Human centered design project in Nairobi Kenya focused on tackling stigma around reproductive health.
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Usinisunde Nichapie
“Don’t hide from me, just tell me”
This movement empowers youth through collaboration and drama, giving under-served communities a louder voice to speak about SRH topics, effacing the stigma against allowing the youth free access to SRH facilities. The youth, woke and ambitious, produce and perform this profound story.
Our research began by speaking to clinicians, healthcare providers and adolescents to identify pain points preventing youth from accessing SRH facilities.
We identified that the primary barrier preventing youth from accessing SRH facilities is the stigma surrounding SRH issues.
We created a play guide which tackled key SRH pain points identified by the youths. Our concept is heavily inspired by the stories of the 25 young adolescents, shared in 4 different creative workshops where we got to know each of them personally.
WeAlign
Human Centred Design/Health Care/ Service Design
Problem
Solution
Skills
Our vestibular system is essential for balance. As we age, this system tends to degrade, leading to dizziness, nausea, and increased risk of falling. Currently, Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy is a leading treatment for this dysfunction, but access to this therapy is limited by time, money, and transportation. At home therapies are videos and paper packets, which have low adherence and are tedious.
WeAlign helps people improve their balance with interactive online exercises.
Enterprise: Leadership, Business Plan, Pitching, Partnerships, Project Management & Road mapping
User Research/Design: Research Methodology, Discussion Guides, Research Plan, Prototyping, Interviews, UI Tests, Wire Frames, Information Architecture, User Flows
Design: Video production and editing, illustrations, Animation, UI Design, Protoyping the game
Featured
Challenge
Our vestibular system is essential for balance, and as we age this system tends to degrade, affecting an estimated 53-93 million people in the US and Europe.
14 years ago my mother was diagnosed with vestibular dysfunction. Since then, she has been living with dizziness -- Anxious whenever she leaves the house because of her increased risk of falling. I began this project exploring ways to help my mother, and people liker her, live comfortably with vestibular dysfunctions.
HMW. . . (how might we) improve mobility and resilience for people with vestibular dysfunction ?
Increased risk of falling
Study found that 80% of the participants that fell had significant vestibular impairment in the UK.(1)
Limited Access to Therapy
Access to physio therapy is limited by time, money, and transportation. At home Physiotherapy has low levels of adherence.
Dizziness
At home Physiotherapy has low levels of adherence.
Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT)
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Vestibular Rehabilitation exercises were developed in the 1940s by Cawthorne and Coksey. Over the decades they have evolved, and have been tested to assist with vestibular functioning. Gaze stabilization was one of their core recommendations from the American Physical Therapy Association, with the highest classification of evidence supporting it to help people with Unilateral and Bilateral Vestibular hypofunction. (2)
Access to physiotherapy is limited by time, money, and transportation. At home Physiotherapy has low levels of adherence. The World Health Organization measures at home physiotherapy adherence by the frequency exercising, number of repetitions, and proper form which currently cannot be captured at home.(3)
Solution
Sign Up
WeAlign combines scientifically validated therapies and metrics, with engaging gamification, and transparent data analytics to improve balance.
WeAlign guides users, There is no more guesswork. Just follow the birdie. You can slow it down, you can speed it up, And your alignment will be correct.
WeAlign is fun, user friendly, and efficient.
It’s not homework. It’s a shared comfortable experience, paired in action with WeAlign as your online partner. We create enjoyable repetition for High - Impact - Results. All you Need is a Laptop and Wifi.
Play
WeAlign innovates vestibular rehab-il-itation therapy at home for high impact results. It is fun, accessible, and will create enjoyable repetition. Just follow the birdie. We already have a working prototype, that we are beginning to test with users.
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Empower users to track improvement
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Accessible Hardware
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Gamified Gaze Stabilization Physiotherapy
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Relaxing, to decrease anxiety
Track
WeAlign empowers users to play and track their progress from the comfort of their own home. Users can track their physical progress over time, and how their emotional well being.
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Qualitative Data: User's Gaze Stabilization score, the amount of rotations their head moves within 60 seconds.
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Qualitative Data: The emotional changes over time while playing the game using the standard VAS, visual analogue scale model.
Grow
To develop WeAlign we interviewed physiotherapists. Learning that Gaze stabilization is one of the most common, and effective treatments for vestibular dysfunction.
Process
Human centred design was central to the development process. The project was sparked after witnessing my mom suffer from an impaired vestibular system.
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Surveys
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User Journeys
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User Personas
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Experiments
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Literature Reviews
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Interviews
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UI testing
WeAlign is a platform that helps user’s improve their balance by playing games. WeAlign improves users’ balance from the comfort of home, allowing users to track their progress, while playing a game. WeAlign will make painful exercises enjoyable, for better health and independence.
A leading treatment for Vestibular dysfunction is Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT). Access to VRT is limited to online videos and expensive in-person therapy. Patients must continue their exercises at home without feedback, data, or engaging incentives to continue with the painful exercises.
WeAlign gamefies gaze stabilization, a core exercise in VRT. Building upon decades of research, WeAlign brings Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT) into the 21st century using tracking technology from the user’s laptop. The gamification and access to data should increase adherence to treatment plans.
We are currently testing our prototype with users. Please contact me for more information: wuqing.hipsh@network.rca.ac.uk
Ethnographic Research
Daily Challenges User Journey
Insights
Emotional Support
“ I always have a walking assistant; my husband. Inside and outside the house, he is my hero. “
- Gie
Improve Strength
I go to the supermarket
even though it triggers me, so I can get stronger. . . I stopped using a cane because I didn't want to get weaker.
- Louise
Lack of Adherence
“ Many of my patient's first reaction when they get their diagnosis is, I'm glad I'm not going mad.”
- Joanne
User Journey for VRT
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UI Mock Ups & Test
UI Development
To develop WeAlign we interviewed physiotherapists. Learning that Gaze stabilization is one of the most common, and effective treatments for vestibular dysfunction.
1. Information Architecture
2. Low Fidelity Prototype in Basalmiq
3. Medium Fidelity Prototype in Adobe XD
4. Usability testing with patients and clinicians
User Feedback
Enterprise
Since January 2019, I have been participating in Imperial Enterprise Lab's WE Innovate, for Women Entrepreneurs, making it through a year long programme and winning second place with a £10,000 grant prize, and EIBC Engineers in Business grant for an additional £1,500.
I created a competitive business model.
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value proposition
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business model
Competitive Analysis
Citations
1. Liston MB, Bamiou DE, Martin F, Hopper A, Koohi N, Luxon L, Pavlou M. Peripheral vestibular dysfunction is prevalent in older adults experiencing multiple non-syncopal falls versus age-matched non-fallers: a pilot study. Age Ageing. 2014 Jan;43(1):38-43. doi: 10.1093/ageing/aft129. Epub 2013 Sep 15. PMID: 24042003.
2. Hall CD, Herdman SJ, Whitney SL, et al. Vestibular Rehabilitation for Peripheral Vestibular Hypofunction: An Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline: FROM THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL THERAPY ASSOCIATION NEUROLOGY SECTION. J Neurol Phys Ther. 2016;40(2):124‐155. doi:10.1097/NPT.0000000000000120
3. World Health Organization. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2003. [2018-02-14]. Adherence to long-term therapies: evidence for action http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstre am/10665/42682/1/9241545992.pdf webcite. [Google Scholar]