Background
Xyla is a service provider of NHS Health programmes, including Adult Weight Management (AWM), National Diabetes Prevention Programme (NDPP) and Low Calorie Diet (LCD).
The Wellbeing Way app forms part of this service, offering support to users in making sustainable lifestyle changes.
The app is available for free, for both iOS and Android devices, including tablets.
Towards the end of 2020, the NHS were dissatisfied with uptake, retention, outcome and completion. Service User (known as SU) satisfaction was also low and contracts with the NHS were at risk.
Reviews for the app were at an all time low, with both Google Play and the App Store showing average ratings of 1.7 stars out of 5.
Both the service offering and WW app were tasked with making swift improvements.
Understanding the problem
We held a kick off workshop to align with the team, educating them on design thinking.
During this and subsequent workshops, we were able to extract business knowledge and better understand the problem. We were also able to review previous user research data and insights.
Due to tight deadlines set by the contract, improvements to KPIs needed to be delivered before the end of Q3 2021. Initial discovery was broad in order to understand the full scope of the problems across the service offering and app.
We found that:
- We initially split the business requirements using the MOSCOW method (Must have, could have, should have, could have), including capturing data points for onboarding.
- An understanding of user drop off at 3 key stages (before and after account creation, and after onboarding), but not clear why.
- Previous research/data suggests users are unclear about why they are registering and what they have to do once they’re in the app.
UX research and competitor analysis
The UX team conducted a walkthrough of key user journeys in the app (onboarding, adding readings, etc.) and documented flows. We reviewed the experiences using design principles to identify reason why user drop out and any other UX/UI issues.
Research conducted 6 moderated sessions with app users to uncover usability issues relating to Onboarding and Dashboard. We wanted to understand why users were dropping out at various points, and to gain an understanding of user language and comprehension in the current platform.
Key findings:
- Users felt onboarding questions were not friendly or approachable.
- Users stated there was too much to complete at once.
- Users were confused about the screen surrounding their BMI. They did not feel the information presented was easy to understand.
- Users found it complicated to switch between weight measurements, such as metric to imperial.
Audit of current product
We then conducted an audit of the whole onboarding journey, including:
- GP referral
- Email communication
- Registration
- Medical information
We placed all this information on Miro, where the team could collabarate together add notes from all sides of UX – user experience, design, content, functionality etc.
We also highlighted in red post-it notes where users could hit a dead end and not be able to proceed with their task.
Information architecture and tree testing
The UX research team then began the process of tree testing, in order to validate the proposed app IA and identify any issues. 9 users were asked to complete 8 tasks, using Optimal Workshop to conduct remote unmoderated testing.
One of the issues was the lack of uptake in users. This meant that we had to keep in mind that normal pass/fail analysis may be skewed.
Wireframes and user testing
We began to design initial wireframes, based on all the findings that we gathered in past sessions.
The wireframe process included multiple check-in sessions with stakeholders to gather their feedback.
We also began discussions with the central design team, on how they envision the branding to look and how we could implement the branding into the designs.
We then conducted remote unmoderated usability testing of the onboarding process wireframes, alongside the redesigned app pages. This helped us validate the new journey, alongside all of the new screens created for when in the app. It also provided key insights into any pain points.
High Fidelity and user testing
Based on the recommendations from the research, we created high fidelity designs for onboarding and dashboard, in order to resolve pain points and expand designs/flows for key journeys in the app.
Working alongside the central design team, we began to build out a library of components and illustrations, that would help bring the app to life.
Once the final designs were completed, they were presenting to key stakeholders and developers to get sign off and begin the handover process.
It was decided that due to the complexity of the app, there would be two phases, with the first being onboarding, followed by the dashboard. We worked closely with product, BAs and developers to ensure the build went as smooth as possible.
I also created interactive prototypes for usability testing. The research team conducted unmoderated usability testing with 4 users, with a focus on the key journeys within the app. We excluded onboarding from the testing, as we already had positive findings from the previous round.
Handover and UAT
Once designs were almost created, we began the handover process to our developers. The development team were part of a agency we worked with, so it took some time for them to understand the product.
I attended sprint planning sessions, along with daily standups to provide support to the development team where needed. This included answering questions, showing how I expect things to function and providing feedback to the staging app.
Release
One of the business goals for the app included improving app ratings on both the App Store and Google play. The aim was to have a consistent score of at least 4 out of 5. In April 2022, the scores were:
App Store (iOS): 3.4 / 5.0
Google Play (Android) 2.2 / 5.0
After the updates, in May 2023 we officially hit 4 stars for both platforms. There have been consistant increases in the ratings since, allowing the app to become one of the best rated wellness programmes on both app stores.
The app has also been praised from the NHS, where it has become their highest recomended app for losing weight.
Lessons learnt
- Research is important! We originally aimed to release the app on both phone and desktop. However, the initial research showed no interest with a desktop app, saving the company thousands of pounds and time back.
- A key success to the product was collaberation. Eevryone in the team worked together to ensure we built the best product for our users.
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