CovCheck

Problem

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in December 2019, international travel has become very difficult. Multiple changes in national entry policies, flight restrictions, lengthy quarantines, and various COVID-19 testing requirements have frustrated international travelers.

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However, international travel is a rigid demand for international students, employees of international companies, and foreign workers. Moreover, this need is becoming more urgent as time goes on.

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HMW provide advice to international travelers efficiently and improve their experience?

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Solution

I designed CovCheck, a mobile application that empowers users by providing personalized travel information and testing appointments based on their vaccination status and travel plans. It also enables users to quickly understand the current status of the pandemic at their destination. It alerts them if they are at risk for COVID-19 exposure.

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My approach

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What's The Problem? - Confusing Information

When people want to take an international trip, they need to search for travel restrictions and quarantine policies in the destination country. What does the website look like?

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Below are screenshots of the UK government website. The information shown is for users who have been fully vaccinated, which is very tedious and hard to read. If you have not been vaccinated, you will need to browse more pages like this one to find information that fits your situation.

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Each country has its rating of the severity of outbreaks worldwide and has its requirements for vaccines, testing requirements, testing facilities, etc.

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Interviews & Personas

I decided to conduct user interviews before diving into the solution. I interviewed 8 participants, including five international students and three working professionals. All of them had international travel experience in the past year.

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These are two main types of users that have different concerns. One must arrive or return to a country within a certain period, and the other has a more flexible time frame. To better guide the design and empathize with users, I further synthesized the interview results and came up with the following personas:

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User Journey Map

Time management is crucial during travel, especially for international travel. While enjoying the beach and sun, the user may have to search for a government-approved testing lab to make an appointment for a COVID test, as customs may not accept home test kits. During dinner, the user may need to check their email to see if the test results have been sent and call the hotel front desk to ask if they can print the results for them.

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So I created a user journey map that allows me to view the entire customer experience as a path or journey, starting from searching and ending when users arrive at their destination. It allows everyone to empathize with the customer beyond the specific task they face.

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Competitive Analysis

Competitive research allows me to determine what current solutions look like and where they fall short. This information is critical to staying relevant and ensuring that my product exceeds industry standards and helps me identify areas of opportunity.

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To summarize, I identified 3 main problems with the existing product: poor readability, limited flexibility, and no customization. In addition, none of them can provide advice based on the user's situation. The user has to browse through much information that is not relevant to him/her.‍‍

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After considering the gains of background research and competitive applications, I came up with three design criteria. My new systems should have:

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I quickly drew up a framework diagram of these primary functions and asked friends around me for their suggestions.

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Low-fi Prototype

I gathered valuable information, including the details about the booking COVID-19 test, profile information, etc. I made a low-fidelity prototype based on the current model.

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Brand Identity & Design System

I set up a brand identity system and design system to make the products visually consistent.

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In discussions with users regarding the color, I found that they preferred colors like blue and green that made people feel calm and peaceful. While red and orange often represent warnings, they can be nerve-wracking for users to see and suspect something is wrong with their trip.

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Iteration

After making the high-fidelity prototype, I invited four users to test it. They had many suggestions for the personal information page. The QR code to display personal information could be colored to represent the status. They also expressed their need for privacy since they did not want to display the vaccine status directly.

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Final Design

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Prototype Thinking

Until we get to that point, we can never be sure if the direction is right, so we have to keep trying and iterating along the way. Use paper and low-fidelity prototypes to simulate real-world usage scenarios.

We can find target users to test, and focus on every detail in the page during testing, so we can learn in advance what potential risks our solution might have and avoid them.

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Design Codes and Standards

At the beginning of the design, it is necessary to establish the complete design codes and system, which is an essential part of the practical work. Establishing a standardized design system can facilitate the later development of programmers and can enable UI designers to unify the overall visual style.

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