Michigan Med-aphor
Key Contributions
User Behavioral Analysis through affinity maps and extracting themes.
Determining User needs through interviews
Creating User Journey Maps based on user pains and gains
User Testing and Feedback
Ideation and Brainstorming
Problem
UM surgical residents require real-time feedback during Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery training at the simulation center to enhance their performance in laparoscopic surgery.
Our Goal
Develop an intuitive and immersive system for surgical residents to receive feedback during FLS training when attending physicians are unavailable.
Our Response
Develop a gamified training system that provides real-time and post-practice feedback to surgical residents without requiring the presence of attending physicians.
Users did not have any peer support and would usually train alone.
Feedback from proxy users, peers, experts and stakeholders
Users required an interactive system that would relieve them from boredom.
Key Project Highlights
Solutions based on user’s mental models, motivation and system integration.
Surgical residents from China were interviewed as proxy users due to the
unavailability of real users.
Contextual inquiry through in-person observation of user environments.
Design Methods
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User Interviews
Through user interviews, we gained a deeper understanding of the context in which our system is used, as well as user actions, pain points, and suggestions for improving the system.
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Personas
By creating personas based on user research, we were able to develop reliable representations of common user needs and behaviors.
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User Journey Map
Using a User Journey Map, we were able to visualize and analyze the actions and interactions of our users on multiple levels. This allowed us to prioritize crucial user actions and improve the overall flow of the user experience.
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Narrative Storyboard
By creating storyboards, we gained a better understanding of how users navigate through our system, and how their needs interact with the system's functionalities. The visual narrative of the storyboards allowed us to identify the sequential steps that users take to perform actions, and to improve the flow of the system accordingly.
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Usability Testing
By conducting usability testing with both proxy users and peers, we were able to identify usability and design issues, and iterate on our product based on user feedback. Through this process, we gained a better understanding of their observations and actions.
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User Experience Map
The User experience map enabled us to get a comprehensive understanding of user’s experience, with regards to user’s actions, user’s interactions, user’s emotions and user’s thoughts. It enabled the team to collaboratively understand and arrive at decisions that enhanced user experiences and system interactions.
Users can choose between the following feedback and training modes:
Visual: Color and Text Commentary
Audio: Spoken prompts
Tactile: Haptic Feedback via Vibrations
Modes: Test Practice, Simulated Surgery, Games
Miscellaneous: Timer, Grading, etc.
Solution
A system providing real-time and post-practice feedback via a gamified training experience, accessible without an attending.
Key system features:
Onboarding experience for training
Step-by-step instructions for tasks and educational videos
Various activities and scenarios to choose from to modify training experience
Real-time and post-practice feedback, including qualitative and quantitative
Comparative benchmarking and contact support with peers
User customization of real-time and post-practice feedback settings, that adapt the simulated learning experience.
Gamification of training to provide a multi-modal delivery of feedback and visual guidance.
Key Takeaways
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Designer Bias
To prioritize user needs and pain points, it's crucial to challenge designer assumptions and identify and address any designer bias.
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Real users vs Proxy users
Usability testing should involve diverse users, but if real users aren't available, creative proxy user testing can still provide valuable feedback for improving design.
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User safety and Risk management
Anticipating and mitigating potential issues can be facilitated by considering risk management and failure analysis before and during the design process.