HXD 2019

Identifying Social Determinants of Health with Ethnographic Research + Iterative Design

The Optum User Experience Design Studio (UXDS) partnered with UnitedHealth Care’s Community and State to create a social determinants of health survey as part of an innovative pilot program funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS developed the Accountable Health Communities model, which addresses social needs among Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, in hopes of improving their health outcomes and decreasing their cost of care. Using ethnographic research plus iterative design, UXDS created an effective and engaging survey experience for patients of varying literacy and technology levels. The survey is currently administered to patients at partner clinical delivery sites in the state of Hawaii.
The talk will focus on the ethnographic research we conducted prior to design ideation, leading to iterative design with formative research, to survey launch. I’ll discuss the impact of historical trauma, which posed a significant barrier to trust; language and literacy challenges (more than 16 languages are spoken in Hawaii); and how we focused on inclusive design to create the survey.
We are also in the process of using field studies to support the development of the companion care management tool – I would love to include our experience with designing the Gaps in Care tool, which is currently a work in progress.