We explored several lo-fi wireframe iterations to incorporate insights from stakeholder interviews into INZ’s existing user flow. Key additions included giving users clear feedback after completing actions and allowing them to indicate the urgency of their issue—both crucial for improving communication and making the booking process more effective.
Student Project
In Collaboration with
Interpreting NZ
Proof of Concept
Icon-based Interface
User Research
Refugee Support
Medispeak
Simplifying GP Appointment Booking for Non-English Speakers
Team–Based Project / 4 Members
This project was a team effort, with all of us contributing to various stages of the process. Tasks were divided equally, and each team member focused on specific aspects at every step of the process.
My Role
Research & Analysis | Interviews | User testing & Guerilla Testing | Wireframe Ideation | Prototyping
About
Interpreting NZ
BREAKING DOWN THE LANGUAGE BARRIERS
Interpreting New Zealand, established in 1993, was the country's first comprehensive interpreting service. Initially offering on-site interpreters, they expanded to telephone interpreting in 1997. INZ provides as well as trains community interpreters and advocates for language accessibility.
Project Overview
Understanding the Problem and Defining the Project Scope
Non-English speakers face significant challenges in accessing primary healthcare due to language barriers. At the same time, GP practices struggle to understand patient needs and coordinate doctors and interpreters effectively. This often results in miscommunication, delays, and frustrating back-and-forth interactions, wasting time and effort for both patients and healthcare providers.
Project goal & Requirements
- To help non-English speakers successfully make an appointment, and
to ensure they turn up at the right time, along with an interpreter. - Streamline appointment booking for service providers to accommodate
such patients.
How Might We .......empower Non-English speakers to independently book GP appointments & overcome language barriers?
Design Process
The project followed a human-centered design approach. Through stakeholder interviews, usability testing, and iterative prototyping, each round of feedback highlighted new pain points or misunderstandings, allowing the solution to evolve into a more inclusive and intuitive experience.
Existing Brief & User Flow Analysis
INZ provided us with a user flow centered around a hypothetical user named “Asha”, navigating a mobile application with a fully icon-based interface that helps her send appointment requests to their GP without needing to write or speak. The GP then forwards the interpreter requirements to Interpreting NZ, who organise a three-way call between the receptionist, interpreter, and Asha.
This flow outlines the key steps and interactions, for which we conducted a brief analysis to understand the existing approach and identify potential gaps.
The Challenge
As our discussions with the INZ team clarified the project scope, our challenges also became more defined. We learned that since most non-English speakers we aimed to support were refugees from diverse backgrounds, assessing their digital literacy was difficult, as perceptions of information vary across cultures.
Design an appointment booking app for non-English speakers, which heavily relies on visual elements like Iconography and Pictograms with minimum use of text.
Stakeholder Interviews
Qualitative Research
To better understand the pain points of our target users, our first step was to conduct qualitative research through interviews. However, given their vulnerability and language barriers, direct interviews were not feasible.
Instead, we gathered the required information through our interviews with healthcare and support workers who assist with refugee onboarding, ensuring ethical considerations in our design process.
I participated in three out of the four interviews we conducted—two with the Red Cross and one with a receptionist from Newtown Union Health.
Objective
We sought insights from support workers and healthcare professionals on:
Language barriers affect healthcare navigation and appointment booking.
Current processes used to assist non-English speakers and their limitations.
Preferences for support, including face-to-face, phone, or digital solutions.
Technology adoption, identifying potential barriers, and training needs.
Opportunities for improvement, feasibility of a visual, icon-based booking system.
What We Found
“The biggest challenges are #1 communication #2 I would say maybe that they're preliterate even in their language, So they have no idea how to read or write at all.”
“ They sometimes feel like we are not listening and are being told they are hypochondriacs because they can overreact and be demanding.”
“The main priority is their health, but it's also to determine and explain what the urgency is.”
“What is it for? How urgent is it? Who’s going to explain to them that it’s not going to be for 2–3 weeks?”
Overwhelming System & Language Barriers
Newcomers struggle to navigate the unfamiliar healthcare system due to language barriers and a lack of understanding of medical urgency. Missed appointments lead to frustration between patients and medical staff, especially when face-to-face interaction is limited.
Vulnerable Groups Face Greater Challenges
Women with children and pre-literate individuals face significant difficulties during medical enrolment and appointment booking due to cultural, economic, and linguistic barriers, making communication especially challenging.
Limited Tech Literacy & Need for Support
Many patients, particularly older adults, have little to no understanding of technology and rely on family for assistance, which can be problematic for handling medical information. Despite available support, they struggle with independent healthcare access.
Walk-ins & Misaligned Expectations
Patients often walk in without appointments, expecting immediate care due to norms from their home countries. Some refuse to leave until seen, creating challenges for clinics. Many don’t understand triaging, leading to conflicts over urgency-based prioritization.
Interpreter & Resource Constraints
Caseworkers and interpreters play a crucial role; however, they often struggle with scheduling conflicts & limited availability, especially for specific languages and genders, restricting patients’ ability to communicate independently.
Visual Tools for Simpler Communication
Interviewees emphasize that visual tools using icons, colors and minimal wording could simplify the booking process, reducing reliance on English literacy and improving patient-provider communication.
Considerations
Use of Visual Tools
Visual tools such as pictograms, icons, and symbols must be universally recognisable to ensure comprehension. Include culturally neutral designs.
Technical Literacy
Simplify navigation with uncluttered interfaces, ensuring the app functions on basic smartphones, considering data limitations and slower devices.
Urgency-Based Prioritization
Highlighting urgent appointment slots for serious symptoms to prioritise care needs effectively, and including appointment reminders with clear date and time notifications to prevent missed appointments.
Confirmation Screen & Feedback
Use confirmation screens to validate actions like booking appointments, ensuring users clearly see the outcome. Progress indicators or breadcrumbs to show users their position within the process.
Lo-fi Wireframe Ideation
Early Stage Iterations
Icon Development
Explorations for Guerrilla Testing
Multiple sets of icons were created for guerrilla testing to determine which were most easily recognizable and effective for the majority of testers. A total of 23 participants took part, while I conducted tests with 6 of them.
