provide quick access to treatment methods for a given health condition.
Features to help early practitioners: Search for treatments based on health conditions, Reference reliable learning resources, and Sharing of treatment methods and experiences with the community.
Before I started the process, I needed to understand the mindset of my target audiences. I interviewed 6 beginner acupuncturists regarding their most recent work experience. I asked open-ended questions to get as much information as possible and summarized the data based on members’ needs, pain points, and frustrations.
Based on interview findings, I created Carla with the provisional personas of “The beginner acupuncturist persona” to better identify the targeted user groups looking for the additional features of the app.
After talking to the users, I analyzed five competitor apps the users are currently using. Fortunately, none of the apps have easy-to-navigate treatment plans for acupuncturists to use in clinics. By providing this feature, it will make the app more desirable to users.
According to my user research and competitive analysis. There is more to just learning about each acupoint. The users seek a platform to boost their confidence in work clinics. Following are the areas of opportunities:
Based on my user research and competitor analysis, I created this user journey for my redesign.
After figuring out the user journey, i mapped out the user flow of how the student/professional can create an account to search for treatments, add treatments, and how they can verify their license and NPI number as a practitioner.
After figuring out the users' needs, I created user tasks, site maps, sketches, and high-fidelity wireframes to better match the original app design.
After I understood the users, I started sketching out ideas for the functions I would add to the app based on all the information I had gathered.
I created new features for the app that better matches the users’ needs.
Allows the users to easily search for different health conditions. There are multiple ways a user can search for the condition.
Allows the users to see a set of textbook default treatment points for a specific health condition, along with needling technique learning videos
Allows the users to share their treatment points that work on their patients with the acupuncture community.
After I had my sketches and features, I produced low-fidelity wireframes that allowed me to prototype the new design.
After the completion of the initial design, I had 6 beginner acupuncturists test it. Based on the feedback, I made the following improvements to my design.
Users think that the “you are verified” box after the user inputs their license information is too low to the bottom of the page, which is easily missed during the first glace and will cause confusion if the license information was verified or not.
Many users during the usability test are confused about how “Next” has anything to do with uploading photos. Changing the wording from “Next” to “Upload” prevents the confusion from happening again.
Boosting up confidence is key!
• Searching for treatments is just a click away.
• Able to find what they need right away.
• Boosts the confidence of the practitioner and patients.
• See treatments given by acupuncturists around the world.
• View videos on how other acupuncturists perform their treatments.
• Try out other acupuncturists’ treatment methods.
• Searching for treatments is just a click away.
• Able to find what they need right away.
• Boosts the confidence of the practitioner and patients.
After the usability testing, I asked the users who initially refused to purchase the app if they would with these added functions. Most of them stated they would purchase the app if the new features are added. They felt that it would be a great help to their career as beginner acupuncturists.
Even though this is a student project, I was very keen on this app. I am very grateful to have the opportunity to connect with my acupuncture alumni on this project. As an acupuncturist, I felt I was doing myself a favor throughout this process. Here are what I learned:
Believe in the project. Even though this is a student project, I believe it will impact the acupuncture society. Maybe a beginner acupuncturist who has to enter the workforce right after graduation can have the confidence to treat patients independently with the help of this app. Based on the comments I received from my alumni, many beginner acupunctures have this problem, and these functions can definitely help ease the anxiety by boosting their confidence.
