Project summary
What
TOVI Health was a cognitive behaviour therapy startup with a successful app that helped individuals build healthy habits. We were asked by a call centre company to replace their existing wellness program with a solution that improved health for all participants, with a focus on managing high stress.
My role
As the sole designer on the team, I lead research, UX, and UI design, and contributed to the overall strategy. I trained co-workers in usability testing, and gave creative direction for copy writing and marketing.
Key moment
At the end of an on-site focus group, an employee came up to shake my hand and sincerely thank me for listening. This interaction has stayed with me throughout all my projects as a reminder of the power of simply listening.
Outcomes
A successful pilot wellness program and app leading to other call centres requesting early access
increased healthy activities, especially by employees neglected by leaderboard-style programs
Tailored implementations and onboarding plans for 3 call centre locations, as well as a scalable program for new clients
An app that promoted healthy activities and habit building within the unique challenges of a call centre environment
Research and empathy
I prioritized conducting research, usability testing, and co-creation with our call centre client throughout this project. To kick the project off, I collected perspectives and insights from wellness program leaders, team leads, and managers. I also ran on-site focus groups with employees to uncover their complex, highly stressful daily schedules and their sentiments towards wellness programs. I composed these findings into a persona, Luke, who appeared throughout our process. Luke helped us remain realistic, understanding how the app would be perceived and how healthy activities could truly fit into his life.
These hybrid wireframe-storyboards helped us explore ways to guide our persona, Luke, towards healthy habits when he couldn't access his phone for most of the day. These storyboards raised team empathy for Luke, kept us realistic, and helped us explore alternative touchpoints when an app couldn't be used like team meetings, informed team leads, and posters.
Ideation
Next, I turned to rough wireframes to iterate on the app experience. I worked with our clinical behavioural psychologists to adapt our existing health app and create something more appropriate for our new persona. Our initial app focused on helping people make permanent healthy habits through knowledge and SMART goal setting. Since our users were highly stressed and stress is a very common barrier to building a habit, we knew that a SMART goal tracking system could backfire and cause users to disconnect. Instead of aiming to build permanent habits, we aimed to invite users to try a stress reduction method, for example deep breathing after a particularly hard phone call. Over time, users could set reminders to try the activities that worked for them, and eventually set SMART goals for activities they already successfully used. This approach lead to a wireframes that offered opportunities via timely notifications and guidance, a big departure from our original app's SMART goals.
An exploration of the first few days of app usage. Instead of jumping into setting new goals, this gradually offered stress reduction options at times when employees most needed them, such as during a break or after their shift. I also explored ways to encourage healthy activities during the shift, when users couldn't access their phones.
Iteration and visual design
With a very fast review cycle and feedback from usability testing, the app evolved frequently. I created a simplified experience and a neutral visual language that could adapt to future wellness programs.
Iterations of the home and tracking pages.
Usability testing
During my time at TOVI I created a strong remote-friendly usability testing culture. I conducted many moderated and unmoderated tests, and trained my co-workers in San Diego to lead in-person usability testing with myself acting as a remote note-taker. Using Lookback and Figma Mirror, we were able to capture detailed feedback discuss specific moments remotely, and attach clear usability bugs or concerns directly to our Jira tickets. Over time, everyone from developers to the CEO got engaged in watching and consulting these test videos, and they were instrumental in everything from my design revisions to bug fixes. These usability tests focused on both navigating the app and the usefulness of the program.
This usability test compared two onboarding options: starting with an immediately achievable stress reducing activity (such as deep breathing or filling a glass of water), or starting with the timeframe when the user wanted to act (e.g. on break, while working, at home). Results showed users preferred doing an activity right away and a simpler app hierarchy.
Using Figma Mirror and Lookback, I was able to test designs on a real device and iterate quickly. These Lookback videos helped engage the whole team, with executives and developers consulting them regularly to better understand our users and make decisions.
Launch strategy
Working closely with CBT experts, our call centre partners, and the TOVI team, I created a rollout experience map and documentation for our call centre partner. The plan included rollout activations, on-site posters in key locations, and working with team leads to guide their team towards activities when the app couldn't.
Something I'm particularly proud of is a concept for on-site posters with QR codes. These posters would be tailored to the location, for example a QR code in the meditation room would lead to a list of audio meditations and the tracking page, reducing friction and helping users make the most of their short breaks.
Blurred for privacy. This generalize rollout plan could be adapted to new call centre clients.
Pilot testing and scale-up
To test how it worked in a real call centre setting and for real employees, we worked with our partner to release the app and program to a single team. The app was released during a team meeting, where participants could try their first activity and make plans to be healthy during their phone-free shift.
Using data insights from Mixpanel and feedback from team leads and other client stakeholders, we identified strong usage rates and users being on-track to complete key steps in the wellness program. With evidence that the program worked, the app was released to the entire call centre. Although I don't have access to this usage data, I do know that other call centre sites began requesting access ahead of schedule - a testament to the plan's success at the first location.
Pivot
Rollout was scheduled for early 2019, which means it was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees were sent to work from home, meaning an app and wellness program designed for the unique physical environment of call centres was no longer useful.
Seeing an opportunity to help people navigate the challenges of work-life balance during the pandemic, we pivoted to create a free, general-audience working-from-home app. The new app blended our stress-reduction call centre app with our original CBT habit builder, and focused on helping to create stronger work-life balance through creating a new daily rhythm.
The new app blended our stress-reduction call centre app with our original CBT habit builder. By practicing healthy habits, users could create a stronger work-life rhythm.