2023
Physical Therapy Application
Designing Accessible Therapy for Phantom Limb Pain
Our goal with this project was to create a tablet application for users who are involved in a wellbeing program providing support for their phantom limb pain.
After an amputation, there can be confusion between the brain and body. The program provides therapy via a device to help rebuild that connection, and ease the persons pain.
The Problem
There was a pre-existing mobile app that allowed users to connect via bluetooth to their support device, however it was not providing the appropriate user experience, due to the accessibility needs of the audience.
The existing application allowed users to simply control the device settings. No additional support was offered. There was little to no engagement from users, meaning they were not getting the valuable benefits from their therapy.
My Solution
We began with collecting user research from the client to define the pain points of users. Many noted that they found using a mobile device difficult due to their disability, or were not familiar with mobiles in general due to age.
This led to the decision of migrating to a tablet application. A tablet would then be provided to users alongside the therapy device to minimise any access barriers.
As the nature of the therapy is for users to feel pulses from the device electrodes to help retrain the brain, we wanted to allow users to control the stimulation levels from within the app. In discussion with the stakeholders, I presented a user flow of guiding the user through steps of the therapy programmes, with the ability to increase or decrease the intensity of the vibrations, based on their comfortability.
Users can easily access these settings at any point during the therapy, allowing them to make amendments or even pause the therapy completely, to ensure they are not in any pain.
I carefully considered the positioning of all UI elements, to ensure they would be clear and easy to access from all positions, whether the user is able to hold the device or not.
To increase the engagement of the application, I suggested that we integrate progress tracking tools that provide live feedback. The “level” style homepage allows users to see their progress, and collect achievements for each section completed. As the therapy becomes more intense as the person progresses, this helps users to feel rewarded for their growth and perseverance.
As usage would drop on the pre-existing mobile app, we included a streak feature to reinforce positive feedback for the user. This helped to keep users engaged and better notice the improvements caused by regular therapy.
I delegated the high-fidelity designs of this project to a small freelance team we were working with. This required me to brief them on the project, provide the branding assets and offer feedback and support along the way, to ensure the visuals met the clients expectations.
