Neo. Healthy through physical activity at any age

Neo helps to motivate individuals to adopt better living habits and enables active and healthier aging through digital physical activity on prescription. Neo is a research-based app that can support healthy ageing. This is a collaborative project where researchers connected from different units at Umeå University and Region Västerbotten aimed to provide support for physical activity in everyday life and healthy ageing.

Challenge

Elderly individuals struggle to begin physical activity in their later years, particularly those without prior exposure. There is currently a lack of emphasis on counseling for physical training and behavior changes by primary care providers. Additionally, there is a disconnect between gym instructors and PAP counselors, particularly with new partners. This poses a problem for both the healthcare system and the successful implementation of PAP

Outcome

The digital service called NEO, which includes three digital touchpoints: primary care counselors, patients, and training coaches combines…. NEO offers body assessments for Physical Activity Plan recommendations by doctors. These recommendations are then directly shared with the patient and the suggested training facility. Users have the option to train at home using video content or connect with a coach, a community or facility nearby.

Neo Concept: User journey

Neo allows primary care counselors to assess the patient through the app and to stay connected on the progress and physical activity record. They can prescribe physical activities to promote healthy aging and initiate preventative healthcare.

(1) First users Download the NEO App and get access to health and activity support where they then (2) can Visit a health professional for a motivational interview and FaR prescription via app. (3) with that they can Find a training facility, a personal coach and / or a health coach via NEO, that supports special FaR needs. (4) In the app they can Plan activities and classes individually or with your PT and (5) take part in online classes and have access to live streaming. (6) They receive notifications from their health support about your next check-up appointment and (7) directly communicate with their health coach.

System Map

The system map captures the connections between the care counselors, patients, and coaches. We aimed to achieve the potential communication channel at every interaction outside the app. This helped us to detail the interactions within the app but also to communicate the system of how it is today and how Neo can improve the process flows.

Research

The ethnographic study with care counsellors, current and potential users and physical therapists was crucial to gather first-hand information from experts in the field who possess extensive knowledge and experience in providing primary healthcare services. They encounter a diverse range of medical conditions and are familiar with the challenges faced by patients on a day-to-day basis. Their expertise and experience provided us with valuable insights into the practical aspects of primary care and the implementation of physical activity prescriptions.

Participatory Workshop

In the workshop we aimed to extend the user scenarios and create a picture of healthy habits for the different personas we identified in our first research step. The participants were asked to create scenarios from the care provider’s perspective on how the support system could look like when using physical exercise under guidance. For this workshop, we collaborataed with 12 participants from within the design field, who helped us to brainstorm together.

in the first Activity we asked the participants to Create end to end interaction scenario. In the second activity we asked How can health specialists support best and in the third How trainers and coaches could support best. the questions aimed to get a diverse set of ideas on potential pathways. and to use those for different prototypes that could then be tested with our users.

Information architecture and app flow

Creating the app flow was essential in order to outline the user's journey from start to finish. This visual representation of the user's experience has played a pivotal role in shaping a seamless and intuitive UI design. Furthermore it helped us streamlining the user flow and eliminate unnecessary steps.

Wireframing

As next logical step we used our information architecture to prioritise on the main screens we would need to move forward and to being able to communicate the concept at each stage in the best way possible for all stakeholders.

This part of the process provided us with structure and organization, and enabled rapid iteration and prototyping, by focusing on functionality and user experience. The wireframes helped us to facilitate collaboration and communication. With the wireframes we were able to lay a foundation for later designs.