As we began to relax quarantine restrictions, we needed to find
a way to more efficiently monitor transmission to prevent
additional waves of virus transmission. At that time, isolation
and quarantine measures in place were in the hope of reducing
occurrence of novel cases and flatten the curve, but we needed
something to expedite and aid the process.
Solution
Contact tracing is an integral practice that the healthcare
system employs to ensure isolation of at-risk contacts and curb
further spread but it is all done manually; so we created an app
that did all of that! CanTrace bridges technology with
healthcare to create an effective tool against the infection,
expedite recovery, and preserve civil liberties for the common
good of all Canadians.
Timeline
16 weeks
Team
~34 (medical professionals, public health specialists, privacy
experts, developers, me!)
Roles and Responsibilities
I was the sole product designer on the team. I worked through
the entire design process with the team to create the mobile
app.
We're in this together
DISCOVER
Understanding Contact Tracing and our Goal
Contact tracing is a process involving a public health agent
identifying, assessing, and monitoring individuals infected by a
communicable disease and their exposed contacts to mitigate
transmission. While contact-tracing is an effective tool, it is
labor-intensive, time-consuming, and subject to recall error. These
shortcomings became strikingly evident due to COVID-19’s marked
infectivity, particularly in densely populated environments,
straining public health resources. As a result, our goal was to work
on a digital contact tracing solution that involved using smartphone
apps to track proximity interactions between people, which addressed
the limitations of physical contact tracing due to their significant
speed and scalability potential. We wanted to create a product for
Canada as contact tracing apps natively help expedite and centralize
the entire process to make it simpler.
DISCOVER
Secondary Market Research
In order to understand our audience base, identify new opportunities
and set realistic targets based on concrete data, we conducted
market research in two key areas. We looked into the rate of
downloads of contact tracing apps in many countries to set realistic
targets and investigate why they are so high/low. In addition, we
researched Canadian government survey data to understand our target
market and who exactly we were building our product for.
Willingness of Canadians to use a contact tracing app
COVID-19 contact tracing app adoption rate in different
countries
Takeaways:
1. Age is an important factor in the likelihood of using such an
app as older Canadians are more likely to use the app than young
Canadians.
2. Concerns about privacy and government access to location data
are the leading reasons against using a contact tracing app.
3. Secondary reasons are poor healthcare integration and
guidance in-app.
4. The above factors seemed to be leading factors in downloading
contact tracing apps in other countries as well.
DISCOVER
Figuring out the Right Technology
Keeping the user in mind, we investigated several different
technologies to conduct tracing safely and reliably as that was a
key factor for users. Various technical modalities exist to
determine proximity traces, including Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE),
Global Positioning System (GPS), WiFi and Quick Response (QR) codes
among others. However, GPS and BLE dominated global discussions and
were the most commonly used methods. GPS configures proximity by
using timing and location measurements to identify overlap between
app users’ paths. It poses the benefits of providing location
context of exposures, and critical geolocation data to public health
to identify infection hotspots and analyze disease spread. However,
GPS is unable to resolve between objects within 4.9 meters of each
other, and signal accuracy is undermined near physical barriers
(like tall buildings).
BLE possesses key advantages over GPS including its ability to
detect short distances between individuals and better discern
proximity between those confined to the same geographical
coordinates yet separated by elevation like in multi-storey
buildings. Additionally, it is operational underground such as in
tunnels or subways where satellite signalling is obstructed.
Importantly, BLE’s capacity to configure proximity traces without
processing or storing sensitive location data draws fewer privacy
concerns. Based on these factors, we focused on building our product
around BLE.
DISCOVER
The Apple/Google API
Contact tracing apps using BLE were initially hampered by a
limitation on devices using Apple’s iOS operating system which
required phones to be perpetually “awake”, and apps open in the
foreground to keep BLE readings active. Furthermore, BLE
communications were stifled from signalling inter-compatibility
issues between Android and iOS devices. Consequently, app adoption
rates were significantly reduced, which further minimized their
contact tracing potential. As a result, Google and Apple partnered
to create an Application Program Interface (API), a program that
mediated interactions between different software, which effectively
resolved these limitations. The API was also lauded for preserving
user privacy by operating within the decentralized framework and
barring the co-existence of GPS technology on contact tracing apps
adopting it. Consequently, due to its technical and privacy
advantages, it became the standard operating software for contact
tracing apps like ours.
DISCOVER
Competitive Analysis
After figuring out what technology and how effective certain methods
can be, we collected data from a few different contact tracing apps
and investigated what may be the reason behind its low adoption
rates, technologies they used and how much they kept the user's
privacy in mind. After conducting this research, it only supported
our prior research and we knew we were on the right track to solve
the user's biggest problems against such an app.
Takeaways on low adoption rates:
1. Bluetooth tracking technology using BLE is safer than GPS
tracking.
