EzClinic

Inspiration

We were inspired to design this app because we were interested in tackling an actual issue that people currently had and were struggling with. That is to say, as COVID-19 is a topical issue, we were interested in thinking about solutions which would pertain to quality care through the pandemic and assuring patients adhered to protocol. Furthermore, we were interested in learning more about user interface design and understanding more from the user’s perspective on what makes an app easy to use and captivating.

What it does

Our app effectively ensures that patients are receiving healthcare from clinicians without overcrowding clinics and breaking COVID-19 protocol. Using app, patients would be able to book appointments and get notified as to when it is safe to enter a clinic, thus ensuring that there are not too many in a clinic at once. Clinicians can manage the flow of patients and find spots for patients to get treated safely, and avoid catching the virus. In doing this, patients are respecting COVID-19 protocol, and are keeping themselves and others safe and healthy while still getting the care they need. Clinicians will also be respecting protocol while not being overwhelmed by patients and ensuring that patients are respecting the 2m rule once in the clinic itself.

How we built it

This app was built through the use of Figma. Each page of the app was designed carefully to ensure that each goal was met. We then used Figma's networking system to link all the pages together and make it run smoothly. When running the demo on Figma, make sure to click the play button in the top right corner to explore the app as if you were using it yourself.

Challenges we ran into

Figma was a new tool for my teammates and I, and as such we encountered many challenges along the way. As our project revolved around design, we first had to ensure that the design of our product was sound and consistent. This took a lot of effort to get right, as Figma has a large margin of error and even small moves can mess up a lot of progress. Furthermore, when we were linking pages to make the app cohesive, certain elements were not being recognised and thus hindered our ability to string the pages together. We had to analyse what the source of the problem was and determine where to go from there. Finally, as our project focused heavily on app design instead of coding for functionality, we had to learn tricks and get creative with Figma to ensure that our app was working properly and was not clunky in behaviour. After some trial and error we were able to ensure that all pages were linked appropriately and we succeeded.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Our group ran into a few problems concerning Figma and so we were proud that we were actually able to overcome those obstacles rather than give up or not include a certain function we wanted simply because it was too hard. We were also proud of our collaboration skills because although we sometimes miscommunicated or disagreed on ideas, we were not frustrated with one another and learned to make decisions that benefited us all. Lastly, we were proud of being able to create this prototype within one night since we learned to be efficient, work under pressure and compromise when necessary to develop a functional product with a purpose.

What we learned

Our team learned to use the prototyping and design features & functionalities involving Figma. Overall, we collaborated together using Figma’s group edit capability and underwent the process of developing an interactive prototype of an app. This allowed us to develop a deeper understanding of how to use apps like Figma and familiarised us with app design.

What's next for EzClinic

Our next steps for the EzClinics app would be to make the app functional by means of coding and data collection. We may also make more visual updates as the current app demonstrates only the basic features and general portrayal of the app interaction and organization. We may also think of expanding EzClinics to more social platforms by including other screens where users can share EzClinic reviews on their social media, and use other accounts (i.e. Google and Facebook), to log in to the app to make it more accessible and easier to register with.