Designing a Conversational Assistant in a Healthcare Context

THE CHALLENGE
A large German medical technology manufacturer approached IDEO to prototype ways to improve the patient experience during medical imaging studies, with a special focus on using conversational interfaces for machines deployed in developing markets.

THE DESIGN
Our team spoke to patients with varying severities of health conditions about their experiences during medical imaging studies. We uncovered that in such vulnerable situations, there was a clear need for emotional reassurance and keeping patients informed, creating predictability and safety.

We used voice actors to prototype the sound design, conducted qualitative interviews to zero in on personality design, created 16 different interaction prototypes - spanning eye-tracking, binaural audio experiences, visual and anthropomorphic forms, light experiences etc.

We created a number of sacrificial prototypes to make our research questions tangible: using DialogFlow to create voice-based choose-your-own-adventure games, custom meditations, etc. We explored different aspects of visual form - across a wide spectrum of abstract to anthropomorphized, creating lo-fidelity visuals to spark conversation and reactions from research participants.

In our next round of research, we built a life-size wooden prototype of the medical imaging device and brought patients in to test different experiences.

THE OUTCOME AND IMPACT
We learnt from radiologists that patients who were more reassured were able to move less during the procedure - improving the quality of scans, patient experience, and throughput for the hospitals.

We used our personality design and sound design findings to create an informational experience that supported patients with breathing exercises and kept them engaged through their procedures.

The (patent pending) interaction design concept has been taken into production.

MY ROLE
Leading interaction design and mentoring a junior designer, prototyping, concept and personality design, sound design, user testing, physical and digital prototyping