Previous research conducted by the Student Health Center (SHC) revealed a need to improve the SHC's gender-affirming medical care. To address this, a workgroup was created to co-design innovations that would support trans and non-binary students seeking gender-affirming care. The workgroup consisted of NYU students, SHC staff, and NYU LGBTQ+ Center Staff.
The workgroup started by conducting a survey to gather actionable insights about student experiences and perceptions related to gender-affirming care at the SHC.
The survey results highlighted a key issue: many students were unaware of the service available at the health center and struggled to understand the appointment process. (More than one survey respondent stated that they were learning about available services for the first time because of the survey itself)
Beyond the survey data, another consideration in choosing a project direction was the workgroup's timeline. Ultimately, the workgroup decided to focus on improving the NYU webpage providing information on gender-affirming services and appointments. Our goal was to make the process of seeking care more accessible and understandable for students.
As the member of the team with experience in user research, I trained workgroup participants on design thinking, interviewing skills, and user research tactics.
When it was time for usability testing of the existing webpage, I wrote facilitation scripts for participants to run the tests. We gave users two tasks: to "make an appointment" at the SHC for gender-affirming care and determine what services would be available to them.
After the first round of testing, we made edits to the page to streamline information and provide clearer information. When we conducted a second round of testing, many of the challenges users encountered were gone.
The workgroup had an end date of December 2023, so the second round of usability testing was the last activity that fell within the scope of the project. However, the SHC can still use the data to make further improvements.
If we were to look at the experience of accessing care through a user journey map, this project was most focused on user awareness and exploration of the process. It would be interesting to conduct further research that captures the next steps and the pain points that might be present.