Twine / 2023

UX Research, UX Design, Interaction Design

My Role

Product Designer

My Role

Product Designer

My Role

Product Designer

Timeline

12 Weeks

Aug - Nov 2023

Timeline

12 Weeks, Aug - Nov 2023

Timeline

12 Weeks

Aug - Nov 2023

Project Type

Individual

Capstone Project

Project Type

Individual Capstone Project

Project Type

Individual

Capstone Project

Deliverables

Interviews

Secondary Research

Affinity Diagram

Ideation

High-Fidelity Prototype

Interaction Design

Deliverables

Interviews, Secondary Research, Affinity Diagram, Ideation, High-Fidelity Prototype, Interaction Design

Deliverables

Interviews

Secondary Research

Affinity Diagram

Ideation

High-Fidelity Prototype

Interaction Design

Tools

Miro

Figma

Spline

Tools

Miro, Figma, Spline

Tools

Miro

Figma

Spline

My Role

Product Designer

Timeline

12 Weeks

Aug - Nov 2023

Project Type

Individual

Capstone Project

My Role

Product Designer

Timeline

12 Weeks

Aug - Nov 2023

Project Type

Individual

Capstone Project

Deliverables

Interviews

Secondary Research

Affinity Diagram

Ideation

High-fidelity Prototype

Interaction Design

Tools

Miro

Figma

Spline

Deliverables

Interviews

Secondary Research

Affinity Diagram

Ideation

High-fidelity Prototype

Interaction Design

Tools

Miro

Figma

Spline

Envisioning a mixed-reality tool to elevate chiropractic care.

In today's healthcare landscape, digital transformation is imperative and emerging tools like Mixed Reality (MR) offer transformative potentials — but only if designed with practitioners, not merely for them.

As part of my HCI program at the University of Melbourne, I developed Twine, a mixed-reality tool designed to bring novel and empowering experiences to chiropractic care.

Over 12 weeks, I led the end-to-end process and employed a human-centered design approach. I conducted extensive research and delivered a solution that addressed user pain points identified through research insights.

As part of my HCI program at the University of Melbourne, I developed Twine, a mixed-reality tool designed to bring novel and empowering experiences to chiropractic care.

Initial question for thought

How might we empower chiropractors to harness immersive technology e.g. mixed reality, in ways that align with their expertise, workflows, and patient relationships?

Research

Understand the audience in depth.

I began my research to gain insights into the chiropractors and understand what their day-to-day work is like. What unique needs, goals, and pain points define their everyday experiences?

From my initial question, there were three main discovery pillars for my approach:

I began my research to gain insights into the chiropractors and understand what their day-to-day work is like. What unique needs, goals, and pain points define their everyday experiences?

From my initial question, there were three main discovery pillars for my approach:

I began my research to gain insights into the chiropractors and understand what their day-to-day work is like. What unique needs, goals, and pain points define their everyday experiences?

From my initial question, there were three main discovery pillars for my approach:

I began my research to gain insights into the chiropractors and understand what their day-to-day work is like. What unique needs, goals, and pain points define their everyday experiences?

From my initial question, there were three main discovery pillars for my approach:

Clinical Expertise

What techniques/methods do chiropractors use in practice?

Workflows

What tools do chiropractors rely on, and where do these fall short?

What tools do chiropractors use, and where do these fall short?

What tools do chiropractors rely on, and where do these fall short?

What tools do chiropractors use, and where do these fall short?

Patient Relationships

How do chiropractors engage with their patients?

I built up an affinity diagram to synthesise all the qualitative data collected from interviews and literature research to consolidate findings.

Key Insights

Making the right, “good” decision —— a chiropractor's struggle in a nutshell.

Chiropractors struggle to find the optimal treatment decision for their patients, and may default to "good enough" solutions subject to their individual practical experience. This problem compounds into greater ones as they weigh factors including safety risk and time constraints.

Below are concerns I discovered from them that further define the problem:

Empathise with chiropractors.

