Overview
The Product:
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Augment Therapy has two products ARWell and ARWell PRO, that leverage augmented-reality (AR) exercise games and programs to help users meet their physical wellness goals.
ARWell provides gamified exercises and wellness activities for everyone, with no prescription required.​
ARWell PRO is an FDA-authorized tool for healthcare providers to prescribe physical therapy programs.
We went into the UX Research phase with both products in mind, but ultimately scoped down to ARWell due to difficulty recruiting enough physical therapists given time constraints of the school quarter system.
While our design solutions are still applicable to ARWell PRO, our next steps include diving deeper into research with physical therapists for PRO.
The Challenge:
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According to the American Heart Association, people desire to maintain their physical well-being, but they lack the intuitive and engaging tools needed to stay on track.
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Augment Therapy's clinical research has proven the benefit of incorporating AR exer-games in physical wellness programs, BUT they are missing the user research needed to confirm whether ARWell specifically is meeting these user needs.
The Solution:
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In order to tackle this challenge, we needed to gather user feedback from people that have used exercise apps to meet their physical wellness goals, as well as gather usability data on ARWell.
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By identifying core user needs and addressing any confusion or frustration with the existing ARWell experience, we would be able to successfully enhance the user experience of Augment Therapy's product.
Discovery
To fill any gaps from Augment Therapy's clinical research, we asked the question:​​​​​​
"How can we further support Augment Therapy’s goal of improving one’s physical well-being, through an elevated user experience in ARWell?"
To tackle this question, we started with a survey to collect insights
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Experience survey​​ (n=45, ages 18 - 64)
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Distributed to multiple​ universities and community centers
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Screened for people with a history of using technology to supplement physical therapy or training, then we recruited them for interviews and usability sessions
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KEY SURVEY FINDINGS -
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61.6% of participants found technology useful for their physical wellness
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Only 30.8% of participants were consistent with using technology to supplement their wellness goals
The survey findings confirmed that there is a potential for technology use in physical wellness, but users need a tool that keeps them consistent.
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How exactly can a product facilitate consistency for the user?
We asked a few users of technology in this domain.
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Semi-structured interviews (n=5, ages 20 - 30)
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​Helped identify pain points and needs from prior patients of physical therapy and fitness.
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KEY INTERVIEW FINDINGS -
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Users care deeply about their mobility and physical health but struggle with maintenance due to limited technology and outdated care
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Users preferred getting feedback on exercises and needed to receive motivation from the app
But how exactly does this relate to Augment Therapy and their product ARWell?
We conducted a total of 30 usability sessions to find out.
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Usability sessions (n=30, ages 7 - 32)​
​​Unmoderated usability sessions (n=20, ages 21 - 32)
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Led an in-class peer engagement activity to get a larger number of usability sessions in a 20 minute activity.
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Class was split into six groups in which one participant would be the ARWell user, while the others would take note of any observations or verbal comments. Every few minutes, the roles would rotate within the group.
All photos used on this website are published with the explicit consent of the individuals featured.
Moderated usability sessions (n=10, ages 7-32)
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Users asked to complete three tasks with ARWell while thinking aloud​
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Afterward, answered a post-test questionnaire regarding their experience
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Finally, responded to the System Usability Scale (SUS) prompts
All photos used on this website are published with the explicit consent of the individuals featured.
KEY USABILITY SESSION FINDINGS -
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Users were confused about the
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​Game objective
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"What makes me level up" - 25 M
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- Exercise objective
- ​"Should I be stretching?" - 32 F
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- Users had an unsatisfactory experience with customization in ARWell
- not enough customization options​
- click fatigue with game select interface
From our System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire we found that
ARWell scored at 71.5
This means ARWell's usability ranked a high C, just passing the "OK" range.
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But how can we get to "Best Imaginable"?
Synthesis
With the valuable insights from our research, we began coding and affinity mapping...
As Project Manager, I proposed the affinity mapping strategy we used to efficiently analyze the data.
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First, we each coded specific sections from the peer engagement (unmoderated usability session), moderated usability session, and interviews using Dovetail.
