PhysioQ LabFront
Free your research from the lab
LabFront is a platform that enables researchers to remotely collect physiological data from participants for their research. With LabFront, researchers are no longer limited by the physical restrictions of the lab — allowing both researchers and participants to operate from the comfort of their homes. The service consists a web-based application, a mobile application, and specialized hardware (ie: Garmin Smartwatches).
Science
PhysioQ (via Kiipo)
User Research,
UX Design, Interaction Design
This is concluding part of my behind-the-scenes look at the design of PhysioQ LabFront. In Part 1, I introduced the problem researchers are facing how we came to that conclusion through User Research, and the concept that we came up with from brainstorming and insights. I recommend checking out the first section before continuing.
In the following write-up, I'll be walking you through how we went from a Concept to our first few iterations into our Product.
We built the infrastructure of this platform around the idea of CRM-for-Research. As in, each individual participant is a 'customer' that the researcher needs to manage.
The service has two parts: Dashboard (Research side, Viewing/Managing) and App/devices (Participant-side, Data Collection):
We synthesized the user research results and brainstormed outcomes to model a high level flow. This high level flow not only makes the service journey more concrete, but also serves as a guideline for the team to discuss the suitable solution for each of the "jobs-to-be-done" in the flow.
Understanding the core functions of the service allowed me to plan the information architecture. How would things be displayed and accessed? What would the user's mental model be when opening the application? Using that mental model, what would they expect to see, and where? Planning out the information architecture helps me grasp the big picture of the service and how I should design to allow the user to complete them.
With the structure completed, it’s time to sketch. Paper prototypes allowed for flexible design reorganization and reduced the focus on the graphical side of the user interface. With the paper prototype, I could demo it for my team to make sure I followed our core principles and incorporate their feedback in the design. Once the flow has set, I digitized the paper prototype and filling out the details.
For studies that required long-term data collection, one of the biggest pain points for researchers is not knowing if their participants were obediently following the data collection instructions. This meant they could not ensure the quality of the data collected. To solve this problem, LabFront provides tools for both the researchers (Web System) and the participants (Mobile App).
The experiment builder is where the researchers set up the experiment, entering details and creating tasks for participants. Each task includes instructions, schedules, forms, device tutorials, etc. All of the information will be displayed on the participant’s mission hub (App) for the participants to view and follow.
The PhysioQ Connect app is like a research assistant. During the experiment, the app will remind the participant to complete the experiment tasks as well as guide them through each step of the device monitoring process (how to connect the device, how to wear it properly, etc.). This increases the likelihood of participants collecting high-quality data and, most importantly, allows researchers to track the progress of the participants throughout the experiment.
The Dashboard displays each participant’s task performance and data collection progress, which includes the details of the data set such as the quality, duration, timestamp, etc. The researchers can also download the data for further analysis without waiting for the participants to bring the devices back to the lab. With this feature, the researcher can not only track participant’s performance remotely, but actually start processing the data as soon as the experiment starts.
One of the top concerns of Researchers and Participants is the issue of privacy. Although our cloud servers and web applications were built securely, participants could only take our word for it. Thus, we created a completely anonymous experience. From an anonymous sign in process — using randomly generated login codes — to the anonymous data upload. At no point does our mobile application ask for any personal identifying information.
As our user base grows and we learn more about the needs of our customers, we will continue to iterate and improve the product. Tune in for new updates as we continue this product journey.