Ambiguity in methods

It was critical to first understand what chiropractors' core methodologies are in practice. Based on interviews and secondary research, turns out, there was actually a lack of consensus on selecting the most ideal approach to care for patient conditions.

“

There are many many many chiropractic techniques that exist out there, but sometimes we can't be certain (on which one is right).

“

As a profession, we don't have a very solid agreement on what works best.

Quotes from interviews

Consequently, the type of treatment any patient receives is often determined more by the practitioner, rather than by diagnosis, due to the ambiguity in clinical methods. This makes chiropractic care heavily reliant on individual expertise, causing uncertainty in care quality and practitioner burnouts.

Safety-first

Realistically, the situation is further complicated by the dominant model of patient safety.

In the realm of spinal treatment, chiropractors must carefully address safety concerns, i.e. the risk of adverse events as a result of spinal manipulation.

Chiropractor's safety-first mindset and caution add layers of complexity to their decision-making, leading them to default to familiar, conservative methods, which comes with a caveat: the safest choice isn't always the most effective.

Realistically, the situation is further complicated by the dominant model of patient safety.

In the realm of spinal treatment, chiropractors must carefully address safety concerns, i.e. the risk of adverse events as a result of spinal manipulation.

Realistically, the situation is further complicated by the dominant model of patient safety.

In the realm of spinal treatment, chiropractors must carefully address safety concerns, i.e. the risk of adverse events as a result of spinal manipulation.

Realistically, the situation is further complicated by the dominant model of patient safety.

In the realm of spinal treatment, chiropractors must carefully address safety concerns, i.e. the risk of adverse events as a result of spinal manipulation.

“

"I'm here and the only thing I have to do is to get you better. I have to really put my efforts to help you, using my skills."

Quotes from interviews

Time-sensitive, Face-to-face

I also noticed that chiropractors work in fast-paced, isolated environments. They are routinely handling a high volumes of patients, with most sessions taking place within short and limited time windows.

Additionally, chiropractors engage in close contacts with their patients every day and there is a strong emphasis on face-to-face communication in their practices.

These time constraints, compounded by the face-to-face setting, has made their decision-making process more stressful and challenging.

Additionally, chiropractors engage in close contacts with their patients every day and there is a strong emphasis on face-to-face communication in their practices.

These time constraints, compounded by the face-to-face setting, has made their decision-making process more stressful and challenging.

Additionally, chiropractors engage in close contacts with their patients every day and there is a strong emphasis on face-to-face communication in their practices.

These time constraints, compounded by the face-to-face setting, has made their decision-making process more stressful and challenging.

Additionally, chiropractors engage in close contacts with their patients every day and there is a strong emphasis on face-to-face communication in their practices.

These time constraints, compounded by the face-to-face setting, has made their decision-making process more stressful and challenging.

“

Our daily and even weekly schedule is packed and busy. Every day is a sprint: we meet our patients, we diagnose, and adjust, back to back.

Quotes from interviews

Design Goal

To empower chiropractors with evidence-informed and real-time decision support, enabling them to make optimal treatment decision in a more consistent, confident and efficient manner during everyday practices.

What it leads to design:

Informative

Provide diagnosis-driven, evidence-informed decision support.

Timely

Automate data entry and sync information in real time.

Seamless

A non-disruptive, adaptable copilot that streamlines clinical workflows.

Ideation

From scratch…

Mixed Reality (MR) offers a wealth of exciting opportunities for healthcare. How might we design the right decision tool for chiropractors that is empowering, and not distracting?

I began my ideation by creating a moodboard to explore various mixed-reality interactions and distilled a few themes for inspiration.

…to a sketch.

Design References

Apple Vision Pro

Microsoft HoloLens

Design References

Apple Vision Pro, Microsoft HoloLens

A low-fi was first created to map out functionalities and conducted user testing to validate the proposed design.

Design References

Apple Vision Pro, Microsoft HoloLens

Final Deliverables

A minimal-interface MR experience in the rhythm of chiropractic workflow.

Information at a glance.

Synchronises patient data with the clinical Electronic Health Records (EHR) system, and updates it continuously as they progress through the chiropractic procedure.

