Optimising digital prototypes with remote user testing

Challenge

Our digital health experts had developed a smartphone app prototype designed to assist with stroke rehabilitation. To help progress and de-risk the product design, we needed to test how the prototype performed in the context of people’s homes.

Approach

Our human factors specialists set up a remote user study and rapidly recruited stroke survivors in various global locations. The results provided realistic insights into the usability of the digital prototype, which we used to make key UX/UI improvements.

Outcome

Using evidence-based design, we created a stroke rehabilitation solution that was stimulating and well received by representative users.

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Sector
Digital health

Services
Human factors
UX/UI design
User studies

Rapid, targeted recruitment of participants

To ensure we gained representative data from the target user group, we applied a tailored screening questionnaire to recruit only qualified participants. Starting with a small pilot study to gain initial feedback, we rapidly optimised the format before rolling it out to a broader participant base in global locations. The full study was completed within two days.

App screen with study participant on video

Assessing user study results to make key design improvements

By observing users in the context of their homes, our human factors specialists were able to gain an effective simulation of real-life use. This provided valuable insights into a variety of aspects of the digital health prototype, such as task completion, task time, sentiment analysis and overall feedback on the product.

Remote user testing provides several benefits when compared to more traditional, in-person alternatives. Participants can be rapidly recruited from around the world and tested in their own language, providing fairer and more inclusive feedback, all at a much lower cost per participant.
Chris Baldock, UX Design Consultant, Team Consulting

Outcome

We were able to rapidly iterate the design to meet the needs of the target users, including optimising the layout and content to be more meaningful and instructive. The result was a truly user-centred digital health product, built on real patient feedback.

I love this. I would’ve given anything to have something like this after my stroke. After I left the hospital, I didn’t have a lot of support. This is so cool – everything I could have wanted it to be and more.
Study participant