Designs for Health

eCommerce · Research/UX/UI

DfH is an e-commerce platform for customers and patients to order dietary supplements tracked by their health care practitioners.

Client

Designs for Health

Timeline

8-10 months

Service

Market Research · UX Strategy · UX/UI Design · Art Direction · Prototyping

Objective

01 · ABOUT

Designs for Health, a family-owned professional brand, offers high-quality dietary supplements and medical foods exclusively to healthcare professionals and their patients. Guided by its founding philosophy of “Science First,” the company is committed to research-driven, synergistic formulations with meaningful quantities of therapeutic ingredients, maximizing the potential for successful treatment outcomes.

02 · Approach

I interviewed consumers to discover their pain points when purchasing dietary supplements online or at a brick-and-mortar store. I analyzed the interview results through surveys, creating user persona, and developing user journeys. The research and analysis helped me gain insight into the pain points that the users are experiencing and construct a better solution to their problems. After multiple iterations, I created a dashboard and order system aimed at helping patients stay connected with their healthcare practitioners.

03 · Design Challenge

Patients and consumers involved in health & wellness want to track their dietary supplement intake and get notifications when they are at risk of taking counteractive drugs. In addition, they consume medicines and nutritional supplements daily. They want to keep track of the amount they take to ensure they get enough nutrients and don’t exceed the recommended dosage.

Moreover, patients and consumers forget to take their medicines and supplements routinely, and the results are ineffective.

Research & Analysis

The United States is a leader of health supplement use around the world taking 31% of a $128 billion global market industry followed by China at 16%. Source

Overall health and wellness is the reason for taking dietary supplements most consumers stated in a survey.

Percentage of U.S. adults taking dietary supplements in each age group: Source

18-34

69%

35-54

78%

55+

79%

Survey Findings

User Research

I initially understood the target user’s motivations, goals, and barriers through secondary research, direct email marketing, and surveys using SurveyMonkey, a SaaS platform.

1.) What is your gender?

Male

43%

Female

57%

2.) What is your age?

18-34

11%

35-54

43%

55+

46%

3.) Do you now need or take medicine prescribed by a doctor? Do not include birth control.

Yes, I do.

78%

No, I don’t.

22%

4.) Do you take dietary supplements?

Yes, I do.

64%

No, I don’t.

36%

5.) What is your purpose in the use of dietary supplements?

To feel better

41%

Improve energy levels

36%

Boost immune system

23%

6.) What is most important to you when choosing dietary supplements?

A reputable source

53%

Third-party tested

12%

Supported by science

35%

7.) Do you currently have health insurance, or not?

Yes, I do.

64%

No, I don’t.

22%

8.) In a typical week, how many days do you exercise?

Findings

Survey respondents broadly reflected the demographics of target users. Nearly 80% percent of them are taking prescription medications, coinciding with dietary supplements, and who are my target users. Furthermore, the respondents have almost the same ratio for men and women, relatively evenly spread out to different regions in the United States, who belong to different age groups.

The critical findings that will impact the design include:
1. The majority of respondents would benefit from having a monitoring system.
2. HCP’s can be reputable sources for users.
3. Overall, users tend to favor a healthy lifestyle.

Therefore, targeting HCPs and their patients as our primary focus makes sense, and designing a mobile app and dashboard platform with features encouraging healthy communication makes sense.
The critical findings that will impact the design include:
The majority of respondents would benefit from having a monitoring system.
HCP’s can be reputable sources for users.
Overall, users tend to favor a healthy lifestyle.

Therefore, targeting HCPs and their patients as our primary focus makes sense, and designing a mobile app and dashboard platform with features encouraging healthy communication makes sense.