Afterward, we transferred these codes into our own sections on FigJam.
From there, I consolidated and regrouped the peer engagement codes, Niveditha did the same with all the moderated usability sessions, and Samantha did so with the interviews.
With each other's fresh perspective on the various codes we identified, we were able to synthesize our findings into three overarching user needs.
MOTIVATION
Users seek a tool that motivates them and facilitates consistency for their goals.
CUSTOMIZATION
Users seek a tool that provides them with more customization options while not being overwhelming.
GUIDANCE
Users seek a tool that defines the exercise objective and game objective.
In order to shift from a System Usability Score of "OK", to a score that is "Best Imaginable", we began ideating on design solutions to address these user needs...
midfi design
From the findings, it was clear the design needed to
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motivate users
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to facilitate consistency
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identify clear objectives
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both exercise and game objectives
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provide users with more customization options
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while eliminating click fatigue.
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Before we began designing mid fidelity screens, we took another look at ARWell's current screen to understand how we can elevate the current design.
In ARWell's current design, users can only set a goal of how much time they want to spend on the app.
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But with different types of exergames on the app with varying physical requirements, this goal is not sufficient to motivate users towards their physical wellness journeys
In our meeting with Augment Therapy, we learned that ARWell tracks Steps, Hands, and Stars on the back-end -- but does not yet display it for users.
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Steps are counted every time a user takes a step
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Hands are counted every time a user moves their arm above shoulder-level
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Stars are a part of ARWell's reward system in the game
To foster motivation and consistency in users, we decided to leverage this useful data ARWell is collecting, in order to allow users to set more specific goals for themselves that align with their exercise or game needs.
With this new goal-setting system, users will be able to prioritize quality over quantity when it comes to their exercise.
In ARWell's current landing screen, users experienced click fatigue having to view each customization option one by one. As a result, most users in our usability sessions completely missed the programs at the end of the game options.
Users also expressed wanting more customization options to personalize their experience.
To help users have a more fulfilling and less overwhelming customization experience, we designed a solution that would give users more color options to pick from while presenting them with a drop down that shows all options at a single glance.
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As a result, ​
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customizing the avatar's colors allows more customization options for users
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with no need for developers to produce new SVG elements
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users have less cognitive load and no click fatigue.
ARWell's current screen at the start of games includes an AR calibration screen before users begin playing the game.
Some games will involve verbal instructions, and some games will begin with no instructions.
Users were in need of more guidance before beginning the game, specifically with a clearly define game objective and exercise objective. ​
With this instructions screen, ​
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Users have a clear game objective: "Don't let the balls pile up to the top or you lose!"
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Users have a clear exercise objective: "Cardiovascular exercise. Get moving!"
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Users have a gif of the ARWell stick figure demonstrating the desired movement if the user does not wish to read.
Currently, when a game is finished, the user is taken back directly to the landing screen. In our usability sessions we found several users were confused on whether they had done something wrong in the game or if the time had just run out.
Users required guidance after a game was completed to understand whether they were successful or not.
To keep them coming back, they needed something to spark motivation as well.
We designed a feedback screen that tells the user exactly what they accomplished and what level they reached.
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This in turn gives users more motivation for leveling up or achieving a higher step count the next time they play the game.
Now that we have created mid fidelity design solutions to solve the three main user pain points, we look forward to continuing our UXR into the summer and creating high fidelity screens that Augment Therapy can deploy.
Next Steps
Due to time constraints of the school quarter system, we had to rely on convenience and volunteer sampling to find research participants. This resulted in sampling bias in our research, and we plan to mitigate this by continuing our outreach throughout the summer to more diverse demographics.
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In addition, time constraints resulted in our shift of focus away from ARWell PRO. We plan to recruit more physical therapists and patients for clinical sessions. This will allow us to get more insights that can inform design solutions for the clinical app.
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This summer we will be organizing participatory design workshops and co-design sprints with community centers.
This will allow to solidify our design solutions and head into the fall quarter ready to design high fidelity designs for Augment Therapy to deploy.
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Stay tuned for more exciting updates on our capstone project with Augment Therapy!