This work is from 2005 (two years before the iPhone). I include it because many of the challenges are still relevant in today's clinics.
OTN (acquired by McKesson Corp. in 2007) provides tech solutions, distribution and practice management tools to community-based oncology clinics. Due to financial pressure and outdated, paper-based methods, the clinics needed a way to manage their practices more efficiently, so they could spend more time caring for patients.
My role: Design Lead, User Research, Information Architecture, System Design, Prototyping, UX, UI, Visual Design
(While we designed both the mobile and desktop components in parallel, this case study focuses on the mobile PDA component.)
The objective was to design a "distributed UX/UI" to help nurses in oncology clinics complete tasks more efficiently.
MobileLynx:
• Form factor: PDA-based web-app
• Intent: Streamline workflow for nurses
• Target user: Oncology Clinic Nurses
• Context: patient's rooms
Below: marked-up early-stage prototype of MobileLynx.
MobileLynx had to support: a high degree of usability; layered, complex patient data; and a navigational framework for:
• dispensing meds
• returning meds
• inventory management
Before the advent of mobile PDA's (personal digital assistants), nurses would have to walk back and forth between patient's rooms and nursing stations to access patient data.
To minimize the walking, they'd supplement charts with hand-written notes. However, this led to double-entry issues, which increased human error and impacted outcomes.
Solving this type of design challenge would normally involve shadowing nurses in the clinic. However for various reasons, we had to resort to phone interviews.
Additionally, PDA's in 2005 presented many constraints: limited toolkits; a stylus as the input; and browsers took up valuable screen space.
We evaluated several devices (Palm Treo, Nokia N95, Motorola Symbol) before choosing the HP iPAQ. Clunky by today's standards, back in 2005 the iPAQ offered: web browsing; and decent screen resolution and screen refresh.
Drug names are lengthy, so we conducted legibility studies with several of OTN's customers (nurses), before settling on Arial Narrow as our system font.
The HP iPAQ Pocket PC had an aspect ratio of 240w x 320h pixels (3.5" transflective TFT display with 64K colors).
Usable width was reduced to 228 pixels (due to scrollbars), while height was reduced to 268 pixels (due to the browser frame).
Color was used as an informational guide, differentiating the three main parts of the UI:
• Light Blue for Dispense
• Tan for Inventory Management
• Yellow for Returns
Imagery focused on "utilitarian" aspects of medication management. Patterns or textures worked because they were readable even when partially obscured by the interface.
We avoided people images because they didn't differentiate OTN, and they didn't work when partially obscured by the interface.
Typical patient screens scrolled, and had a row of buttons on top and bottom (to minimize scrolling and facilitate quick action). The list box is wide, to accommodate long drug names.
Update, May, 2017:
An update from our former product manager: "Lynx Mobile is now being used by over 2,500 providers and supports $3B in annual drug sales. Hugely successful!"
OTN Press Release, February, 2007:
Since inception in July, 2006, OTN installed MobileLynx in more than 100 community oncology practices and facilitated treatment for over 70,000 patients.
Mike Kelly, CIO of OTN:
"MobileLynx was developed under a user-centered design process, with significant input from our network of community-based oncologists."
"We delivered nine releases of customer requested enhancements, all of which were available for immediate use without disruption to the practice's daily activities."
Customer Clinical Staff Testimonials:
"MobileLynx is convenient, easy to use and closely matches the workflow in our practice."
"MobileLynx's intuitive user interface and accessibility anywhere changes the way community-based clinics manage patient care and workflow."
"The automatic updating saves us time by eliminating manual re-entry of patient data and charges."
"MobileLynx is vastly better than our previous interface... practices now have more time to deliver optimal patient care."