Improving Recovery Experiences

Laura Tramontozzi
Jul 29, 2021
3 min read

Updated: Sep 20, 2024

After undergoing a major surgery, patients often struggle to feel understood & supported. It’s well documented that a positive attitude and social support can drastically affect the speed and success of physical rehabilitation. I wanted to learn more about this space, so I set out to interview people who had experienced a major recovery and find out if I could provide support through design. This research led me to create an app concept called Uplift, designed to improve the emotional & social experiences of recovering patients.

Role & Team: Personal Project

Tools: Miro, Figma, Maze

Skills: User Research, UX & UI Design

Deliverables: Concept presentation, clickable prototype

CONTEXT

I conducted 5 in depth interviews with people who had experienced a major recovery. Although each surgery was different, there were more similarities than differences between them, and all 5 shared common challenges.

Each patient interviewed expressed a struggle to feel understood & supported during recovery because existing support systems were unable to empathize with their current reality.

THE CHALLENGE

How might we help patients feel understood & supported in order to stay positive throughout their recovery?

RESESARCH

With this in mind, I focused my research on deeply understanding patients' specific needs at different points of recovery.

Next, I created a laundry list of potential features. To narrow them down, I conducted a card sorting activity to hear from patients which features would have been most impactful for their recoveries, and prioritized them based on those results, as well as feasibility.

The most impactful, most feasible features fell into 3 groups.

IDEATION: CREATING A SPACE FOR RECOVERING PATIENTS

I designed features focused on celebrating positive progress & forming meaningful connections. Through this process I conducted a series of moderated and unmoderated usability tests to prioritize the different sections of the app, simplify workflows, and make language adjustments.

THE SOLUTION

A space for small groups of patients experiencing similar recoveries to connect, share, motivate, & comfort each other.

GETTING STARTED IS EASY

Share a few things about yourself so we can find the best recovery group for you.

MEET YOUR CIRCLE

Your circle is a small group of patients with relatable recovery paths. Support and connect with each other by sharing progress updates, resources and more.

TRACK & CELEBRATE YOUR PROGRESS

Add achievements by category — from daily tasks to custom goals —

see your progress & share with your circle.

BUILD MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS

Discuss specific, surgery related topics on the message board, deepen connections with 1:1 chats, and get support when you need it with Uplift’s Lounge, a chat room members who are online now.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

Learn what has been helpful for your circle, and share resources with each other — from how to videos, physical therapy plans, checklists and more — knowledge is power when working through a lengthy recovery.

NEXT STEPS

Improve features to be more engaging

Gamification and other incentives to help users stick with Uplift for the long haul
Consider opportunities to make the home screen more interactive
Polish visual design system & UI

Continue to test, listen to users, and simplify