Project Brief
Redesign the Oraquick HIV self test by designing both a companion app and packaging for the self-test mouth swab kit.
The goal is to conceive, prototype and design a self-test experience that is practical, making sure the user performs the test correctly, and emotional, creating an empathetic experience for the user.
The target user is a “18-25 black male in the U.S. south who has sex with other men (MSM). They may have transactional sex with other men and be involved in sex work.”
Uncovering opportunities for improving the Oraquick kit experience
Initial observations were derived from unboxing the Oraquick self-test kit to understand the arrangement of the different components. An information architecture diagram helped me pinpoint immediate pain points related to first-time testing and kit usage.It also highlighted opportunities for improving outdated aspects of the kit, such as the large plastic box, the pencil, and the testing booklets.
Constructing a (convincing) persona
As we chose our target user to be a 18-25 black male in the U.S. south, the next step was to understand the nature of MSM transactional sex in those areas. One of the ways young black males engage in transactional sex is through an escorting service called “Mintboys”. As a real service, it was important for us to get further insights into the life of male gay escorts through online search, Reddit discussion forums, and video testimonials.
Although desk research was brief, we found using an escorting service such as Mintboys over Grindr to be far more convincing and genuine to construct our persona.
Designing an empathetic experience
Three different experience maps– pre-usage, positive results, and negative results were created to understand the actions the customer would take at every touchpoint. By imagining our target user as Mike, we were able to frame his pre-usage journey around his experience as a Mintboys escort. By framing our opportunities as “How Might We” statements, it opened up doors to areas in the app and kit experience that could accommodate specific needs and emotional wants.
Discrete packaging to protect the user’s privacy
Our packaging was minimalist, designed to reflect a discrete approach to purchasing the kit. A blank outer sleeve with only the brand name written, also conceals the purpose of the kit and allows the customer to safely purchase it with no suspicion.
The only way to download the Bridge app is by scanning the the barcode on the inside.
HealthHIVe with its flashy brand identity and its forums feaure compromised the safety and privacy of users. Some of the feedback we received included changing the branding’s style and modifying the UX copy to make it sound more human and empathetic.
Significant iterations led us to the conceptualization of “Bridge”
Key screen features
Learnings & Future Opportunities
Feedback played a significant role in making our solution successful. We were suggested to move away from design conventions and modify our kit experience to more closely reflect the challenges of extreme users. This helped my team and I take a more empathetic approach to our visual design and experience.
Working on a user group as well as a health challenge that we were unfamiliar with also pushed us to break free from biased assumptions and actively educate ourselves. It was important for us to put out a product that served everyone, including those that were the most vulnerable.
Reflecting back on this project, there still remain many opportunities for improvements. Some of them include:
- Modifying the packaging to make it more discrete for use in public areas as well.
- Broadening our understanding of our user group by spending more time visiting HIV testing centers, support groups, and talking to people who are familiar with the HIV testing process.
- Considering privacy issues more closely by de-scaling digital accessibility to the application and kit.