Inclusive
A resource for parents of children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities navigate a complicated healthcare system in NYC.
Role
UX/UI Designer, Design System Co-Lead
Team
9 Designers, 5 Researchers, 4 Product Strategists, 4 Content Strategists, 1 Project Lead
Tools
Figma, Zeplin, Trello, Notion
Duration
8 Weeks
Inclusive is guiding Parents to Speech Therapists
Inclusive is a nonprofit organization based in New York City committed to helping people with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities (IDD). Their mission is to provide tools that are secure, trustworthy, and updated to simplify the lives of individuals and families.
In partnership with Tech Fleet Community DAO, the goal of the project was to work on two products: the Online Resource Guide and System Navigation Tool. These tools would be central sources enabling parents of IDD children to find and access healthcare providers, and in this case specifically Speech Therapists.
Context
Parents are overwhelmed with navigating the complicated healthcare system while taking care of their children with special needs.
Problem
01
No centralized, updated database for speech therapy resources for special needs children.
The current listings do not take into account when providers move or no longer offer services.
“The Department of Education list is not a living list.”
-Parent in Interview
02
Navigating the complicated process of finding a Speech Therapist is a time-consuming challenge.
Parents are busy managing work and caring for their children with special needs.
“It would help if it was a one stop shop - it would have to include that amount of ease.”
-Parent in Interview
03
Parents want to have all the necessary information on providers at a glance.
They don’t want to decipher medical or insurance jargon. This becomes an issue of accessibility to services.
“Include insurance basics like ‘What is a deductible’.”
-Parent in Interview
Solution: An Online Resource Guide that is Accessible and Scalable
Inclusive’s Online Resource Guide is an accessible, easy to navigate hub that allows parents to find Speech Therapists for their children with disabilities and view the most important information at a glance.
This is one of the two minimum viable products our team handed off to developers and set the groundwork for the next team to build upon our work.
A complicated subject matter + parsing through previous design work
The healthcare system that our users have to navigate is complicated and we had to familiarize ourselves with the subject area and previous design work for Inclusive. The client wanted to scrap the work that had been done before.
Designing a framework flow while waiting for Research.
Our team had the challenge of hitting the ground running by designing a framework flow and delivering lo-fi wireframes without user research at first because of the difficulty of finding research participants.
Our user base, parents of children with Intellectual and/or Intellectual Disabilities, were a niche group and very busy. They are also tired of giving and not receiving anything meaningful in return, so the Research team had the challenge of outreach and finding available users.
Using competitive analysis of other online directory/search engines such as travel websites and Yelp, we created two users flows that allow users to navigate the website in the way they found most intuitive while lessening the burden of thinking and guessing.
Two User Flows to Allow Users Flexibility
Flow 1: Using the Search Bar
Users are able to search by entering keywords into the Search Bar and additionally adding their ZIP code to narrow down the results.
Flow 2: Using Drop Down Categories
Users are able to search by choosing categories and selecting sub-categories from the drop down menu.
A Design System with Accessibility Built in from the Beginning
I was a co-lead on creating our Design System, with accessibility at the forefront. Parents of children with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities (IDD) often have disabilities themselves, so it was important to make sure the Online Resource Guide was accessible from the beginning.
1. Scalability and accounting for the smallest devices available
Our Design system includes a scalable Type System and 8-pt grid for mobile and desktop. Many people do not have access to the latest mobile phone models, so we took into account the smallest devices available.
2. Focus States
Often overlooked, focus states highlight interactive components and are crucial for wayfinding when using a screen reader or for people with limited mobility.
4. Color Accessibility
Our colors meet Web Accessibility Guidelines for contrast to meet the needs of people with vision impairment or color blindness.
Research comes in and we hear from Parents
Finally, research is able to get responses from parents through surveys and interviews. Here are the most important changes made from parent input:
Prioritizing the most useful information at a glance:
Billing and Insurance
Years of Practice
Areas of Expertise
Ages Served
Adjusting filters to meet the needs of parents in NYC in easy to understand terms.
Reviews are fairly important: Strong theme of a support network of other parents they trust.
Concerns about safety and privacy of their children when trying to find resources:
Searching does not require account creation or personal information.
Verifying the qualifications of Speech Therapy providers:
Verified tag, Certifications and Specializations with Tooltips for further information.
Pivoting into Development
In the beginning of the project, handing off to developers was not a part of the scope. But with the fast paced progress we were making and the passionate team, we had to pivot halfway through the project to prepare for development and launching a functioning product.
Our leads had left during the project, so another Design apprentice and I stepped up to tackle how to set up our work for developer handoff through Zeplin.
4 Major Insights from Usability Testing
01
Parents feel the Online Resource Guide is straightforward and are excited to use it as a tool if it is constantly updated.
Parents not used to the idea of having choice when it comes to Speech Therapists and are fed up with outdated lists.
02
Filters and provider pages are comprehensive and parents found the Bookmark feature to be helpful.
Additional research into a better filter name for Insurance is required to better describe the items under it and lessen confusion. Also, parents thought a filter for parking was irrelevant for NYC.
03
All participants started searching by zip code, and felt that distance from home is the most important criteria.
Parents in NYC have challenges specific to their location such as transportation.
04
Desire for a parent support network and resources other than Speech Therapy.
Parents consistently said other parents were their greatest resource navigating obtaining services for their child. Also, managing disability is an exhausting, continuous process, so leisure activities and programs were of interest for the next phases of the product.
The Final Product: Online Resource Guide
Inclusive’s Online Resource Guide is an accessible, easy to navigate hub that allows parents to find Speech Therapists for their children with disabilities and view the most important information at a glance.
Find speech therapists by keyword and location or by browsing the available resource categories.
Search for Speech Therapists
See all the necessary information at a glance on Speech Therapists to make informed decisions. Save provider pages for later through Bookmarking.
View Speech Therapist Information and Bookmark Their Page
Narrow down provider search results by using filters that highlight the most important aspects parents are searching for in New York City.
Filter Results
Prototype
Try it out! This interactive usability prototype is meant to test for the following user tasks:
Searching for and filtering Speech Therapist providers
Bookmarking Therapists
Reflection
My thoughts on this project and Lessons Learned
This was a difficult and fast paced project with a complicated subject matter, but the journey was rewarding and I was able to contribute to a platform that will help lessen the burden on parents of children with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities.
1. Challenges — A complicated subject matter and adapting to changes.
I had no prior experience with the healthcare provider system for disabilities, so it was a learning curve to work on a complicated subject matter.
Our UX Design leads left during the project right when the project scope changed to going straight into handing off to development.
2. Key Takeaway — I learned how to bring clarity from ambiguity and embrace the agile method to build something that works and get closer and closer to aligning with user needs.
I really learned to roll with the punches, adapt and learn new things quickly, take on leadership and work efficiently while supporting my fellow designers.
3. What I’d do differently next time — Made sure all stakeholders were closely reviewing our designs each week to avoid time-intensive, last minute changes.
Since our team had the ambitious goal of launching two minimum viable products in 8 weeks, our week to week presentations on design changes were full of information that could often be overlooked. Our fast pace and large design scope was a lot for the client and other teams to fully take in.
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