Smooth family dental check-in
Checking in to the dental office should be as easy as sliding into the dental chair.
Project
Check-in Kiosk redesign
Role
Researcher, designer and architect
Time
1 month
Objective
Redesign the flow of a patient check-in
Team
Product lead:
Brynjólfur Ólafsson
How might we transform the check-in process from a hassle to a breeze, making smiles brighter even before the appointment?
What needed to be resolved
A team member of this project with former experience as a Business Administrator in a dental office, witnessed firsthand the frustrations that individuals and families often face during the check-in process. This conceptual project aims to redesign that check-in experience, making it smoother and more welcoming for patients, particularly those with large families. We observed patients struggling with various challenges at check-in, from managing multiple forms to something as simple as locating the keyboard for typing, all while ensuring that no details were overlooked.
By combining thoughtful interface design with the simplification of the user journey, we explored innovative solutions to reduce the time on tasks, and enhance the overall satisfaction for patients, their families, and the staff assisting them. Our goal is to transform the start of a dental visit into a smooth, welcoming experience that sets a positive tone for the appointment to follow.
How it was solved
This project introduces three key solutions that collectively transform the check-in experience into a smoother, more welcoming journey:
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Family Check-in Feature: Recognizing the specific need of large families to save time once arriving at the dental office, the project incorporated a feature allowing a single account to check-in, and fill out forms for multiple family members.
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Better Interface Design: We redesigned the interface with emphasis on improved proportions, contrast, simplicity, and rhythm. Ensuring that even patients who are not tech-savvy can navigate through the check-in process effortlessly. Key information and actions are prominently displayed, and the time spent searching for functions like the virtual keyboard eliminated.
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Assistance Request: To further aid in the check-in process, an "Assistance Request" button is accessible on all pages within the app. This ensures that help is readily available, making patients feel supported at every step.
85% of survey participants think there should be a way to check in all family members at the same time and verify all information
The research we conducted for the dental office check-in app involved a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to gather data. By combining these two research approaches, we aimed to gain a more in depth understanding of both patient and staff preferences, and therefore be more equipped to identify areas for improvement needed during the dental check-in process.
Research methods
User interview
The qualitative method we chose for this project was interviewing dental employees in order to explore patients' experiences and perceptions of the check-in process from the view of the dental staff. During that interview light was shed on the frustrations staff also encounter and can therefore cause a layer of misunderstanding and unpleasant interactions.
Key finding from the interviews:
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One of the most common reasons patients ask for assistance to check-in is due to patients not knowing where to find the keyboard.
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Checking in a whole family is very time consuming and repetitive for both patients and dental employees.
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Generally the interface currently being used (Modento) is not user friendly, especially for those that have vision or language barriers or are technologically inexperienced.
Online Survey
We also conducted a quantitative online survey where we asked questions like:
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What features or information would you like to see during the check-in process?
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How much time does it take for you to check-in digitally for your dental appointment?
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What type of information do you find necessary to provide to you at check-in?
The full survey can be found here.
Competitive Audit
The competitive audit included four companies: Denticon (Planet), Dental Intel (Modento), Adit, and Weave. All four companies believe they are offering an effective communication tool, comprehensive practice management platform, and "All-in-one" solution to forms, check-in and other needed information for patients dental appointments.
The opportunities we found on the market are:
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Options for Spanish
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Full family check-in
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Integration with insurances
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More intuitive interfaces
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Treatment enhancements
"Having to help patients find the keyboard at check in takes longer than just getting them checked in ourselves"
-Dental office employee
see more about personas here
The findings of our online survey and in-person interview research revealed beneficial insights for guiding our project's next steps. It was during the interview phase that we delved into Modento's check-in flow (owned by Dental Intel, a cloud-based platform that provides dental organizations with a way to manage patient information and improve office operations). This aspect of our research served as a hands-on competitive audit, highlighting for us areas where Modento could improve accessibility and the user experience. Further below, we have included some photos of Modento's interface.
The insights gained from exploring Modento showed us
that we could address several user pain points. . .
But we kept our focus on these three points:
Kiosk interface
Users expressed frustration with the interface of the current check-in kiosk (Modento).
Hidden menus, small fonts, and most importantly, not figuring out how to activate the keyboard.
check-in for Family members
Patients voiced their annoyance of the time it takes to check-in multiple family members. The repetitiveness was overwhelming.
Helplessness
When patients felt lost or confused while checking in there was not way to alert staff for assistance. This often resulted in patients skipping important paperwork.
We set out to transform the check-in process into a smooth, welcoming experience that sets a positive tone for the dental appointment to follow
Shaping the solutions
When patients walk into the dental office and initiate check-in at the kiosk, we wanted them to experience the process as simple! Instilling in the user confidence, minimizing their time spent on tasks, and ensuring that the check-in process sets a positive tone for the rest of the dental visit, aligning with the app's original goal.
The research provided us with insightful results that guided our next steps. We focused our ideation on improving the interface for better usability and introducing new features, such as the "Assistance" request button and family member check-in.
Being aware of HIPAA laws during the ideation process ensured that our solutions for the dental check-in kiosk complied with regulations regarding patient privacy and data security. By considering HIPAA laws, we were able to design features and processes that safeguarded patient information, such as including steps from the previous user flow, like entering the patient's birthday at check-in to confirm their identity.
