TI Connector
The TI Konnektor is an essential device for healthcare providers in Germany to access and utilize various services within the secure digital healthcare network, Telematikinfrastruktur (TI), including the electronic health record (EHR), e-prescription, and secure messaging.
The problem
Our clinic staff were encountering frequent disruptions in workflow due to connectivity problems with the TI connector. Concurrently, the development team faces obstacles in identifying and rectifying these issues due to insufficient system visibility. These interconnected challenges have led to extended system downtime, reduced productivity among clinic staff, and a suboptimal overall user experience.
A critical underlying issue is the absence of a clear information architecture within the system. There is no dedicated space or interface designed to effectively segregate information relevant to end-users (clinic staff) from technical details primarily intended for developers. This lack of distinction creates confusion, hinders troubleshooting efforts, and exacerbates the overall impact of the connectivity problems.
To address this problem effectively, a redesign is necessary to establish a clear and intuitive information hierarchy, ensuring that both user groups can access the information they need efficiently.
The solution
We had to aim to create a design solution that addresses the connectivity issues of the TI connector, improving the user experience for clinic staff and enhancing troubleshooting capabilities for developers. The solution should focus on providing real-time insights into connector status, simplifying issue reporting, and accelerating problem resolution.
User Interface: Develop a user-friendly interface for clinic staff to report and track connectivity issues, providing clear status updates and troubleshooting guidance.
Data Visualization: Create intuitive visualizations to represent connector health, performance metrics, and historical data, enabling developers to identify patterns and root causes of issues.
Alert System: Implement a robust alert system to notify relevant stakeholders of critical connectivity issues and system anomalies.
The process
Project Initiation and Understanding
The project initiated as a long-term endeavor with a pronounced technical focus. Due to the project's complexity and lack of urgency, the responsibility for identifying a suitable design solution rested solely with me.
A comprehensive research phase was undertaken to gain a thorough understanding of the underlying technical requirements. This involved close collaboration with backend developers who possessed relevant experience in similar projects. To ensure alignment with user needs, user research questions were formulated in conjunction with the product manager, and the resulting feedback was integrated into the design process. We launched a discovery process and asked users questions ranging from duration of use of these features and their main problems that were encountered.
Design Exploration and Iteration
With a solid foundation of technical knowledge and user insights, the design exploration phase commenced. This involved generating multiple design concepts, considering various approaches to address the problem at hand. Through iterative design cycles, these concepts were refined based on their feasibility, user-centricity, and alignment with project objectives. I used a simple and clear UI language as the message was very technical for a user that wasn’t inclined to that or had the time to deal with it. I wanted to convey delicate alerts using basic colors to depict connectivity status types of connections and confined them in separate cards with simple CTAs. All only relevant information was present at first sight.
Technical Feasibility and Collaboration
Ongoing communication with the development team was crucial to ensure the viability of design concepts. By maintaining a close working relationship with the backend developers, potential technical challenges were identified and addressed proactively. This collaborative approach facilitated the creation of design solutions that were not only user-centric but also technically feasible. We designated separate pages to differentiate between pages that are useful to be viewed by our users when having a connectivity issue. Each page was dissected and narrowed down to display only the most useful information. It was decided to have 3 main sections: Overview, Diagnostics, Configuration form.
User Testing and Refinement
While the project's technical nature presented unique challenges for traditional user testing methods, opportunities for gathering user feedback were explored. This involved leveraging existing user data, conducting expert reviews, and incorporating user insights from related projects. The design was iteratively refined based on the feedback received, ensuring that the final solution met the needs of the target users.Project Initiation and Understanding
The project initiated as a long-term endeavor with a pronounced technical focus. Due to the project's complexity and the absence of a dedicated design team, the responsibility for identifying a suitable design solution rested solely with the designer.
A comprehensive research phase was undertaken to gain a thorough understanding of the underlying technical requirements. This involved close collaboration with backend developers who possessed relevant experience in similar projects. To ensure alignment with user needs, user research questions were formulated in conjunction with the product manager, and the resulting feedback was integrated into the design process.
My learnings and takeaways
Technical Proficiency: Developed a strong understanding of technical constraints and requirements, enabling effective design solutions.
This project provided an opportunity to develop strong problem-solving and technical design skills. The experience of working independently on a complex project has enhanced my ability to take ownership and drive design solutions. The project also highlighted the importance of effective communication and collaboration with development teams to achieve successful outcomes. The technical aspect of this project was severely out of bounds for me at the start so it took many hours of calls and independent research to understand certain aspects of what we are delivering. This helped me learn new aspects of the product I was working with an entirely new set of problems our users were facing. I personally learned to grow comfortable with topics I’m not familiar with, how to work around my lack of expertise of a subject and how to come up with great solutions anyway. I achieved this by talking to Customer service reps who reported these problems from users in detail, looked and learned content related to the topic online had constant questions listed down that I got cleared fro different experts. I was able to manage the project well and ended up creating deliverables that tackled the initial problem and more well.