Chiropractors can review their patient's details at a glance while still engaging in face-to-face communication with them.

Visualise the unseen. And interact.

A bold mixed-reality interaction concept that leverages digital twin technology.

Constructs a dynamic 3D model of a patient's spine directly from diagnostic imaging data. Accessible via the left-hand toolbar, chiropractors can interact with this virtual replica in real time during assessments to simulate biomechanical conditions and visualise potential treatment outcomes.

A bold mixed-reality interaction concept that leverages digital twin technology.

Context-aware copilot in real time.

Through voice commands, initiates data-driven research process to analyse the spinal treatment decision, bridging the gap between practitioner expertise and empirical evidence.

Informs the practitioner to proceed with caution when the research process does not retrieve sufficient evidence supporting their treatment decision.

In the meantime, helps connect to a call with another expert available who can oversee and discuss the ideal treatment plan.

Takeaways

I learned…

Keep things moving.

Designing can be stressful, especially when working on a new concept that you have never touched on. The best way to handle this is to always keep things moving. Start from scratch, gather inspirations, and gradually build your ideas from lo-fi to hi-fi.

Stay focused on the problem.

Emerging technologies like MR/VR and AI are exciting to play with, yet it's all too easy to get carried away. While it is thrilling to imagine how they can change everything, ultimately, the primary focus must remain on addressing the user's problem.

Throughout the design process, I kept reminding myself not to be distracted by the mixed reality itself, but to concentrate on what really needs to be solved. Even to this date, I still have wonder: Have I truly developed the right tool for my audience? Would there be a better solution, without "mixed reality"?

Design with users, not just for them.

Thinking like the users doesn't actually make you a user. I would never be able to understand their challenges in depth without interviewing with those chiropractors in field. It is absolutely critical to involve users from the very beginning of the design process — discover with them, define the problem with them, design with them, and test with them.

Envisioning a mixed-reality tool to elevate chiropractic care.

Envisioning a mixed-reality tool to elevate chiropractic care.

Envisioning a mixed-reality tool to elevate chiropractic care.

Initial question for thought

How might we empower chiropractors to harness immersive technology e.g. mixed reality, in ways that align with their expertise, workflows, and patient relationships?

How might we empower chiropractors to harness immersive technology e.g. mixed reality, in ways that align with their expertise, workflows, and patient relationships?

How might we empower chiropractors to harness immersive technology e.g. mixed reality, in ways that align with their expertise, workflows, and patient relationships?

Research

Understand the audience in depth.

Understand the audience in depth.

Understand the audience in depth.

Key Insights

Making the right, “good” decision —— a chiropractor's struggle in a nutshell.

Making the right, “good” decision —— a chiropractor's struggle in a nutshell.

Making the right, “good” decision —— a chiropractor's struggle in a nutshell.

Empathise with chiropractors.

Ambiguity in methods

“

“

Safety-first

“

Time-sensitive, Face-to-face

“

Design Goal

To empower chiropractors with evidence-informed and real-time decision support, enabling them to make optimal treatment decision in a more consistent, confident and efficient manner during everyday practices.

To empower chiropractors with evidence-informed and real-time decision support, enabling them to make optimal treatment decision in a more consistent, confident and efficient manner during everyday practices.

To empower chiropractors with evidence-informed and real-time decision support, enabling them to make optimal treatment decision in a more consistent, confident and efficient manner during everyday practices.

What it leads to design:

Informative

Timely

Seamless

Ideation

From scratch…

From scratch…

From scratch…

…to a sketch.

…to a sketch.

…to a sketch.

Final Deliverables

A minimal-interface MR experience in the rhythm of chiropractic workflow.

A minimal-interface MR experience in the rhythm of chiropractic workflow.

A minimal-interface MR experience in the rhythm of chiropractic workflow.

Information at a glance.

Visualise the unseen. And interact.

Context-aware copilot in real time.

Takeaways

I learned…

I learned…

Keep things moving.

Stay focused on the problem.

Design with users, not just for them.

… and I grow.

… and I grow.