Case study
The Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network (SCAN) was a large-scale research project using data from free, take-at-home COVID-19 test kits to track the spread of Coronavirus. I worked to improve usability and user completion rates of the test kits.
SCAN used data from COVID-19 tests to track the spread of Coronavirus in the greater Seattle area. At the time, instant take-at-home Covid tests were not yet available and appointments for in-person testing were limited. This test was new and highly in demand. Approximately 15% of enrolled participants failed to complete the entire SCAN study, a significant waste of resources considering the study involved nearly 70,000 participants at the time.
My goal was to identify and resolve any unknown barriers preventing participants from completing the SCAN Study.
User research, Human subject research, User experience design, Product design, Service design.
I worked on a small team of HCDE graduate students in collaboration with the SCAN research team.
2020-2021.
Experience participating in the study, analyze completion data.
Conduct human subject research study to understand SCAN participant experience.
Redesign the kit components and test-taking process.
Implement changes in phases, leading to significant increase in completion rates (85% to 90% after Phase 1).
I began the project by participating in the SCAN study to comprehend the user experience and pinpoint potential usability concerns to investigate. Following a heuristic evaluation of the study, my team and I analyzed research data from the first 25,000 participants. This data revealed a notable trend—the majority of participants tended to drop off during the kit registration step.
My team and I designed a three-part user study to understand the several day-long participant experience and observe pain points. We focused on the kit registration and swab completion steps, where the majority of participant drop-off occurred. Typically participants seemed happy with the at-home testing experience and were able to successfully obtain test results. However, we identified seven key pain points and opportunities for improvement:
Based on these findings, we recommended that SCAN implement a new content strategy emphasizing:
The redesign project was tackled in three phases, of which I participated in the first two.
I proposed that SCAN start with quick wins by redesigning the kit materials. These changes were relatively easy to implement but would have an immediate positive impact on user experience. I led design sessions with the HCDE team, focusing on simplifying and reducing the reading load of the instructional guide. The new instructions cut two pages of content while standardizing terminology and switching to plain language.
Participants were required to verify their identity with their kit, however many missed this step in the midst of the swabbing and mailing process. I recommended relocating the kit registration instructions to a sticker outside the box. Placing them in a more visible location enabled users to easily find and complete this crucial step before even opening their kit, eliminating confusion about when to do it.
In the second phase of changes, we focused on ensuring notifications from SCAN were clear, useful, and timely. Although the quantity of notifications was not an issue for participants, the timing and content was often confusing.
I led my team in a design session redesigning the notifications participants would receive. We developed a proposal considering the technical constraints of the project and also designed a forward-looking version that SCAN could work towards as they gradually removed constraints.
The plan for Phase three and beyond was to continue applying the new content strategy to remaining study content including the how-to video, SCAN website, and enrollment form.
Preliminary results were promising, with kit completion rates increasing from 85% to 90% in the first week after Phase one was implemented. This translated to about 2,500 additional people being able to successfully receive their test results and contribute to SCAN’s research. Though I moved on from the project before seeing the results from Phase Two and the start of Phase Three, I expected these numbers to become even higher as the project continued.
In this project I really learned the power of clear copywriting. I was designing for a diverse and diversely-abled population who had only one chance to correctly complete their COVID test. I paid meticulous attention to detail and phrasing. I pushed to develop alternative ways to access instructions through image or video. I also appreciated the opportunity to design content that would be applied to both digital and physical materials. Designing for print was a newer experience for me at the time, and I loved learning how to translate some of my digital expertise to the instruction guide and swab box.
