Masters Project – Mobile App Design

An app to help the people who risk their lives to help us

This project was completed as an Interaction Design Fundamentals project on mobile information systems. My team was given a prompt to design a mobile app for EMS personnel and ambulance attendants based on two personas that we were given. As one of the Project Managers of the team, I led work sessions, collected and organized feedback, distributed responsibilities according to team strengths and learning preferences, and documented the design process for our final deliverables. Individually, I developed the chosen app concept, scenarios, and initial wireframes for the design. I also worked with my team to develop the rest of the user experience and visual design of the app.

Project Details

Role: Project Manager and UX Designer
Project Type: Class Project for Interaction Design Fundamentals
Team: Matthew Bolaños, Jim Martin, Ryan Brill, Mu-Hwa Kuo
Platforms: Mobile
Tools: Illustrator
Timeline: 1 month

Improving the Lives of EMS Workers

“[The patient] went absolutely nuts – violent, kicking, swinging, punching, all over us…”

This is a real quote from an EMT responding to what appeared to be an innocuous call. Paramedics have an injury rate at three times the national average for all occupations. In fact, patients accounted for 37 percent of reported injuries to EMTs in the US between 2003 and 2007. We wanted to reduce these figures and help those who have made it their job to help us despite the risk. We created Band Together, a silent alarm app to obtain direct help for EMS workers from their teammates and the police in potentially dangerous situations.

Process

Literature Review

First, we performed a brief literature review focusing on the requirements for the profession, related physical and mental constraints, major pain points, and gaps in current EMS/ambulance solutions.
Ideation

Next, we brainstormed potential app ideas and classified them according to feasibility and usefulness. We narrowed down our ideas until we reached the Band Together concept.

Ideas organized by impact and feasibility
Design

After honing the idea further, we focused on the UX and visual design of the app. In-class critiques spurred the iterative design process of the app from the screens flow to wireframes to the final visual design. Other final deliverables for this project included a narrative for each persona and a design specification document for the app.

Design of app flow

Iterations of the design

Final app design