Thinks works UX RESEARCH - Case study
UX research & brand strategy
Project Description
A scientist came to Vanessa Rusu Digital Studio needing a brand for a project that will likely change the future of scoliosis for patients worldwide. They had already completed the testing phase in labs and with some select candidates, and now needed funding to continue production, advertising, and selling of the product. The brand had to be marketable to investors and funders, as well as being appealing to doctors, patients, and their parents in the long run.
Role
UX Designer
Length of project
1 week
Collaborators
Completed this project while working for
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Market research & competition
What’s out there for patients now?
Are there any brands currently trying to improve the experience?
How is the competition marketing their products?
Not much has changed in the world of scoliosis bracing since the “Boston Brace” was invented in 1972. Other braces commonly used before have since been decomissioned due to comfort or other reasons, so there isn’t actually any competition in the market at all.
Contextual Interview
Due to the nature of this project, I didn’t have access to any real candidates, so I improvised on patient interviews by analyzing YouTube vlogs from teens with scoliosis, and browsing scoliosis reddit forums. From this, I learned how teens interact with scoliosis bracing brands, and some of the main pain points in their experience.
This research later allowed me to make better predictions on what this section of the target audience is looking for when it comes to marketing and advertising.
Quotes from these videos
“This UGLY back brace..”
“Took me awhile to figure out how to put
it on”
“Played a big role in my anxiety. People think I’m disabled but I’m not.”
“Feeling alone, singled out.”
“I can’t relax while wearing it.”
“It looks like an old-fashioned corset in the worst way possible”
Key INsights & Pain points
Focusing on each target group individually and then all together, I narrowed down on a few commonalities that users who interact with these scoliosis brands face today.
1. The braces are simply not fun.
From selling the idea to patients and parents, to fitting them, and then wearing them, nobody enjoys the process.
2. Branding is not personable.
All the information online that your average user would need to access is in either cryptic, or in very boring medical language.
3. Lack of options for scoliosis treatment.
Patients can either wear the Boston brace or undergo surgery when they reach adulthood. Due to this, there is simply no competition in the market.
The biggest opportunity
A friendly, easy to understand brand.
- Using more icons, white space, and clean design
This appeals to the ease-of understanding for funders, marketability for the doctors, and for the kids and parents – there isn’t an overwhelming amount of text to read through.
- Tying in “fun” so kids and teens can feel included in their own diagnosis.
A large part of the success in these braces lies in kids understanding how and when to wear them. By including drawings, animations, illustrations, or other visual elements in the brand, kids could feel like they are part of the process rather than having decisions being made over their head.
An example of a medical animation
This simple approach would help understanding of more complex topics or explanations, while appealing to patients, parents and doctors.
An example of a “relatable” vlog
Currently, one of the biggest shortcomings of scoliosis bracing is kids refusing to wear their braces because they feel shame about it. This vlog is cute, angsty and relatable for other kids. More similar vlogs would help de-stigmatize scoliosis bracing and help a bracing product succeed in the long run.
Impact
While this project has not yet been released on the market, the potential impact of a great brand in this case is pretty massive. There is so much room for a better experience for scoliosis patients, and I am excited to have been a small part of a big change for the better.
Final Website
Biggest Challenge
There is a lot of information out there about scoliosis, and not all of it was directly (or whatsoever) related to the information I was seeking. It would have been pretty easy to fall into the rabbit hole of researching how scoliosis happens, cures, etc… In this project, I was only interested in information related to how scoliosis braces are marketed to their audience, how the users feel while searching for them, and their experience wearing them.
Final Website
Solution
The structure of my research document was critical. I began by laying out the key problems and questions, and then whichever direction my research led me, I could slot the information into the relevant section. This also helped speed up the process of providing the results of my research to the client, and the results of all my findings could be quickly summarized at the end.
Other takeaways
This research task was very open ended, and I was left much to my own devices to create a structure for my research. As such, I had to decide not only what to research but how best to present that information in a helpful way. The initial setup was new to me, and I spent some time looking to other UX research projects to understand direction, and other processes or questions that may be useful. I’m proud of what I came up with and know it will be helpful in many other projects going forward.
Thanks for reading!
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