Forms could also be filled out only for applicable family members who require identical forms, noting that some information will have to be filled out for each person.
For this dental check-in app, two primary colors were chosen:
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Primary Color (#3789CD): This mid-tone blue, which was close to the color used by Modento, was retained with a slight update to refresh the overall look. This approach ensured that the design remained familiar and user-friendly while also giving it a modern touch. It conveys a sense of trust, security, and professionalism. These qualities are paramount in the dental field, as patients seek a reliable and experienced healthcare provider.
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Accent Color (#BC732F): A warm orange is used as an accent color. This brightens the overall palette and injects a touch of warmth and friendliness. This can help alleviate any anxiety patients might feel about visiting the dentist.
By combining these colors, the app creates a welcoming and trustworthy environment that puts patients at ease.
The selection of the typeface, Open Sans, is equally intentional:
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Open Sans is a clean, sans-serif font known for its excellent legibility across various screen sizes. This is crucial for ensuring users of all ages and abilities can easily navigate the app and access the information they need.
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The font's neutral and slightly rounded characters contribute to the app's overall user-friendly and approachable aesthetic. This can help reduce patient stress and make the check-in process feel more comfortable.
Open Sans effectively balances clarity and approachability, making it a perfect choice for this dental check-in app.
The usability study was conducted using high-fidelity prototypes. Participants navigated through the interface easily and provided valuable insights into real-life interactions with the kiosk. The main findings for improvement of the kiosk were:
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Fonts were too small and light in certain areas of the app.
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The text field to type the name for check-in didn't cue the user that the keyboard was active.
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It is too easy to skip the family check-in page without actually selecting "yes" or "no" for all family members who have arrived.
In light of the findings of the usability study, the primary focus was to improve the affordances of the keyboard at check-in, prompt family check-in, and polish the overall UI of the interface.
Just start typing!
Yes or No,
are you here?
Is this small enough?
Despite pointing out the app's flaws, participants were overall impressed and positive about the new kiosk's appearance. They liked the new option of family check-in and also appreciated the way forms cue the patient about what is needed and what has been completed. Participants also expressed a positive response to the "Assistance" request button, noting that it made patients feel more supported during the check-in process.
Usability Study
Polishing the imperfections
"If only the app could make the patient select which family members are present for their appointment and which are not. This way, the staff can more accurately know who is here for their appointment."
- Dental staff from user study
Overall the participants in the usability study appreciated the simplicity and clarity of the new interface but also suggested minor adjustments to improve intuitiveness further. Our next steps in brushing up the app involved addressing the main concerns identified in the usability study.
In order to improve readability and hierarchy, we adjusted fonts to be more legible and ensured that important information stood out. Clear affordances for the keyboard where implemented by adding visual cues to indicate that the keyboard is active. Additionally, we will prompted check-in for all family members by refining the family check-in page to ensure that users cannot proceed without selecting "yes" or "no" for each family member. These enhancements aimed to enhance the user experience and make the check-in process more seamless for patients and staff alike.
Clear promptings for family check-in
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Users voiced the need for a clear "yes" or "no" option for family check-in.
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Confirm button only appears after all family members have been marked either "yes" or "no" to avoid skipping this step.
Improved keyboard
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"Start typing" and blinking line to clearly indicate that typing can start immediately.
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Larger buttons throughout with more contrast.
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Confirm button added to more pages to eliminate aciental confirmations.
Better legibility
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Main font color was made darker for more contrast and easier readability.
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All buttons made larger.
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Converted interactive text into buttons for easier usability and flow.
Redesigned important hierarchy
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Avatars larger to indicate for whom each form is being filled out.
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"Assistance" button instead of hyperlink type text accessible on all pages.
End results
We believe the end results of this redesign project demonstrates a significant improvement in the usability and effectiveness of the dental check-in kiosk. By implementing the findings from user research and the usability study, the app's interface was refined to be more intuitive and aesthetically pleasing.
Primarily, we delivered on the initial goals we set out to address: the family check-in feature, improved UI, keyboard affordances, and the "Assistance" button on each page. These additions enhanced communication between patients and staff, saves time on tasks, and leads to improved overall pre-appointment satisfaction. Underscoring the value of a design process that creates solutions meeting the needs of both patients and staff.
Making each patient feel like the check-in process is smooth and welcoming was the goal we set out with at the start of this project. Although a great kiosk will never replace the smile and warm welcome of a dental employee, the app has come as close as it can without actually being replaced by a person.
The prototype can be found here.
The future of Dental Office Check-in
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Enhanced treatment
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Automatically pulling up patients insurance coverage
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Option for Spanish
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Assistance chat
Where to go from here?
In the next phase of development, we are focused on enhancing the app's capabilities to further improve the patient experience.
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We plan to continue the development of enhanced treatment options, currently in the design phase. This includes allowing patients to choose treatment upgrades before their appointment, such as fluoride, whitening toothpaste, and Nitrous, while also showing them the price of such treatment beforehand.
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Implement functionality to pull up insurance coverage directly from the patient's insurance website. This would give patients an overview of what is covered for their appointment that day, providing a foundation for potential discussions about needed treatment and associated costs.
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Develop a Spanish version of the app to cater to Spanish-speaking patients.
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Introduce an assistance chat feature to provide real-time support to patients.
These upcoming features demonstrate our commitment to continuous improvement to the dental check-in process.
