Benchmarking — DrVaccin

During the development of App Dr.Vaccin I felt the need to research the market of available vaccine registration apps. Therefore, I selected some of these applications for a more detailed analysis, looking for inspiration and eventual problems to be avoided in the development of the Dr.Vaccin solution.

Below are some highlights of this study. At the time, I emphasize that the purpose of this article is not to present a detailed analysis of the selected applications, but rather to list some notes from this analysis:

Minhas Vacinas App (Brazilian Society of Immunizations — SBIm):

Among the apps tested, the Minhas Vacinas app drew attention for the simplified way of organizing the vaccine calendar (screen A).

Other positive points were:

• the insertion of more in-depth information about the vaccine and disease to be prevented (screen B)
• the possibility of generating a pdf document either for printing or sharing the vaccination card (screen C)
• the existence of an important warning to be observed by the user in the case of a particular vaccine being emphasized (screen D)
• the possibility to create reminders

Furthermore, it is possible, in the same profile account, to create other monitoring profiles, which allows parents to create profiles for their children in their own accounts.

On the other hand, some situations were observed in a not so positive way:

• the buttons “SBIm Family” and “Portal SBIm” are actually links that take the user out of the application (screen 1)
• the share button appears on several screens indistinctly even without an account being created (screen 2)
• in the lower menu, the identification and color change of the icon that indicates the current screen is very subtle.
• when filling the first line of the form, it is noticed that the keyboard is covering the rest of the form without presenting the button responsible for minimizing the keyboard and returning to the form (screen 3)
• the use of date carousels makes those born on distant dates go through a long list until they find the desired option (screen 4)
• the dropdown menu for changing the user is active even if there is only one registered user and when clicked it shows the status of screen 5

Also:

• the indication that the dose of the vaccine has been taken may go unnoticed by the user (image 6, screen in different states)
• the interface in the passbook section for dose recording may cause user confusion (screen 7)
• the button alignments in the calendar section need adjustment (screen 8)

VacineMe App:

The VacineMe app brought some inconveniences when registering:

• insisted on asking for a cell phone number (screens 1 and 2), and such information is not essential for the app to work
• allowed the registration of a profile without inserting the date of birth, this is essential information for the correct functioning of the vaccination card and only warned of the essentiality after creating the profile, requiring the user to return to the profile for insertion (screen 3)
• more than one alert message in sequence making the user experience frustrating, such information could be informed when creating the profile and onboarding (screen 3 and 4)

Among the negative points observed in the use of the vaccination card, I highlight some below:

• of all tested applications, VacineMe was the one that used fonts with the smallest size, impairing readability (screen 1)
• the information about the vaccine is well summarized.
• when clicking on the “dose date” button (screen 3), the keyboard covers the form field, so that the user cannot read what is being typed (screen 4)

As a positive point, I highlight the possibility for the user to take a picture of their vaccination card so that an employee of the VacineMe app can register.

Dr. Luke App:

The dr. Luke served as a source of inspiration for Dr.Vaccin’s project due to the playful way in which the project was created. Some of the reasons that led me to choose the challenge of vaccination at the beginning of this journey was the possibility of developing something that could be inspired by cartoons and children’s illustrations. The name dr. Vaccin had already been chosen even before knowing the dr app. Luke, once the initial idea was that the solution could somehow captivate the child and break the fear of vaccination through the creation of a character. I would also like to highlight that, in addition to an application, the product also has a website where you can access a blog among other features.
The dr. Luke presented some design choices that caught the eye:

• the ease of account creation
• ux writing — the language used and the way to present information in an informal and easy-to-read way, without losing important information
• the way of organization and distribution of vaccines by age group, as well as the use of illustrations along the portfolio such as the shield figure, referring to protection
• the availability of more detailed information about the vaccine, such as adverse reactions, contraindications, among others
• the addition of a specific area about the child’s development and the possibility of registering all the monitoring of the child’s growth and acquisition of skills, as well as tips on how parents can help in this process

But there were also several points that did not please, below I quote some examples:

• at the time of analysis it was only available for IOS system
• colors used: the contrast at times is not favorable to the accessibility of users as more severe vision problems
• when making an error in the registration of the password, the alert for correction remained active even with the proper correction during the following registration steps (screens 1 and 2)
• the features of vaccine registration and the clinic visited did not work during the test period, which impaired the analysis in this particular item (screens 3 and 4)
• blank notification screen or “empty state”, a lost opportunity to interact with the user through creative ux writing (screen 5)

Conecta SUS App (main application for accessing public health services in Brazil)

When tested, the Conecta SUS application presented some problems.

• onboarding difficult to read with an apparent mistake in the app’s responsiveness to mobile access: images and texts at the time of access were disproportionate to the screen size, making it impossible to read the information completely, even without adequate contrast between the background and colors text.

• although it is an application linked to the Ministry of Health at the time of access, the encouragement or reinforcement of the importance of vaccination was limited to the Covid-19 virus (screen A and screen B)
• Limited functionalities: the vaccination card was limited to vaccination against covid-19 at the time of access and there were several functions still under construction (screen B and screen C)
• when accessing the vaccine calendar, I verified that the information about the vaccines is well summarized, informing only the disease they prevent and the amount of doses (screen D)

In the interface we can also observe the following:

• on the vaccine calendar screen (screen D) the carousel uses only a subtle shadow to indicate the option chosen by the user, not using other distinction possibilities such as the size difference
• the login screen takes the user to the website of the executive government, without explaining that the login and password to enter the app are the same, leaving only a hint.
• blank space on the unused screen (screen 4)
• uniformity: the blue background used in screen 4 was not used in other screens of similar hierarchy (comparison between screen 4 — “more” menu, screen 3 — “home” menu, screen 6 — “history” menu)
• when entering the app and observing the lower menu, it is noticed that there is no change in the “home” icon, which would indicate which screen the user is on, this change in the icons only occurs when pressed (screen 3)
• some icons used were filled with a color tone that makes it difficult for people with low vision to identify the traits and meaning (screen 5), in addition to this, there is a misalignment of the buttons in this section

However, I noticed several positive points, the most prominent being:

• It has a FAQ or FAQ section, which was not observed in other applications
• There are several features that could not be tested but that represent an important technological advance in terms of providing public health services when they are implemented. As an example, mention is made of the possibility of scheduling appointments, accessing test results, medications, searching for a hospital or health post close to the user, among others.

Conclusion

After testing the apps above, it was possible not only to find inspiration for new ideas, but also to understand even more the importance of thinking about design in a way focused on the user’s needs.

Some important theoretical points to keep in mind that personally caught my attention after the conclusion of this study: a) Prägnanz’s Law simplicity avoids information overload; b) Aesthetics and minimalist design (Nielsen heuristic number 8), focus on the essentials in relation to the interface; c) Consistency and patterns in the developed design (Nielsen heuristic number 4); d) importance of the responsive design or responsive enabling design pattern, in order to avoid user frustration and to prevent errors.

Finally, it is good to remember that DrVaccin is an app linked to a public service, so it was clear at the end of this research the importance of making design choices that keep accessibility and digital inclusion in mind.

For the complete case study of Dr.Vaccin App click here

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