Through stakeholder interviews, we got to know that the roles involved in the medical team collaborate with each other, with the three most important roles being the radiation oncologist, medical physicist, and radiation therapist; the nurse and scheduler help at each step. The relation of the roles can be simplified in the following stakeholder diagram:

3 stakeholder groups map

After learning about the steps of cancer treatment and the composition of the medical team through secondary research, we conducted expert interviews with the medical team in order to further understand the daily workflow of our target users.

Collaboration and data transaction during the treatment process

Our client did not agree to develop customized dashboards for each role as the development process was very time-consuming. Therefore, we needed to figure out an information hierarchy that would meet the needs of each role without making the dashboard too complex.

We held a prioritization workshop using the MoSCoW methodology to work with healthcare team members to prioritize patient dashboard functionality and reach consensus on role-specific needs.

Patient data ranking from 3 user groups

Based on the results of the ranking of the 3 user groups, I decided to give a higher priority to the information that 'must have', i.e. priority display and fewer clicks; conversely, a lower priority to the more unnecessary information.

Based on the ranking of the patient data, we got the following information hierarchy, which built the foundation for the prototype layout exploration.

Before we started visual prototyping, we set goals for the final design based on what we found in our research.

I brainstormed a series of dashboard layouts to adequately display patient data and meet user needs.

We tested the brainstormed dashboard layouts with users, allowing them to choose the layout that best suited their life scenarios and the elements they preferred.

We conducted an initial test of the first round of layout exploration with the medical team 3 user groups conducting 5 think-aloudsessions. From the testings, here are users' preferences.

I integrated user-picked favorite elements and considered specific patient information data to come up with a preliminary layout for the dashboard.

When I started to dive into the design and put in specific patient information, the amount of information exceeded the original estimate. I was then faced with the challenge of showing the information all at once would result in information overload, but that would reduce clicks; keeping the interface as simple as possible would increase the number of clicks.

In the designing process, managing and organizing an overwhelming amount of patient data has been a challenge. The complexity of this data often led to confusion in aligning and interpreting information accurately. This issue was not just a technical hurdle but also a user experience bottleneck. Recognizing this challenge, we turned to the most valuable resource available - the users themselves. Engaging directly with medical professionals, we sought their input to understand their workflows, pain points, and the specific types of data most pertinent to their daily tasks. The involvement of users was not just a step in the process; it was the cornerstone of our approach. Their insights and feedback were invaluable in cutting through the complexity of the data and guiding us toward a solution that truly served their needs. This user-centric approach not only resolved our initial challenge but also set a precedent for how we tackle decision-making in all our future projects.