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Design Process

Problem

In this project, we tackled the underrepresentation of racial and ethnic communities in Clinical Trials (CTs). Ensuring equity is crucial, as an imbalance can result in no efficacy of drugs against specific communities.

Client

Cedars-Sinai

Duration

14 weeks

Sep. - Dec. 2022

Contribution

Me: UI/UX, Web Design, Video Production

Cindy: Posters, Flyers, Pins

Lillian: Information booth, Logo

Empower Healthcare Providers to Communicate about Clinical Trials to Diverse Patients

Home Page (Gateways)

Home page function as a gateway to main pages of this website, which are "ClinIcal Trials News" and "Community Guide".

Clinical Trials News Page

This page highlights disparities in clinical trials and why diversity matters in clinical trials.

Community Guide Page

"Community Guide page" highlights the most common concerns or barriers in specific communities. This helps healthcare providers build better relationships with their diverse patients.

Sitemap

Initial Research (Targeting Diverse Patients)

To get started, we had interviews with stakeholders and learned the disparity in clinical trials. We were told to research how we could design culturally appropriate messages(campaigns) towards underrepresented communities, so we did campaign audits to learn how we could approach.

This project was my first time working closely with a client, which truly challenged me as clinical trials are such a broad topic and there were a lot of uncertainties. Unlike other projects, I learned many insights from the research teams at Cedars-Sinai and UCI, and from the healthcare providers. So, more or less there were some biases, which I couldn’t realize at first.

They all were thinking how design could influence patients in underrepresented communities. However, by analyzing and understanding current situations using '5 Whys' method, I could identify that changing doctors' behavior would make a significant impact. This insight led me to believe that if we could increase healthcare providers' awareness of diversity in clinical trials, then it would increase patients’ awareness too, which received great feedback from Cedars-Sinai.

I was so glad to work on this such an important problem and contribute to it. Collaborating with a diverse team of designers and professionals from Cedars-Sinai, I gained valuable insights into the unique approaches individuals take when faced with the same problem. This experience reminded me of the importance of UX designers serving as user advocates and facilitating conversations.

Reflection

Community Outreach and Engagement Team at Cedars-Sinai
Dr. Ghecemy Lopez at Cedars-Sinai
Linda Pura, a registered nurse, cancer survivor and representative for L.A. chapter of Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure
Cevadne Lee & Roselyn Balayut Tanghal at UCI Comprehensive Cancer Center
Koryo Health Foundation Clinic (Site Visit)
ArtCenter College of Design's DesignMatters Program
Amazing Instructors, Monica Schlaug, Nidhi, and Vaishnavi Prabhakaran(TA)
My teammates: Cindy Chu, Lillian Yian Lin

Special Thanks

1. Lack of awareness among patients

Patients have never heard of clinical trials.
"Nobody’s ever mentioned clinical trials to me."
Patients have to be assertive and proactive to know about clinical trials.

2. Current situation

77% of past participants learned about clinical trial opportunities through primary healthcare providers.
Primary providers don't inform their diverse patients about clinical trials.

How Might We

utilize primary providers to inform diverse patients about clinical trials to increase awareness and diversity in participation?

1. Lack of awareness among providers

Primary providers themselves are not aware of the issue of diversity challenges in clinical trials.

2. Hesitation due to patient mistrust

Aware of historical abuses that lead to patients’ mistrust of clinical trials, primary providers are uncertain about how to approach discussions with diverse groups.

After review sessions with the stakeholders, we learned that it's really important for healthcare providers to understand cultural needs and barriers when it comes to seeing patients from underrepresented communities as they help to build relationship and trust with their patients.

Persona - Eric (Oncologist)

What's Stopping Primary Providers?

" I'm not comfortable explaining clinical trials to diverse patients. "

Goal:

To feel comfortable working with diverse patients
To feel confident mentioning / explaining clinical trials to diverse patients

Since he is busy, he can’t keep himself updated with all the Clinical Trials information. And he’s not familiar with cultural differences and needs in diverse communities.

Design Goal

Design a web platform where healthcare providers learn about the importance of diversity in clinical trials and underrepresented communities.

Design Iteration - I

Testing the wireframes with healthcare providers through surveys, I uncovered the insight that they had a hard time understanding what this website was all about. So, I made these changes:

Added a clear hero section which explains this platform.
Changed the labels in the navigation of the 2 main pages to better communicate the ideas of them.