MDP Hackathon:
Virtual PHQ-9
Overview
For one weekend, I participated in athenahealth's event More Disruption Please (MDP) Hackathon in Austin, TX. Objective Collaborate in a newly formed team to design a mobile-health app with a realistic business model |
My Role
User-Researcher & Co-presenter Services Project Management, Usability Testing, User Research Instruments Paper & Sketching supplies, InVision, Emaze, Omnigraffle |
Process
At the start of the hackathon, a handful of participants pitched their ideas to improve healthcare, ranging from wearable devices to database management. However, the pitch that stuck with me was from Candace Aylor who addressed mental health and the stigmatized experiences that exist in our current healthcare system. Four other participants and myself teamed up with Candace and spent the next two days creating an app from the ground up. Candace's vision was important. As a team, we wanted to find a way to reduce stigma from mental health. However, for the hackathon, it needed to be scaled and more focused before ideating an app. My main contributions of this team was incorporating public-health strategies with UX design of the clinic experience, virtually and analogously.
I initiated and moderated an affinity diagram activity, in which team members identified their experiences of mental health services and diagnostics. I approached this activity by using a socio-ecological model, a theoretical framework used in public health. This setup was helpful for framing the complexity of mental health from an institutional level to a personal level. This also put our team on the same level of understanding the task at hand. Through brainstorming, our team clarified the user/patient journey in navigating the healthcare system and mental health. |
"...framing the complexity of mental health from an institutional level to a personal level." |
A half a day into the hackathon, our team gravitated towards primary, preventive care. We looked at the service design of a primary care clinic, where a hypothetical patient enters and fills out a patient record form. One part of this form is the optional questionnaire PHQ-9, a national screening tool for mental health, which can be used to initiate a discussion between the patient and the physician. We questioned whether or not the patient would view the survey as useful or meaningful then lead to it being filled out.
I stressed that there were two levels of patient user-experiences. First, we had to understand the patient's analog journey of going into the clinic, introducing the PHQ-9, seeing the physician, then leaving. Second, we had to understand the patient's experience filling out the form. When framing these user flows, we discovered where certain experiences intersected and ideated features that addressed intertwining needs. This was essential in our wireframing our app. Our team dissected the questions from the survey and assessed what components may have seemed relevant or interesting for the patient. At the same time, we had to recognize other agents of this service design, such as the physician, the clerk, and the database that stores and sends information to the patient. |
|
Our team designed a service in which the clinic's clerk would provide the patient with a tablet containing a virtual PHQ-9 form. When completing the PHQ-9, the patient would see their score immediately with statistics and quick blurbs about mental health. We believe this may encourage the patient to discuss any questions about mental health when meeting with her or his clinician. There is also the option of emailing his or her score to one's account, which can be further investigated after their visit in the clinic. Our team believes that this opportunity can keep mental health under the patient's radar.
We tested our prototype with other participants and made another iteration of designs, changing the verbiage of the pre and post-survey content. Lastly, we practiced our pitch and delivered it to the MDP Hackathon judges and other teams. |
Click iPad image for the abridged InVision prototype webpage |
Hackathon Stigmatics from Brian Powell on Vimeo.
Further Discussion on the Hackathon
This health-oriented hackathon provided an opportunity for health enthusiasts to dream up solutions that may or may not actually disrupt our healthcare system. There is a lot of creative freedom in the ideation of these digital products. Some were more functional or practical than others. For one of the judging criteria, contestants had to defend the usability and especially the financial and practical feasibility of the product. One thing that I have learned about this experience is that in hackathons, storytelling is key in selling your idea. Each team had a very short amount of time to convince the judges, and there is only so much one could say. We had to sell the purpose, the product, and the plan in 3 minutes. Hackathons are starting points for startups and apps. For what we could accomplish in 48 hours, I felt like our team's deliverable was sufficient. However, we all agreed for this idea to go further, we need to further ground our app with more research. One thing I highly stress is that mental health is a very complicated and systematic topic. I know that there is so much that is left out in what was mentioned above and even in our app, but that is for another blog post. It would be ignorant to say that our app would remove the stigma of mental health. However, my team and I believe that opportunities like this hackathon can create more discussion and potential steps in improving the attitudes and services for mental health care. |
1st Place Winners of the athenahealth's More Disruption Please Hackathon in Austin, TX Acknowledgement I want to thank athenahealth at Austin for hosting a well organized hackathon. The mentors, the facilities, and the endless coffee were much appreciated. Most importantly, I want to graciously thank my awesome team for my first hackathon experience. Who could of guessed this small bunch of strangers could have accomplished this? Shout outs to Candace, Niki, Veronica, Alex, & Jason!!! |