Enhancing Patient Engagement

Enhancing Patient Engagement

Enhancing Patient Engagement with Digital Avatars in Breast Cancer Clinical Trials

Enhancing Patient Engagement

to make navigation safe by

with Digital Avatars in

minimizing social bias.

Breast Cancer Clinical Trials

with 🙋🏽‍♀️ Digital Avatars in Breast

with 🙋🏽‍♀️ Digital Avatars in Breast

Cancer Clinical Trials 💊 @

Cancer Clinical Trials 💊 @

Client

Pfizer

Role

Product Designer

Duration

13 Months

Impact

30% reduction in HCP workforce

Tools

Voiceflow

Figma

Kore.ai

Soul Machines

Skills

Conversational Design

Interaction Design

Prototyping

Storytelling

Client

Pfizer

Role

Product Designer

Duration

13 Months

Impact

30% reduction in HCP workforce

Tools

Voiceflow

Figma

Kore.ai

Soul Machines

Skills

Conversational Design

Interaction Design

Prototyping

Storytelling

Client

Pfizer

Role

Product Designer

Duration

13 Months

Impact

30% reduction in HCP workforce

Tools

Voiceflow

Figma

Kore.ai

Soul Machines

Skills

Conversational Design

Interaction Design

Prototyping

Storytelling

Disclaimer: This project is under an NDA. All designs and avatars shown are altered and do not reflect the final project. I have only included less confidential designs. For further information, please reach out to me.

Disclaimer: This project is under an NDA. All designs and avatars shown are altered and do not reflect the final project. I have only included less confidential designs. For further information, please reach out to me.

Disclaimer: This project is under an NDA. All designs and avatars shown are altered and do not reflect the final project. I have only included less confidential designs. For further information, please reach out to me.

BACKGROUND

Pfizer's big idea is to make it easier for patients and healthcare professionals to find and join clinical trials.

Pfizer's big idea is to make it easier for patients and healthcare professionals to find and join clinical trials.

ESTABLISHING OUR USERS

Pfizer's focus is primarily on 2 user groups - patients and healthcare professionals.

Pfizer's focus is primarily on 2 user groups - patients and healthcare professionals.

Digital Avatars help boost clinical trial recruitment for patients and simplify information access for healthcare professionals. I focused on designing for Healthcare Professionals, as their training on the latest drugs and procedures is crucial for the success of clinical trials.

Digital Avatars help boost clinical trial recruitment for patients and simplify information access for healthcare professionals. I focused on designing for Healthcare Professionals, as their training on the latest drugs and procedures is crucial for the success of clinical trials.

ANALYZING THE CURRENT SYSTEM

Currently, Pfizer recruits patients through their website by listing open trials, while healthcare professionals face an added workload of managing patient check-ins.

Currently, Pfizer recruits patients through their website by listing open trials, while healthcare professionals face an added workload of managing patient check-ins.

Patients must navigate the entire website and comprehend the information, which can be challenging, especially for those with limited health literacy. This often leads to them abandoning the process.

Patients must navigate the entire website and comprehend the information, which can be challenging, especially for those with limited health literacy. This often leads to them abandoning the process.

Healthcare professionals also need to spend extra time and effort, beyond their training, to guide patients and answer their trial-related questions, adding to their workload and costs.

Healthcare professionals also need to spend extra time and effort, beyond their training, to guide patients and answer their trial-related questions, adding to their workload and costs.

Finding Clinical Trials

Multiple clinical trials can be overwhelming to find and sort through.

  • Understanding the requirements for each trial adds an extra layer of difficulty

  • Users often leave the website because it's not very interactive.

Finding Crutial Information

Patients struggle to find detailed information about clinical trials on the website.

  • The website often lacks all the necessary details, leading to frustration.

  • This causes patients to quit the process, open multiple links, or seek help from a healthcare professional.

Increased HCP Workload

Healthcare professionals must spend additional time and effort guiding patients and answering trial-related questions.

  • This increases their workload and adds to costs.

  • This can also lead to gaps in providing the correct information.

Cost Per Trial: $50 million to over $200 million per trial. Overall, bringing a new drug to market, including all phases of clinical trials, can cost anywhere from $1 billion to $2.6 billion or more.

Cost Per Trial: $50 million to over $200 million per trial. Overall, bringing a new drug to market, including all phases of clinical trials, can cost anywhere from $1 billion to $2.6 billion or more.

Cost Per Trial: $50 million to over $200 million per trial. Overall, bringing a new drug to market, including all phases of clinical trials, can cost anywhere from $1 billion to $2.6 billion or more.

PROBLEM

How might we use digital avatars to seamlessly deliver a natural, human-like experience to patients/HCP, connecting them to clinical trials with precision and compassion?

By doing so, we aim to speed up the recruitment process and significantly enhance the overall patient experience.

PROBLEM

How might we use digital avatars to seamlessly deliver a natural, human-like experience to patients/HCP, connecting them to clinical trials with precision and compassion?

By doing so, we aim to speed up the recruitment process and significantly enhance the overall patient experience.

PROBLEM

How might we use digital avatars to seamlessly deliver a natural, human-like experience to patients/HCP, connecting them to clinical trials with precision and compassion?

By doing so, we aim to speed up the recruitment process and significantly enhance the overall patient experience.

DEFINING PRODUCT GOAL

Drastically reducing workforce effort by healthcare professionals.

Drastically reducing workforce effort by healthcare professionals.

Patients must navigate the entire website and comprehend the information, which can be challenging, especially for those with limited health literacy. This often leads to them abandoning the process.

Patients must navigate the entire website and comprehend the information, which can be challenging, especially for those with limited health literacy. This often leads to them abandoning the process.

