SmallSteps
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THE PROBLEM
Many patients affected by an injury struggle to adhere to home exercise programs (HEPs) — an essential part of recovery
One in two adults are affected by a musculoskeletal condition or injury, and physical therapy is often recommended for patients. An essential part of physical therapy is having a HEP that patients can understand and follow. My experience as a therapy aide showed me that many patients struggle to adhere to their exercise plans. Adherence to HEPs is a significant problem, with non-adherence as high as 70%.
DISCOVER
The Patient Recovery Experience
Home exercise programs are a fundamental and crucial part of physical therapy that helps patients progress between visits, reduces pain, improves clinical outcomes, and enhances quality of life.
Interview Findings
Interviews were done virtually with four participants who had current or past injuries that went to physical or occupational therapy.
DEFINE
How might we help patients build self-efficacy in their recovery process outside of their physical therapy appointment?
We know that patients want to understand why certain exercises are beneficial to their treatment. Therefore, I developed a product that complements their physical therapy and empowers patients to actively participate in their treatment plan.
Key Drivers
As physical therapy can be mentally or physically challenging, the ability to understand their HEP and encourage active participation in their treatment is crucial to the success of the app and their recovery. I designed my work to focus on the following key areas.
Education
Content that educates patients on the purpose and benefits of their exercises
Personalization
Patients can access their personalized HEP and add exercises to their treatment
Clarity
User Flows
To visualize how users interact with the product, I developed user flows for two tasks: navigating to the Home Exercise Program (HEP) and adding a new exercise.
DESIGN
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
Homepage
Sign Up Page
Learn Page
Exercise
Timer
Visual Identity
I wanted the branding to feel compassionate, empathetic, calm, and encouraging. To do so , I knew I wanted the logo to evoke a sense of achievable goals and encouragement. My inspiration for the overall color palette was inspired by blue and yellow ceramic tiles, know as azulejos, from Portugal.
High-Fidelity Prototype
To ensure our designs meet the needs of our users and our research goals, a clickable prototype was designed for 2 flows:
Sign up and reach homepage
Navigate to their Home Exercise Program and complete workout
I also created a third concept flow to test out a potential feature of adding a new exercise to allow users to customize their home exercise plan if desired.
Sign Up
Email Address
Password
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or
Continue with Google
Sign Up
13:11
Sign Up Page
Learn about your recovery
Small steps matter! Let’s explore :)
How do you feel today?
Track your progress
meh
okay
great
Start workout
DAY 1 OF 7
My Home Exercise Program
8 minutes
6 exercises
Good Morning, Dan
13:11
Home
Progress
Learn
Profile
Homepage
Towel
Chair
Strap
8 minutes
6 exercises
Required equipment
Overview
Your exercises
Stretching Exercises
Calf Stretch
2 min
Ball Roll
60 sec
Do not ignore pain
If the exercises cause significant pain, talk to your physical therapist.
Strengthening Exercises
Towel Scrunches
30 sec
Alphabet Writing
60 sec
Calf Raises
30 sec
Balance Exercises
Single Leg Balance
3 min
Let’s go!
Overall
Today
Exercise Program
13:11
Exercise Program
2 min
Calf Stretch
3 sets: 30 sec hold. 10 sec rest.
Required equipment
Strap (can also use a towel, belt, etc)
Instructions
Sit on the floor with one leg straight and the other knee drawn up to steady you.
Loop a strap or towel around the center part of the foot.
Holding the strap with both hands, pull the toes to point upward, keeping the heel on the ground.
Keep pulling to stretch the calf muscle and hold for 30 seconds.
Release and relax for 10 seconds.
Repeat 3 times.
Important Tips
Sit up tall and keep your affected leg straight.
Start workout
13:11
Start Workout
scroll to view
21:11
Add New Exercise
Search by name
Frequency
Reminders
TIP: Add a quick reminder by clicking on a card
Daily
Weekly
Save
Morning
Afternoon
Evening
Additional Details
Sets & Reps
Keep track of your weights and reps
per day
with a goal of
1
Add New Exercise
TEST
Usability Testing
I created a high-fidelity prototype of the two task flows and one concept flow. Moderated usability tests were conducted through Zoom. A total of 5 users participated in the test.
Results
100%
Completion
<1 min
Efficiency
The avg. amount of time to complete each task
100%
Feedback
Iterating after user feedback
Based on the feedback from usability testing, I focused my efforts on 3 initiatives
Show diagnosis on Homepage and allow user to hide it
Make the benefits of each exercise more clear
Final Prototype
REFLECTION
What are the next steps?
Adding tools for users to document their pain, feelings and progress
Add more information on the benefits of exercises
Develop and add features for users to customize their HEP
Enhancing the language learning experience to allow for integration of real-world experiences
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