Client management application

for psychologists

As a professional UX designer, I was tasked with designing an effective solution to address the significant challenges faced by coaches and psychologists due to the absence of an effective client management tool. This lack leads to considerable wasted time, which ultimately affects their productivity and the results they can deliver to their clients. They needed a solution that would improve their performance and streamline their daily operations.

User Research

To ensure a thorough understanding of user needs, I conducted interviews with a freelance psychologist named Laura and a business coach named Cristóbal. The user research focused on comprehending their needs and frustrations through qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews and task analysis, aimed at better understanding the challenges they faced in their daily practice. Initially, it was assumed that Laura primarily needed improved client data organization, while time management was believed to be Cristóbal’s main concern. However, after the research, it was discovered that both faced multifaceted issues ranging from data management to difficulties in tracking client progress and problems with the billing system. These insights prompted a significant shift in the design approach, prioritizing a comprehensive solution to address various aspects and meet the identified needs.

Insights from research

1. The challenges faced by psychologist Laura


Disorganization

To address the issue of disorganization, my design will offer an intuitive and centralized interface for efficient information management, eliminating the need to search through scattered documents.


Lack of updated resources

The lack of access to updated resources restricts the quality of users’ sessions. We will introduce a section in the application providing swift access to updated and relevant resources, enhancing their professional practice.


Lack of Data Protection

My designs will ensure high standards of data security and privacy, providing a reliable and secure environment for clients’ confidential information.

2. The challenges of business coach Cristóbal


Challenges with client tracking

I will design an intuitive and accessible presentation of client information by introducing predefined templates for tracking, simplifying documentation, and monitoring their progress.


Payment and billing management challenges

The designs will focus on ensuring that the payment and billing section is accessible and user-friendly for all users, providing quick search options and efficient navigation.


Difficulty scheduling sessions

The application will aim to simplify session scheduling by providing a quick scheduling option to reduce cognitive load and enhance time management efficiency.

Ideate

Once I understood the users’ needs, I quickly began sketching out my ideas on the first piece of paper I had at hand.

First Design Ideas

As I analyzed the research results, I felt a growing empathy for Laura and Cristobal as I discovered the challenges they faced in their daily practice. Not only were they facing data and time management issues, but they were also finding it difficult to track their clients’ progress and encountering certain difficulties with the billing system. These findings made me reflect on the importance of not making premature assumptions and keeping an open mind at all times.

These discoveries led to a significant shift in my design approach. Instead of focusing on specific solutions for individual problems, I realized the need to prioritize a comprehensive solution that addressed various aspects of Laura and Cristóbal’s needs. This change in perspective was a moment of enlightenment for me, reaffirming the importance of user research in the design process.

In summary, the experience was an emotional and cognitive journey that allowed me to deepen my understanding of user needs and frustrations, and helped me guide my design approach towards more effective and holistic solutions.

Thinking process

After sketching numerous ideas on paper to generate multiple concepts, I began creating digital wireframes using Figma. When designing my wireframes, I focused on the key elements that the user needed to see at a glance. I aimed for the design to be as clean and efficient as possible to avoid information overload and ensure a smooth user experience.

Usability studies

To ensure a comprehensive understanding of the specific challenges users might face when performing basic actions such as accessing scheduled sessions for the day, reviewing a client’s profile, viewing a client’s profile, and updating a client’s history, I conducted usability studies with the participation of five users from diverse backgrounds.

Main results

The Language Barrier

Two out of the five participants indicated they had difficulty performing the tasks because they didn’t understand English.

The lack of support

The lack of support in Spanish elicited negative emotions from two participants.

Technological challenges

Two participants experienced technological difficulties.

Positive feedback

Three out of the five participants expressed that the app was intuitive and easy to use.

Mockups

The usability studies yielded valuable insights across various aspects. Following a thorough examination of the findings, I incorporated user feedback and proceeded to design mockups.

High-fidelity prototypes

Accessibility considerations

WCAG accessibility

Design decisions were made to ensure that the app is accessible to all users, including those with visual impairments. All these decisions comply with the WCAG accessibility guidelines.

Sufficient contrast

The primary color #1976d2 was chosen for easy visibility, the secondary color #5eacfa as it provides sufficient contrast with the background, the background color #fafafa for easy readability, text color #474040 to ensure optimal legibility, and emphasis color #ff5722 because it offers sufficient contrast for users with color vision deficiencies.

Ensure accessibilit

The “Work Sans” typography in semibold at 24 px for headings and in bold at 14 px for buttons provides a clear visual hierarchy, while the “Roboto” font in regular at 14 px for content text ensures easy readability. Both decisions comply with WCAG font size guidelines, ensuring accessibility in the application design.

Reflections

Each stage of this project has been a valuable learning opportunity that has facilitated the implementation of improvements in the designs. I have observed how user feedback and continuous design iteration have significantly enhanced the usability and, consequently, the effectiveness of the application. This project reaffirms the importance of teamwork and collaboration for the success of any initiative.

Next steps

More in-depth interviews

To gain detailed insights into specific user challenges, conducting further in-depth interviews would be beneficial. Additionally, conducting additional accessibility testing to evaluate the application’s accessibility could be valuable. I suggest performing a quantitative data analysis of the application usage to assess the time spent on specific tasks and success rates.

Iterate

Implementing iterative changes in the design to address all the issues identified by users and thus enhance the overall experience. Expanding the data collection through surveys to a larger sample of users to identify patterns that may not be evident in qualitative research.

Design

Designing prototypes with the proposed changes and the results of additional testing to assess the effectiveness of the modifications.

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