MOBILE APP
Revamping Inbox Experience for Homage Care Pro
Homage offers comprehensive caregiving and health solutions, that combine trained Care Professionals with technology to provide on-demand holistic home and community-based care to seniors and adults. For Care Owners, Homage offers flexibility in arranging caregiving visits for their loved ones or themselves. With over 15,000 highly skilled Care Professionals, individuals can effortlessly access a wide range of caregiving services tailored to their unique needs.
A key north star in the organisation is the fulfilment rate of visits.
Background
The Care Pro app serves as a crucial tool for Care Professionals (CPs), facilitating visit applications, scheduling, and communication with Care Owners. However, previous user feedback revealed significant challenges in navigating the Inbox feature. Care Pros encountered difficulties in discovering and managing their visits, while new users faced hurdles during their initial visit applications.
My role
I led the end-to-end redesign process for this feature, from project inception to development. This involved planning, recruiting, and conducting user interview sessions with Care Professionals, analysing insights, redesigning the flow and user interface, and collaborating closely with two engineers and one QA specialist throughout the project. Additionally, I worked collaboratively with the product manager to prioritise the solutions and gain buy-in from stakeholders for the feature.
Overview of the current Inbox
- CPs view visits grouped by Care Recipient (CR) and sorted by visit start time. The first 10 Care Recipients display all visits, while subsequent Care Recipients show only essential details like Care Recipient name, location, and number of visits.
- Care Recipients can request specific Care Pros for their service, marked with a 'Requested' tag on the corresponding visits. Upon opening the Inbox, the 'Requested' filter button is automatically applied, showing requested visits for the first 10 Care Recipients. Care Pros can deselect the filter button to view all visits.
- The filter/sort bar includes quick filter actions such as 'Saved', 'Urgent', and 'Requested', enabling Care Pros to discover visits.
Problem statement
We identified 3 main areas that we need to solve:
How might we optimise the Inbox view based on the Care Pros preferences?
How might we help them to apply to visits faster?
How might we improve the visit browsing experience?
Objectives
Increase caregiving hours per Care Pro
Increase visit application
Increase Inbox efficiency
Research
We interviewed three distinct user groups over 2 weeks: newly onboarded Care Pros within the last three months, low-engagement CPs completing between 1 to 3 visits per month, and highly engaged existing CPs with an average of more than 20 visits per month. From our user interviews, we learned that:
Plan their visit schedule 1 to 2 weeks ahead
They avoid planning months in advance due to concerns over making visit cancellations and having to pay cancellation fees.
Considers various factors when applying to visits
Each Care Pro considers visit duration, service types, Care Recipient mobility levels, and distance when selecting visits. And many prioritise visits with their past Care Recipients.
The inbox is not optimised for familiarity
Sorted by Care Recipient with the soonest upcoming visits. Care Pros have to browse through many visits that they are not familiar with.
Looking into data
Relying solely on qualitative insights from our Care Pros was not sufficient to persuade stakeholders. Collaborating with a PM, we gathered data to further uncover our assumptions. We found that:
Inbox is not optimised for schedule builders
The first 10 Care Recipients with the soonest upcoming visits have all their visits expanded, showing a range of dates from today to three months ahead.
However, we found that only 61% of 'Urgent' visits and only 20% of visits occurring this week were displayed in an expanded state in the Inbox. While visits for the next month and beyond made up 60% of the expanded visits. This setup does not align with Care Pros' preference for applying 1 to 2 weeks ahead, and it makes visit discovery less intuitive.
Quick buttons are underutilised
The analysis also suggests that the 'Urgent' and 'Requested' buttons are underutilised compared to common filters such as date, duration, distance.
Proposed solution
After gaining a better understanding of the users and gaps, together with the PM we brainstormed and explored various ideas that can contribute to achieving the objectives. We came up with a framework to identify possible solutions and prioritise based on goals, impact, and effort.
Inbox journey
We improved the flow to enable meaningful sorting, letting Care Pros organise the Inbox by Care Recipient type. Additionally, Care Pros can seamlessly apply quick filters throughout their journey to find desired visits.
Key solution elements
Default view to Sort by Care Recipient Type
See their Requested and Past Care Recipient visits at the top of Inbox.
Show up to 4 visits in each card
To avoid cluttering the Inbox, users can tap 'See More' for the full visit list.
Easily identify new Care Recipients to Homage
"New to Homage" tag to allow users to easily identify new Care Recipients and expand their care portfolio.
Improve quick filter buttons
Encourage easy filtering of visits right from the Inbox.
Exploring the possibilities
To ensure alignment and to help non-product team members visualise the solution, I started creating rough mock-ups. I aimed to diverge from the familiar look and feel of the previous Inbox, experimenting with breaking down and reassembling components to assess their effectiveness. Following this, I shared with other designers, PMs, and CPO to gather feedback. This exploratory process took two weeks, with five rounds of review, before we narrowed down on the ideal solution.
Early stage design exploration
Usability test and iterate
As we narrowed down the ideas, it was crucial to get feedback from the users and see how they interacted with them. We tested a few concepts, one of which was to show single visits cards instead of group by Care Recipient name. The insights gathered through this round of concept testing helped us to validate our assumptions.
During this phase, we involved supply operation trainers, who aid in Care Pro training, to test and provide feedback on the demos. Additionally, we conducted unmoderated usability tests using Maze. Insights gathered guided design refinements, ensuring the final product met user needs.
Final design
Improved sorting capabilities
1. Sort by Care Recipient Type
2. Sort by Start Time (earliest)
3. Sort by Distance (nearest)
4. Sort by Added date (newest)
By default, the new Inbox sorts by Care Recipient type in the following order: 'Requested for you,' 'Past Care Recipient,' 'New to Homage,' 'Nearby Care Recipients,' and 'All Other Care Recipients' at the bottom. We seized the opportunity to streamline the sorting process by deprecating less-used methods and those plagued by legacy tech issues, thus improving overall functionality.
Visit listing card
Implemented the new design system style and streamlined the visit listing card to show a maximum of 4 visits per Care Recipient, with access to the full list via the 'See More' button. Simplified Inbox tags for a clearer appearance, reducing clutter without sacrificing distinction.
This improvement enhances user experience by eliminating the collapsible card feature, which previously caused loading issues.
Care for new Care Recipients
Based on user feedback, they are inclined to expand their Care Portfolio and are willing to help newly joined Care Recipients.
Add a 'New to Homage' tag on visit cards and a quick filter option for Care Pros. This encourages faster discovery and application for new Care Recipients.
Efficient filtering with quick filters
The addition of quick filter buttons allow for more flexible filtering of the Inbox. Enabling Care Pros to effortlessly filter visits according to their preferences.
Results
Launched in November 2023 across Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia, the revamp increased conversion rates compared to the previous period. The introduction of the 'New to Homage' tag enhanced visibility and conversion for new Care Recipients. These outcomes informed subsequent iterations to the Inbox experience.
+ 18.5% in caregiving hours
+ 6.3% in conversion after using sort functions
+ 7.1% in conversion after using quick filters
To maintain confidentiality, actual metric values have been excluded.