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A doctor herself, our client from a renowned telemedicine provider wanted to build a network of doctors for Singapore's growing telemedicine sector. Our foundational research revealed that the first step to building this network was to foster relationships among doctors, through knowledge exchange (the least awkward and most rewarding way). And so, the MVP was a social network platform, a cross of Facebook-Clubhouse-Figure1, for general practitioners (GPs / primary care doctors) to crowd-source second opinions for patient cases.
A little note: Future iterations of the product include content expansion (e.g. event invites, career exploration).
Healthcare, Education, Social network
Medical general practitioners (GPs i.e. primary care doctors) in Singapore generally work in silos. Our client saw that by bridging this gap, she'd be able to create a strong network of GPS; a pool of GPs that can be tapped on to advance Singapore's telemedicine (telemed) sector.
User researcher, workshop facilitator
Bearing in mind that our client's goal was to create a network of GPs, we had to first figure how to get users' buy-in.
The key question was, "what are the goals of doctors"? Our assumption was that doctors want to (a) grow their knowledge; and (b) get good jobs, i.e., education and jobs.
"The two ingredients for a successful social network platform for doctors: Education and jobs."
From the 176 raw insights obtained from our user interviews with 13 doctors, combined with secondary research, we pieced together a revised snapshot of our user needs.
Doctors are generally comfortable in the social groups accumulated throughout their professional training and careers. These social groups serve two function:
"The two ingredients for a successful social network platform for doctors: Education and jobs."
Users thought the word "networking" meant doing corporate things - attending formal networking events, exchanging name cards etc. They didn't need it, unless it was for the specific goal of moving to private practice. Interestingly, we uncovered that they connect by exchanging stories and discussing cases informally. Doctors, it seemed, have a cozier way of networking.
Users are motivated to learn because it helps in their vocation and simply have a love for it (a shared personality trait inherent to the occupation ;) ). They help each other study for exams, pretending to be patients and sharing resources.
Majority doctors don't need to "discover" job opportunities. They know they have plenty of options out there and exactly where to go to get that. What does this mean for us? We don't need to draw doctors using job opportunities; jobs isn't a key ingredient in our equation.
Left: Three of us putting our brains together. I'm the one with the marker.
Right: The pyramid diagram we create to capture the essence of our idea.
Cozy networks and a love for education are attractive to doctors. How might we bring these two elements together, so doctors can be part of a community beneficial to their careers?
After presenting our research to our client, we conducted a design studio session together. Below is first iteration of ideas we had for various features of the solution. We conducted a second iteration where each of us cross-combined the ideas, and voted on our favourites.
We were so glad with conducted this design studio. It gave us:
"Curbside consultations" are where physicians informally seek advice from other physicians in the hospital hallways, consultation rooms, or in this case, an online platform. That's the culture we want to bring to the App.
This is how Curbside addresses the problem:
We designed 3 flows and conducted usability tests
5/5 users found the onboarding process intuitive, with no errors. Users also appreciated the option to choose areas of interest which they felt "spoke their language".
Users can share real patient cases, news and other resources in these topical channels.
To ensure quality and credibility of content, users' official names and registration numbers are shown, and the content format (e.g. posts) is templatised.
Task was to post a new case on the channel "Dermatology Nail Cases". 5/5 users were able to create a post, with no errors.
Task was to post a comment on a case discussion. 5/5 users were able to complete the task, with zero errors.
Direct messaging allows private curbside consults without the awkwardness of a large group setting.
Task was to reply a private message in self-destruct mode. 5/5 users managed to send a direct message. However, users were unable to make sense of the disappearing mode. We included an onboarding tooltip as an iteration.
Bear in mind, the client's goal is to create a strong pool of GPs that can be tapped on to advance Singapore's telemedicine (telemed) sector.
A strong foundation for the platform gives opportunity to expand Curbside's features and strengthen the user base.
