Redesigning data dashboards & prototyping an emotional resiliency dashboard.
Internship
Role
UI/UX Designer
Duration
6 months
Tool
Figma
Grafana
Google Suite
InfluxDB
Background
I did an internship with Biomotivate, a health and addiction treatment company in Pittsburgh in the summer and fall of 2022. My overall task was to improve the user experience of their current dashboard which displayed graphical information of participants from their wearables. I was also tasked to make a VR Treatment dashboard for their new project which then became a grant competition submission. During this time, I tackled UI requests and pitched my own interface recommendations in projects (some mini projects not mentioned).
The Problem
I began the internship by analyzing the dashboard to gain a better understanding of the usage. As a data dashboard, there were a lot of different functionalities that were often confusing to use, especially as their target audience was therapists.
Project 1: Improving the Intuitiveness of Data Filtering Menu
Iteration 1: Icons
To improve the data filtering intuitiveness (as from first glance, the words were not descriptive enough to represent the functionality), I first thought that images and icons would be a more intuitive way to represent the ideas expressed.
But quickly realized that the graphics seemed be adding more confusion to the choices.
Iteration 2: Text/Video
So, I opted to recommending either an info button for text information or an onboarding video process that can help guide the user.
I also made some sample video descriptions that could be used. Check one out here!
The Problem
There is no clear way of seeing specific information on the graphs. So, I pitched the idea of having a hover popup that tells important information while hovering over parts of the graph.
Mini Project 2: Hover Popup
Iteration 1: Low Fidelity
After a discussion with the CEO and some other designers, we decided on some more information that would be useful to the user -- therapists. We decided on more specifics of time and the usage of color stamps that could help the therapists more easily understand the graphs.
Iteration 2: Final + Implemented
The Problem
Project 3: Schedule Incorporation + Signification
The participants at the treatment center have a particular schedule and we wanted to visually incorporate it so that the therapists can tell at what part of the day certain spikes or irregularities occurred.
Research + Organization
I began by taking their schedule and organizing it in an efficient way so I could clearly identify similar and different parts of the schedule.
Final
Then, I started to create a first iteration of the schedule signifier using colors and a key. But realized that the colors started to overtake the actual graph, and experimented a bit more to a less dramatic visualization.
Before
After
The Task
Project 4: VR Treatment Dashboard
I was tasked to create a prototype of a participant dashboard with another designer where participants can keep track of and be motivated by their progress in their new VR treatment method.
Step 1: Ideation + Mid-fi Prototypes
We began with ideating with the other designers to understand how to best represent the participants progress graphically.
Step 2: Colors + Variations
After adding color, a very important visual aspect, we iterated on type of graphical layout that could maximize intuitiveness and at a glance information.
Step 3: Memory Info Bar
We also decided on adding another page, memory info, that highlights the main ideas of the graph and any other important information that the user might like to know.
First iteration
Some other design visualizations made
Takeaways
-
The problem is the UX not the user: Because the dashboard was pretty technical, I was afraid to speak up when I didn’t understand it because I thought I was the problem. However, I wish that I expressed these problems more as there that means more discussion and ultimately more areas to improve!
-
Understanding your user, especially when you’re not familiar with them is super important: I wish I asked to do more user research in this internship. Most of my work was remote, so I wasn’t able to watch or analyze how the everyday treatment center, therapists, or participants functioned. Even a Fly on the Wall or basic user interview could have have really helped me with creating more empathetic designs.