Cura
Bridging The Gap Between Clinic & At-Home
Wound Care
I collaborated with Advanced Wound Care Center of University Hospitals for MHCI Capstone and designed a system of solutions that enhances the post-surgical wound care experience for skin cancer patients.
ROLE
Product Designer
TEAM
2 UX Researchers, 3 Product Designers, 1 Dermatology Surgeon, 1 Senior Project Scientist​
DURATION
Feb - Aug 2024
WHAT I DID
Exploratory Research
Field Research
Co-Creation Workshop
Metrics Evaluation
Storyboarding
Rapid Prototyping
A/B Testing
Usability Testing
CONTEXT
Stepping into skin cancer patients' journey.
Mohs surgery↗ is essentially a procedure that involves removing the skin cancer tissues layer by layer. After being removed, each layer is sent to an on-site lab to determine if further layers need to be removed. While waiting for the result of each layer, patients typically need to wait for about 30 minutes to an hour.
​
Below is an initial patient journey map that we created to understand the patient's experience and emotions from the discovery stage to healing, and opportunities that may be found along the way.

RESEARCH
Key factors hindering smooth wound care.
As we analyze and synthesize the data we had collected over the course of the semester, we identified the following two major problems that are currently hindering smooth post-op wound care experiences.
01
Inability dealing with the unexpected.
We realized that although patients indicate high confidence level of post-op wound care, they are unprepared when unexpected situations arise at home, such as excessive bleeding, abnormal bruises, etc. This leads to high volume of nurse calls, and in the worst case, ER visits.

How might we ensure patients receive immediate answers and reassurance while reducing the workload for nurses?


02

Lack of personalized material.
We observed that all patients are handed with a 4-page, general instruction sheet on how to take care of their wounds post-op, with limited information tailored to their specific situations, such as wound location, health literacy, special precautions, etc. Therefore, they indicate little likelihood turning to these materials at home.

How can we personalize wound-care materials to increase patient trust and attention?

SYSTEM OF SOLUTIONS
From proactive to reactive, actionable to aspirational.
By leveraging insights found from research, we have come up with a system of solutions that would approach the problem in two different ways: proactive and reactive.
Our proactive goal is to enhance the design of current care materials to encourage patients to engage in active learning before issues arise. On the reactive side, we aim to provide clear support and actionable steps for patients after problems occur, whether that’s offering care guidance through the platform or suggesting they visit the clinic.

See How Our System Of Solutions Work Together ↓
SOLUTION 1
Revamping Care Material To Encourage Active Learning.
We aim to redesign the current instruction sheet, the only care material given to patients, but underutilized due to poor design. Our goal is to transform it into the go-to guide at home, providing clear, actionable guidance that helps patients prepare and avoid confusion before issues arise.
Default Instruction Sheet Redesigned
The default instruction sheet is provided to all patients. The redesigned version is clear, concise, and easy to navigate, featuring condensed and reorganized information and illustrations for better clarity.



Location-Specific Add-On
The location-specific instruction sheet is an additional page tailored to the patient's wound site, supplementing the default 3-page guide.
I led the decision to make the last page feature location-specific precautions, enabling the right level of personalization. This page highlights precautions for specific wound locations, and allows nurses to deliver relevant guidance quickly and effortlessly.

Example Location: Nose
PROBLEM 01
​The current instruction sheet is wordy and difficult to navigate.
STRATEGY 01
Reorganizing Information
We reorganized and grouped information to enhance usability. By structuring the content more logically, users could find the necessary information quicker and easier.

STRATEGY 02
Image-based Visuals
We added illustrations to assist understanding. Processes like dressing change become more intuitive when explained with visuals rather than just words.

STRATEGY 03
Information Hierarchy
We utilized font variations to establish a visual hierarchy and used color to highlight important pieces of information, as well as a grid system to ensure a structured layout.

IMPACT
Improved both on navigability & information digestion.
Tested with 5 patients from University Hospitals & 5 senior center participants

Current

23%
Decrease For Task Completion Time
Redesigned
Example Tasks
What should you do the 2nd day after surgery?
​​
What should you NOT do from the 3rd day of surgery & onward?
Navigability
We aimed to measure "Task Completion Time" to assess if patients find the redesigned instruction sheet easier to navigate, without having to flip back and forth to find the info that they need. To do this, we created questions with answers directly available on the sheet, requiring no rephrasing.

21%
Increase For
Accuracy
Redesigned

Current
Example Tasks
How much vaseline should you apply to your wound when you are changing the dressing?
What’s the purpose of covering the wound with a non-stick gauze?
Information Digestion
We aimed to measure "Accuracy" to evaluate whether the redesigned instruction sheet improved understandability. To do this, we created questions that require some level of thinking and analysis.
REACTIVE
Cura App: An AI-Driven Wound Care Assistant
To address complex post-surgery issues, we developed a mobile app that provides instant access to digital care materials and helps patients confidently navigate unexpected problems through AI and tailored notifications.

Cura, Your AI Call Assistant

Describe Symptoms Verbally
Or Take A Picture For Analysis
Patients can either speak directly with Cura about their wound situation or upload a picture for Cura to analyze and provide next-step instructions.

Provide Context-Specific Answers
The AI follows up with clarifying questions using imagery and multiple-choice options to ensure that the guidance provided is as accurate as possible.

End With Call Summary
After the conversation, the system generates a concise and clear call summary for patients to refer to whenever they encounter similar problems.

First Line Of Triage, ONLY.
If Cura determines the situation is beyond its scope, it will direct the patient to the clinic immediately without further instructions.



AI Notifications
After providing a suggestion, Cura will send follow-up notifications to check the wound status and determine the next steps.



Daily Check-Ins
Tailored notifications, such as dressing change alerts, help patients better adhere to instructions.

How did I design an inclusive AI for a high stake task?

REFLECTION
Growing as a resilient product designer.
01
Challenge the status quo.
Initially, our team hesitated to use AI due to negative test perceptions. Realizing we were missing opportunities, I suggested users' negativity stemmed from unfamiliarity. By making AI interactions more user-friendly, perceptions improved instantly.
02
Live, and then empathize.
The 1-week empathy study truly opened my eyes to empathizing with users. I realized the hidden psychological aspects behind smooth wound care, which is complicated and tend to be missed from secondary research.
03
Metrics are the key.
During each round of user testing round, we brainstormed both qualitative and quantitative metrics from our research questions. I realized that they were key objective references driving the design process forward.
FUN STUFF
Our Team ✶
