Vaccine Allocation and Ordering System
The Overview
VAOS is a specialized state application designed for vaccine clinics to access vaccines through federal funded programs. Users are able to record vaccine use and place new orders. This system aims improve vaccine utilization across the state of Texas.
Company
Texas Department of
State Health Services
Duration
5 months
Team
7 Teams
45 Stakeholders
Role
Product Manager
Product Designer
The Problem
From the first week as the product manager, it was clear we had issues translating expectations to development. We gained technical debt and only released 1/2 of the sprint’s efforts. This is equal to $125,000 of loss every 2 weeks. Creating more technical debt and general confusion. From an initial contextual inquiry, many of the customers found the product to be stagnant.
The Goal
Identify ways to improve the reporting and ordering tool, create good habits for capturing more data from primary users, and rebuild cross functional collaboration. Increase end user satisfaction while improving monthly compliance for CDC requirements.
The Approach
Work through 3 rounds of design thinking to flush out which changes are needed before developers touch a line of code. Before this project new features were deployed with out user testing. My goal was to infuse the IT project with user testing before feature build would begin. We were now infusing the sprint cycle with user research and design methodologies.
Round 1 // User Testing
9 Interviews
1 Month
30 minutes
Open Ended Questions
Primary and Secondary Users
New and Legacy Users
Round 1 // Heuristic Evaluation
Each page in the process had very similar problems to this page. This would leave certain end to end processes incomplete to create large compliance issues later. It was essential to improve the system and have the user rely much less on dense onboarding training. We needed to bring this system up to code for a private industry system. Redesign with the cognitive load of the user base.
Round 1 // User Testing
5 Sessions
2 Weeks
Round 1 // Findings
“…the application should be designed to be a lot easier to navigate on your own versus having all these different training modules that are more complex than they really need to be.”
“If I have a to do task list to go over with providers, this will cut down work 95% [for staff]”
100% of the users had a unique path
With dense training and a system that have poor UX, it is not designed to assist users in accomplishing tasks in a consistent manner.
Round 2 // Flow Iteration
Group Tasks
Better Task Completion
Improved Situation Awareness
It was out of scope to change training modules, so we needed to focus on using out of the box functionality in Salesforce to rebuild the reporting and ordering flow.
Round 2 // User Testing
12 Users
2 One Hour Sessions
Target Users
Primary (External Users)
Secondary (Internal Users)
Round 2 // Findings
“We are still going to have huge issues with the waste transfer. There is a form to sign and upload as the final step in wasting. Could we make that easier?”
“I have to enter a lot of data for reporting and ordering.”
“Can I just use this to report vaccines and not place an order?”
Round 3 // Wireframes
Round 3 // High Fidelity Screens
Progress Bar
Improved Accessibility
Active States
BEFORE
AFTER
Tabular Navigation
Better Visual Hierarchy
Form Generation
BEFORE
AFTER
Error Prevention
Visual Cues
New Feature
New Feature
Reflection
Stakeholder Engagement
After a system undergoes an upgrade, it's the Product Manager's responsibility to explore how UX research and smart design improvements can address key user challenges. This was the moment I transitioned from feeling like an imposter to realizing that I had the solutions.
Time Constraint
Sometimes research needs to be scaled down to ensure the right number of questions are asked. This balance can provide the necessary confidence to develop an effective solution.
Setting Expectations
Seemingly simple buttons often require multiple development changes, which must be clearly projected and communicated to various stakeholders. This process helps manage expectations and ensures my team understands the ripple effects of UI and UX changes, including third-order impacts.
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