Health First
An iOS app designed to eliminate pressures associated with homelessness, more specifically those struggling with health and mental health conditions.
“Homelessness and poor physical health go hand-in-hand” – Crisis UK
Each year for the past 5 years, homelessness has been on the rise with figures reaching 227,000 in 2021. The effects of homelessness can be devastating, dangerous and isolating.
The brief
Create an app that aims to eliminate pressures associated with homelessness. Propose a user journey that supports and educates users’ on relevant material that can help a homeless person successfully integrate into a local community. It must be easy to use, engaging and educational.
Problem statement
People experiencing homelessness, or those who've just been released from prison, and have moved into new accommodation need a way to ensure successful local community integration.
From both primary and secondary research, I found that homeless people can often suffer from an array of health problems which in turn, effect their integration into the community.
The hypothesis
I am going to design an app which allows homeless people to meet their health needs easily. It will connect them to volunteer doctors, nurses, and mental health professionals. It will also allow them to easily locate hospitals, sexual health clinics and drop in podiatrists, opticians, counsellors, and dentists and more.
I believe that by making these features accessible to them in one application, they will be more likely engage and use the services provided, thereby improving their physical health.
My design process
Research
Secondary research - phase 1
Prior to doing my user research I conducted some secondary research to identify some problems homeless people may face.
My initial plan was to incorporate all of these resources into a single app if my user research also uncovered similar themes. However, despite these themes being brought up in user interviews, I felt as though focusing on one aspect and perfecting this would be more beneficial than creating an app which focuses on so many aspects, especially with a two-week time constraint.
User research
Unstructured interviews were carried out with 8 people who are currently homeless to get an in-depth understanding of their experiences and allow them to share their thoughts with me freely.
To minimise bias, questions asked were not misleading or including intentional guidance. Because the aim was to gain an understanding of their situation and feelings, questions asked were empathetic and emotive.
The questions were framed to identify the profile of the respondent and their experience being homeless, particularly any struggles they may face, usage of mobile phone and access to the internet and respondents' awareness of resource and support available to them.
Findings
7 out of 8 people did have mobile phones, 6 out of them had smartphones and accessed the internet using their phones, either by using 3G or public wi-fi in fast food restaurants, the local libraries and train stations. 1 participant answered that they use computers in libraries and 1 participant answered that they do not access the internet.
Respondents used the internet for various things including speaking to friends and family, keeping up with the latest news, leisure, and entertainment and to access resources.
75% of respondents, when speaking about the struggles they face, mentioned health related issues, including:
The difficulties they face booking a GP appointment without an address
The long waiting list for dentists accepting NHS patients
Increased health problems and mental health problems
The lack of access to necessities for health and hygiene
Restricted access to health records
Competitor analysis
I then looked at some potential direct and indirect competitors to get a better understanding of what support is currently available and to identify if there was a gap in the market. I found that there is a gap in the market for an app to support homeless people with their health.
All apps and websites featured a clean design, easy navigation with clear CTAs and a good use of white space. This would be perfect for our users who may have varying experience and confidence levels with mobile phones and apps.
Most apps or websites featured volunteer or donate sections so others are able to help out.
The apps relating specifically to homelessness offer resources for more information on specific areas e.g. helplines around domestic abuse.
Some apps feature a map view.
Secondary research - phase 2
Secondary research was carried out again to get a better understanding of the specific health related problems homeless people may face and the effects of these health problems on their overall wellbeing -
Long term physical health problems and diagnosed mental health problems are more prevalent in homeless people than in the general population.
45% of homeless people have been diagnosed with a mental health condition compared to 25% of the general population.
41% of homeless people have long term physical health problems compared to 28% of the general population. Physical health conditions can be a result of violence on the streets and poor housing conditions.
Health care services in the UK are not set up to respond to the needs of homeless people
For example, a lot of NHS services require fixed addresses and mental health services refusing people treatment unless they have first sorted their drug or alcohol problem. Many homeless people tend not to use their GP, this could be due to difficulties registering or booking an appointment without a fixed address, travel distance between GPs and fear of stigma.
A lot of healthcare support for homeless people goes unnoticed
Charities such as Dentaid and Doctors of the World UK will visit homeless shelters, soup kitchens and community centres to provide treatment to homeless people in need. However, these charities do not have a schedule on their site to where they will be visiting so to get this treatment you must be already at the location or rely on word of mouth.
Furthermore, charities with clinics such as Forgotten Feet, Vision Care, and BHT Sussex (mental health support) offer drop-in clinics to get the help people require. To combine these services and offer an easier way to access these may be beneficial.
User persona
Ideation
After secondary research I chose to do an affinity mapping exercise to identify features which would help homeless people with problems identified in user research and in secondary research.
Wireframes
Low fidelity wireframes
Mid fidelity wireframes
A/B testing
I designed two screens for the ‘your health' page. An A/B test was conducted to decide which layout to follow with 5 volunteers who agreed that layout B was the best option.
UI Phase - the solution
Style guide
Accessibility
Throughout the design process, I kept accessibility in mind and constantly checked if my designs met the accessibility guidelines. All colours were checked for colour contrast, and I ensured that all text, cards, and buttons passed the WCAG AAA rating. I know that this application could be used by a range of users with different abilities.
Discussion
I thoroughly enjoyed this case study, to have the chance to talk to real people about their struggles and design a solution based off their responses made for a truly meaningful design process with empathy at the heart of every decision.
I would have loved to also look at the volunteer aspect of the app, to conduct research with doctors, nurses, and mental health professionals to look at the likelihood of them volunteering on an app like this and design those features of the app. I would have also loved to look at the likelihood of people donating on this app and design these pages.
Retrospectively, I believe that something that would’ve benefitted by designs further would be if I had explored further the extent to which homeless people who own mobile phones, use them and what for. This would give me a better understanding of their ability and how comfortable they would be to use an app like this.
I also would’ve loved to conduct user testing to examine the effectiveness of the app and its’ features to test the hypothesis. This would be helpful to also get feedback from potential users and refine the designs based off their opinions.
Mahvish Munawar's portfolio.