SOLUTION

Introducing April, the AI Nurse Navigator who is designed to assist the user in answering all questions related to Pfizer's Breast Cancer Clinical Trials.

April takes on 2 different forms - Text-Based Conversational Bot and a Digital Avatar.

SOLUTION

Introducing April, the AI Nurse Navigator who is designed to assist the user in answering all questions related to Pfizer's Breast Cancer Clinical Trials.

April takes on 2 different forms - Text-Based Conversational Bot and a Digital Avatar.

SOLUTION

Introducing April, the AI Nurse Navigator who is designed to assist the user in answering all questions related to Pfizer's Breast Cancer Clinical Trials.

April takes on 2 different forms - Text-Based Conversational Bot and a Digital Avatar.

PROCESS

To make this project happen, I closely collaborated with the business, legal, technical, and customer experience teams at Pfizer.

  1. Gathered requirements from the business team for the MVP and curated mid-fidelity storyboards using CX team research.

  2. Collaborated with the technical and business teams to refine the project scope and created a sophisticated storyboard on Voiceflow/Figma.

  3. Presented the Prototype to the legal team for review and handed off the finalized dashboard to the tech team for development.

PROCESS

Current safety apps prioritize speed over safety during walking, leaving a pressing need for a solution that effectively addresses and enhances safety concerns.

  1. Gathered requirements from the business team for the MVP and curated mid-fidelity storyboards using CX team research.

  2. Collaborated with the technical and business teams to refine the project scope and created a sophisticated storyboard on Voiceflow/Figma.

  3. Presented the Prototype to the legal team for review and handed off the finalized dashboard to the tech team for development.

PROCESS

To make this project happen, I closely collaborated with the business, legal, technical, and customer experience teams at Pfizer.

  1. Gathered requirements from the business team for the MVP and curated mid-fidelity storyboards using CX team research.

  2. Collaborated with the technical and business teams to refine the project scope and created a sophisticated storyboard on Voiceflow/Figma.

  3. Presented the Prototype to the legal team for review and handed off the finalized dashboard to the tech team for development.

FEATURES (DIGITAL AVATAR)

Hover to play

Hover to play

FEATURES (TEXT-BASED CHATBOT)

The bot is designed to deliver accurate and timely information in a text format, catering to healthcare professionals who prefer quick and efficient access over interacting with a human-like avatar.

The persona of the avatar (April) and the conversation design remain unchanged; the only difference is in how the bot presents information.

FEATURES (TEXT-BASED CHATBOT)

After iterating over the prototype a couple of times I landed on the final high-fidelity prototype

This prototype acts as a proof of concept to demonstrate how navigation systems could empower women through crowdsourcing and ensure safety by minimizing social biases.

FEATURES (TEXT-BASED CHATBOT)

The bot is designed to deliver accurate and timely information in a text format, catering to healthcare professionals who prefer quick and efficient access over interacting with a human-like avatar.

The persona of the avatar (April) and the conversation design remain unchanged; the only difference is in how the bot presents information.

Introduction to the Chatbot

Introduction to the Chatbot

Introduction to the Chatbot

The chatbot's persona (April) introduces herself on a static screen, eliminating the need for users to prompt 'hello' and allowing them to directly ask for information.

The chatbot's persona (April) introduces herself on a static screen, eliminating the need for users to prompt 'hello' and allowing them to directly ask for information.

Customized Prompts

Customized Prompts

Customized Prompts

Custom prompts guide users in interacting with the chatbot, ensuring more accurate answers and reducing typing effort.

Prompt options appear based on the type of questions users ask the bot.

Custom prompts guide users in interacting with the chatbot, ensuring more accurate answers and reducing typing effort.

Prompt options appear based on the type of questions users ask the bot.

Reference Links

Reference links are displayed as thumbnails with brief descriptions, making it easier to navigate

Restart Session

Restart Session

Restart Session

Restarting the session clears all previous information and refreshes the system, preventing users from accessing data from earlier sessions.

Restarting the session clears all previous information and refreshes the system, preventing users from accessing data from earlier sessions.

Reference Links

Reference Links

Reference links are displayed as thumbnails with brief descriptions, making it easier to navigate

ITERATIONS

Testing the chatbot with 10 Nurse Navigators showed that healthcare professionals want a structured display of information and faster access.

We also made numerous iterations to the conversational design, going through around 13 rounds of changes.

ITERATIONS

Testing the chatbot with 10 Nurse Navigators showed that healthcare professionals want a structured display of information and faster access.

We also made numerous iterations to the conversational design, going through around 13 rounds of changes.

ITERATIONS

Testing the chatbot with 10 Nurse Navigators showed that healthcare professionals want a structured display of information and faster access.

We also made numerous iterations to the conversational design, going through around 13 rounds of changes.

REFLECTION

This was my first experience as a sole designer owning the end-to-end product process, and I learned the crucial importance of feedback and cross-functional collaboration.

This was my first experience as a sole designer owning the end-to-end product process, and I learned the crucial importance of feedback and cross-functional collaboration.


  1. Embrace Feedback: More feedback leads to a better end product. Different perspectives can greatly improve the user experience.

  2. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Working with the business and legal teams improved my presentation and storytelling skills.

  3. Importance of Storytelling: Explaining my design approach to various departments enhanced my storytelling abilities in conversational design.

  4. Attention to Detail: Every design decision needed to be backed by quality data, highlighting the importance of detail in creating a successful product.


  1. Embrace Feedback: More feedback leads to a better end product. Different perspectives can greatly improve the user experience.

  2. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Working with the business and legal teams improved my presentation and storytelling skills.

  3. Importance of Storytelling: Explaining my design approach to various departments enhanced my storytelling abilities in conversational design.

  4. Attention to Detail: Every design decision needed to be backed by quality data, highlighting the importance of detail in creating a successful product.