Project Overview

Working independently, I developed a healthcare application that is accessible to users globally, regardless of language or literacy level.

In Pakistan, language barriers, low literacy rates, and challenging terrain prevent nearly half of the population (220M citizens) from reliably accessing healthcare. To address this, Doctory provides a call-in service connecting citizens to doctors in real-time. However, with nearly 20 languages and many more dialects spoken, the app’s ability to deliver equal access to healthcare has been hindered. On average, citizens visit five doctors before finding the right specialist for their needs.

While many apps offer virtual consultations, they don’t account for the challenges faced by users who speak different languages. Recognizing that this issue extends far beyond Pakistan, I was tasked with rethinking the global problem of connecting patients with the right physician, without relying on spoken language.

The challenge was to create a healthcare solution that could effectively direct patients to the appropriate specialist, regardless of their language or literacy level.

Primary Research

I conducted 10 interviews with participants who either traveled internationally or were fluent in two or more languages. I hypothesized that this group would provide valuable insights into overcoming language barriers.

As one of my interviewees pointed out simply:

I also learned to view a doctor’s appointment as a success, people needed to:

Secondary Research

Next, I analyzed how medical organizations effectively bridge language gaps. For example, Doctors Without Borders also uses universal symbols and gestures to facilitate communication between doctors and patients, regardless of language or literacy levels.

Apps like  Practo and AugmentCare provide direct access to healthcare professionals via video appointments, but they rely on a shared language between the patient and doctor. Recognizing this gap, I focused on developing an app that could guide patients to the right physician—one who speaks their language and can treat their specific ailment.

To ensure success, I identified key features for the app, including universal symbols for communication, and designed the user experience to maximize satisfaction and ease of use.

Design Ideation

User Flows

I mapped out the path a user would take to navigate the application in a series of user flows. 

The flow revealed a gap in communication between the location of the injury and the type of injury. To address this, I added a feature that prompts users to specify their ailment (e.g., burn, rash, etc.), enabling them to clearly communicate the nature of their injury.

Wireflows

To conceptualize the screen flow of the user journey, I drafted wire flows.

Paper Prototype

I sketches a paper prototype to quickly test the app’s flow with users. I discovered that users struggled to navigate the app due to the absence of written instructions, relying only on static universal symbols. To resolve this, I added a “how-to-use-this-app” video, communicated entirely through illustrations, with no spoken language. This was a key turning point in the design phase. After integrating the video feature on the homepage, users were able to navigate the app with ease.

Low Fidelity Clickable Prototype

Finally, I used Balsamiq to create a clickable prototype. To enhance usability, I added a filter on the results page, streamlining the process of selecting a specialist and addressing another key design objective.

Next Steps

Since this was a rapid prototyping exercise, I focused on the key features and flows within the product. While this approach was effective for generating the prototype, further research and development are necessary. Moving forward, I recommend expanding the ailment image library and curating a set of universal symbols to integrate into the MedRX app.