Narcan used correctly can save lives
Naloxone, or Narcan, is a medicine that rapidly reverses the effects of an Opioid overdose. Available as an over-the-counter nasal spray, it can restore normal respiratory breathing and prevent death when administered in time.
While Narcan is simple to use, its effectiveness depends on quick, timely action — and the right training.
Timely administration relies on a sound understanding of the instructions
A quick look into the Narcan packaging box, reveals an instruction manual with multiple steps to administering Narcan. We quickly understood that a dense manual requiring thorough reading is a barrier to police officers who are first responders in high-stress overdose cases.
Dissecting the current design of the Naloxone paper manual
The first step to an effective redesign was actively analyzing the design decisions taken to creating the existing paper manual. What we noticed was:
Stage Identification Markers
Help to identify the pre-, during, and post-administration stages.
Bold Action Descriptors
Help to identify key actions required to determine the severity of the overdose.
Instructional Illustrations
Help to provide better context in using the spray and administering Naloxone correctly.Understanding police behavior and attitudes in overdose cases
The next step in developing a comprehensive solution was to identify the behavioral patterns of our users. We watched bodycam videos of officers and asked ourselves, “What does a police officer’s response look like when attending an overdose case?”
“What challenges do they face in these situations?”
From the moment they are dispatched to when they arrive on the scene, understanding their emotional and mental state is essential for optimizing how they engage with and follow instructions.
We narrowed down potential goals for our solution by identifying officers’ needs and their corresponding challenges
A FigJam brainstorming session helped us pinpoint needs and their challenges as identified from observational research.We selected one compelling challenge to solve based on competition from existing solutions as well as level of technical feasibility.
We then began exploring ideas that could help improve response time in overdose cases
Our initial sketches focused on condensing information by further dividing the stages into essential actions.Keeping the bold action descriptors and illustrations from the manual, we experimented with digital concepts that improved instructional navigation and information retention.
Testing the concept to uncover cracks and challenges in the current design
Our first iteration was a quick start guide with each essential stage in the process divided into their own sections: “Identify”, “Give”, and “Evaluate”.What differentiated the idea was the “Response Checklist” which allowed each step in every stage to be ticked off as they are completed.
While the visual design helped track progress and break down the steps into digestible elements,
Our biggest pitfall in this design was overlooking the context in which the app would be used.
Police officers are tasked with balancing immense mental stress while making life-altering decisions. So, we pivoted — shifting from a process-oriented user flow to a decision-oriented one.
Logic flows helped optimize the instruction manual by highlighting critical decision-making points that users might otherwise overlook.
Based on the recipient’s condition, the flows outlined steps for edge case scenarios: “If yes, then what?“. “If no, then what?”
Reflection
Due to the time constraints that limited us from conducting field research, we found it vital that we did adequate background research and truly grasped the perspectives of police officers with sensitivity and seriousness.
The lack of focus on aesthetics in visual design made the process challenging as well. I opted for minimalistic layout choices and stayed away from conventional and appealing micro-interactions.