2. Integrate Apple/Google API to optimize performance and
security.
3. Very shallow level of healthcare integration and user
guidance.
DISCOVER
Storyboarding
We mapped out our user's journey to understand what kinds of
interactions our product needs to support. And outline the steps the
user needs to go through to successfully use our product.
Robert would then receive a notification on CanTrace and be guided
by healthcare professionals on how he should take care of himself
directly. This is how we were able to empathize and understand the
real impact of an app like this. Our oldest are the most vulnerable
against this virus, so let's do it for them and everyone on the
front-line.
DISCOVER
Understanding the User
Taking what we learned from our research, storyboarding and our
problems in mind, it was important to understand the types of users
who were going to be using the product. Going back to these personas
throughout the process kept us aligned with our user goals,
empathize and helped us solve the problems more efficiently. In
addition to our research, knowing that this virus does not
discriminate and has no barriers, we knew the most important people
we were creating this for were the elderly. And on the other side of
the spectrum, we had someone younger. What this also helped us
understand better is how simple and easy-to-use we must create our
product.
DEFINE
Problem Definition
Through our research, we narrowed it down to three main points to
define our problem for our product we were creating. Already
released contact tracing apps fell short, they only focused
primarily on notifying users if they had an exposure risk and
nothing more.
DEFINE
User Flow
What's missing from current apps?
DEFINE
Our Solution
Our design recommendations operated within the API framework,
capitalizing on its privacy and technical advantages, while
incorporating user-centric features and healthcare elements to
integrate conventional contact tracing efforts. Broadly, these
recommendations augmented the API exposure notification platform
with evidence-based characteristics to optimize both privacy and
efficacy, help maximize app adoption rates, and minimize disease
transmission. Without healthcare integration, apps did little to
support contact tracing efforts by public health. Our solution was
the bridge between technology and healthcare to create an effective
tool against the infection, expedite recovery, and preserve civil
liberties for the common good of all Canadians.
DEFINE
Revised User Flow
DEVELOP
Wireframes
These early wireframes provided an overall idea of how we wanted the
app to look. They provided a clear vision of how our users are going
to interact with our product and allowed us to further investigate
any pain points.
DEVELOP
Iterations
Implemented app branding into visual design striving for a more
professional look. By the third set of screens, we were right at the
final design stage receiving direct feedback. We knew exactly how
users were going to interact with our app and the overall design to
follow.
DEVELOP
Measuring Success (User Testing)
There are many ways of defining KPIs to measure the success of our
implementation and design. Using the prototype I built, we conducted
user testing to ensure all areas of the app were implemented
correctly and users were able to complete various tasks seamlessly.
What we learned from these was that we created an app that was
extremely easy to use and straightforward - considering people of
all ages were going to use it.
Tasks:
1. Onboarding, set up local health unit
2. Uploading positive diagnosis
3. Completing self-assessment after close contact
Completion Rate
12/12
Error-Free Rate
11/12
DEVELOP
Design System
DELIVER
The simplest and seamless onboarding process out there
The idea of getting your users familiar with the app and its
features is extremely important. This process allows us to
strategically communicate with our users and facilitate a positive
user experience right from the get-go.
You're also stratified to your local public health unit
To enable accurate healthcare integration while maximizing privacy
and security - the user's province and postal code is solicited to
assign them a unit closest to them. No personal information is
saved.
DELIVER
If you've tested positive for COVID-19
Just enter the verification code texted to you by your public health
unit. The app will then provide you with the resources and material
to help guide you through your diagnosis.
DELIVER
If you came in close contact with someone who tested positive for
COVID-19
Risk levels may vary on the situation. Therefore, we implemented a
contact tracing triage self-assessment tool to assess your risk; and
provide advice accordingly.
Learnings, Reflections and Outcome
When you're building a product that can potentially be used by 35
million people, the way your mind thinks changes a little. You get
that extra motivation to complete the product with pristine
perfection and work with your colleagues in going through the entire
design process thoroughly and effectively. The most challenging
aspect of the whole experience was to earn the trust of the user.
Privacy and security were the biggest reasons people had against
using such an app. So as a product designer, it was key to empathize
with the user and understand that you need to design an experience
that is simple to use and earns the trust of the users directly. All
while keeping in mind that this app would be used by people of all
ages. The way I solved this was looking at other apps that have a
large age demographic and have a privacy aspect to it. In addition,
I frequently communicated with our lawyer and privacy experts about
the design and content to perfect the design.
By the time we presented our product to the government, they had
already started developing their own app with Shopify and Blackberry
and so we did not have much of a chance. But in retrospect, some
features of our app were added into the COVID Alert app officially
released by the federal government. The biggest learning I would
take from this whole experience is to think swiftly, you never know
when the opportunity may close.
