Ensuring students feels safe and supported when sick

Wikisick harnesses the power of student communities, experts, and doctors to provide the best remedies and actionable steps for a speedy recovery, so they excel in their exams.

A project with University of Chicago of Medicine based startup, with another UX designer.

CLIENT

University of Chicago

TEAM

2 UX Designers

DURATION

9 Weeks

Project Description

Wikisick is a mobile application designed to support University of Chicago students in understanding, managing, and preventing illnesses. The app leverages the collective expertise of the social community, medical experts, and doctors to provide guided assistance for identifying and addressing symptoms, offering precise solutions, and educating users on proper care and preventive measures.

College can be stressful on its own, becomes challenging with illness, and increases existing pressures

Helpless

Students often feel helpless in college when they fall sick due to a lack of resources and their inability to carry out daily tasks without feeling constantly tired.

Lonely

For many, it's their first time studying away from home, and sickness intensifies the desire for the support and warmth of loved ones. Studies suggest that loneliness among college students varies from 20% to 80%.

Frustrated

Symptomatic and frustrated, students struggle to find specific information that is not generalized. Accessing healthcare on campus is challenging due to commuting.

Students need information that’s not just accurate but helpful, relatable, and accessible.

Insights 

Reach out to doctors or medical experts when it gets serious

“I might consult a family doctor at home because he sees me grow up and he knows my history and background and I don't have to go over that, it's much quicker”

Avoid googling or searching online for symptoms

“When you search, they always give you the most extreme case, it gives you more anxiety for no reason, I just don’t want to do that to myself.”

Content from community keeps users well-informed or it's informational

“It was very useful to read other people's experiences because at that the point, I could filter out certain potential solutions.”

Depends on home remedies or consult family members when get sick

“I would rely on home remedies first, and that is something we do at home. Back in India, the first step to any problem is to deal with it yourself if there is a home remedy for it”

Introducing

An app that provides guided help for solving illnesses with the help of social community experts and doctors. Tailors made to the user's personal preferences and cultural background that enable it to give recommendations specific to their background.

An app that addresses students health problems, offering relatable remedies

Our app is rooted in these 3 values: 

Well-Being
Handling tough assignments and making deadlines shouldn’t sacrifice your well-being, at Wikisick we empower students to manage their illnesses and promote their health.

Community
When ill and away from home, students often feel helpless. Our community offers comfort through personalized posts and connections with friends who share similar backgrounds.

Veracity
Wiki-sick provides accurate health info, expert advice, and community insights, empowering students to make confident well-being decisions.

Curing student illness with curated remedies from medical experts and the community

Care Navigator asks for input to give accurate remedies with the information curated by the experts and community

• Symptom, intensity and duration inputs
• Actionable recommendations based on feedback from other users
• History of symptoms and illnesses
• Ranking of recommendations

Peer-reviewed medical resources for students from diverse backgrounds

Wikisick offers students information that is curated by doctors, a shop to buy medicines, research alternative medicines and learn more about home remedies.

• Curated expert contents
• Store for buying medicines from your preferred pharmacy
• Professional help on-call

A safe space to share stories in our community to uplift and support each other in challenging times

Our community and group pages allow students to talk with other people with similar backgrounds and interests

• Tags to help find relevant posts, filtering of posts
• Liking, commenting, and sharing posts
• Verified users
• Curated content with background information

Let's see what our users have to say..

Usability Test Insights

Search Dependency and Behavior

Users prioritize the search icon on the navigation bar when looking for information, often starting with tags or direct searches before considering group options.

Feature Utilization and Confusion

Confusion about the platform’s history feature and the overlapping roles of tags, groups, and subgroups suggests a need for clearer definitions and user guidance in these areas.

Clarity and Intent of the app

There is noticeable uncertainty among users regarding whether the app's primary function is to facilitate search by tags or to assist users based on their personal experiences.

Onboarding and Personalization

Users express a preference for a personalized onboarding process that better explains the different features and helps in selecting appropriate groups.

Next Steps

01

Conduct more usability testings to identify opportunities and uncover any gaps

02

Measure the success or impact rate of the design

03

Continue to refine and improve based on the feedback from users

04

Align with engineering team to determine the feasibility of the design

With Wikisick, you can take charge of your health and wellness, and join a community of students who care about each other.

Want to see how we did this? Click below to read our presentation and see our design process.

Like my designs? Or want to work together? Hit me up on LinkedIn or mail.

Let's Chat

apatil54@id.iit.edu
+1 (312) 866 7105

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