Project
DIGITAL DISTRACTION
EXPERIENCE FOR
BLOOD DONORS
Summary
The Blood4Research Facility within Canadian Blood Services wanted to explore if digital technologies has the potential to distract blood donors and reduce anxiety during the donation process. We proved that a digital solution VR Game could be the answer.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Lead Design (UX/UI)
Design Sprint Facilitator
MY RESPONSIBILITIES
Facilitated design sprints with client and internal team to understand the problem and collaboratively produced a digital solution to help reduce fear of needles and blood among current and potential blood donors.
Developed personas, customer journey maps, conceptual diagrams, wireframes, clickable prototypes, and supporting documentations.
Worked closely with an engineer, 3D generalist, and project manager to develop and deploy a VR game on Oculus Go.
Led UX vision, created UX workflows, built quick prototypes, hi-fi and lo-fi mockups.
Conducted usability testing with 19 blood donors, 03 scientists and 06 phlebotomists.
PROBLEM
The fear of needles is a common cause of anxiety and stress among adults. In an online survey conducted by this team with existing Canadian Blood Services donors, 50% of 86 respondents expressed a fear over needles.
In addition, based on a survey of the prevalence of immunization non-compliance due to needle fears in children and adults approximately 24% of Canadian reported a fear of needles.
You may think that 24% is a small number but infact 24% of Canadian is approx. 1,887,500 people and the reason every donor counts is because donated blood only last for 42 - 56 days.
This fear of needles is a serious hindrance to blood donation.
NARROWING DOWN TO A VR GAME
I created this case study video of our teams entire journey of this project. Here we explained how we reached our digital solution to distract donors from being anxious or afraid of needles.
Our design process, challenges, user/phlebotomist interviews, insights and key takeaways are articulated to express our thought process and creativity in decision making.
Game Core Statement
Cloud catcher is a first-person fantasy game where the goal of the player is to catch all the magical clouds they can find.
GAME OVERVIEW
Cloud Catcher is a first-person game that is set in a variety of fantasy worlds such as a magical rainforest, snow, and the wild west. The targets can change from colourful clouds to candies and bones in other worlds. Each level begins with a scoreboard showing the player the total number of targets in that world. When the player catches all the targets, they may proceed to a higher level or select another world. The game is designed for the young and the young at heart.
OUR DESIGN PROCESS
After reviewing the client’s brief, the team met with the client to gain a deeper understanding of the requirements and learn about the blood donation process. We visited the NetCAD, CBS facility to conduct primary interviews with donors, phlebotomists, and staff.
SITE VISIT & User INterviews
First thing first! After reviewing the brief, we met with the client to gain a deeper understanding of the requirements and learn about the blood donation process. I visited the NetCad, a Canadian blood services facility to conduct primary interviews with donors, phlebotomist and staffs.
I also conducted interviews with the CBS Marketing department to learn about the current and future donor market and existing marketing campaigns. An online survey was also released to blood donors. Secondary research was conducted using scientific studies and online sources. From the information obtained, I facilitated a design sprints with the internal team and client where we collaborated and constructed persona maps, the experience map, and mental model to ensure we were going on the right direction and focusing on the target users and their experience.
THINGS I needed to KNow
There were some concerns that’s the staffs and the phlebotomist at the research centre had and addressing those issues was necessary for me in order to come up with a solution that would help donors deal with anxiety and stress when facing blood and needles.
TIMING
When exactly should a donor receive the digital distraction? It is a 45 minutes long process and knowing when to give them the digital distraction solution was crucial.
CONTENT
What content would be ideal for the donors while in the process of giving blood? Because the target audiences ranges from age 18 to 60 years, we had to find something that would be appealing to them all.
PLATFORM
What would be beneficial in terms of platform, an iPad or VR experience? We tried an iPad experience, virtual reality headsets and mobile games to gain a better understanding of which device would help them the most.
BLOOD DONATION PROCESS
The current blood donation process takes approximately 45 to 50 minutes for each donor. Based on user interviews and our recent survey ,most users will read a book or magazine, chat with staff.
GETTING OUR IDEAS AND CONCEPTS OUT THERE
TO TEST WHAT PEOPLE WERE THINKING
While we brainstormed many different potential solutions that could helped the donors, it was time to test our ideas with them and let them guide us through what they want and were thinking.
INTERACTIVE STORY
Heart-warming story with engaging hook and live options for donors to select and choose their path. This way donors can be engaged in deciding what path they should take and focus themselves on the whole storytelling.
RANDOM, SATISFYING & FUNNY
You know how popular those cute puppies videos are? Even watching random people pranking each other or melting stuff around them on instagram and youtube. It is very popular to get distracting with those content and here we thought why not to test it out with our users/donors.
HYPER CASUAL GAMES
We provided users with fun and vibrant casual games that are normally played to pastime on the train to work or while you are in the toilet. Don’t be embarrass many of us play game to pass the time in there.
GAME USER FLOW
Because our target demographic ranged from the age 16 to 50+, focusing on the experiences and their needs were salient. The VR game was to be given to donors while they are donating their blood so it was important that the flow of the overall game was easy to understand.
We brainstormed and came up with many different alternative flows but through user testing and iterations, the below user flow appealed the most to the donors and phlebotomist. When asked why. users said the flow was easy to follow and it had just few steps to get them started with the gameplay.
TESTING TO DONORS & PHLEBOTOMISTS
We tested the VR games with donors and phlebotomist to get an idea of how easy the gameplay was and if the donors would actually be distracted while playing the game.
CHALLENGES
EXACT TIMING
Figuring out when the donor should be given the VR headset to play with the game was very difficult as each individual reacted different throughout the 45 minutes donation process.Some got more anxious while they were laying on the bed and waiting for the phlebotomist to start the process. Others were more stressed while the needle was being poked and some when they started to see the blood going into the blood bag.A common pattern was discovered through observation and user interview after the blood process and more than 65% of donors prefered to be immerse in the VR experience while the needle was being poked.
CONVINCING THE PHLEBOTIMISTS
When I first visited the research facility, I noticed that phlebotomists usually have a busy day and it was important to make sure that they were onboard with another task to set up and take care of the VR Headset. This meant that they had to be convinced that the solution we came up with would be beneficial and helpful to their donors. Convincing them first was key!
THINKING 3D
Having designed on 2D screens since the beginning of my career, it took a minute to get used to designing in the 3D space. From thinking about the minimal hand movements to external surroundings while engaging in the VR Game was very demanding. Through user testing and iterations, I managed to solve these challenges.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
VIRTUAL REALITY V/S IPAD EXPERIENCE
Our research and survey showed us that 92% of the donors has never used a VR headset before and it was something that they were excited about. Conversely, the iPad experience, I noticed during the user testing that donors still peaked and concentrated on their arm when the needle was being poked.
The VR experience helped avoiding any kind peaking but with the phlebotomist giving a heads up to donors that the needle is about to be inserted. This ensured that the donors do not get startled and move their arms.
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