PWA Appreciation App 3.0

The Thank You App (TYA) is the nation’s first web-enabled technology that connects blood and plasma recipients with their donors while complying with medical privacy laws. Patients can anonymously send their donor a message of thanks and include a photo or video – all from their smartphone, tablet or computer.

BEFORE

BACKGROUND

In 2017, tapping a button to send an anonymous message of thanks to your blood donor felt magical. By the end of 2020, this magic receded to a slew of disparate features that made the experience slow and complex to use.

I was part of an ambitious project to redesign the TYA appreciation experience for one of the largest non-profit blood collectors in the U.S.

CHALLENGE

In just 3 years, TYA transformed from a small messaging service in Oklahoma to a global messaging platform. By 2021, TYA delivered over 7 thousand messages worldwide and was being introduced nationwide as a part of the Presidential campaign, The Fight is in Us.

The original app — developed in 2017, struggled to scale alongside the hyper-growth of donations for Convalescent Plasma to treat COVID-19. Fundamental usability was challenged. Disparate features and experiments competed for focus. App reliability and performance issues increased exponentially.

The high level goals were to:

1. 1. 1. Make it fast and easy to use for everyone, everywhere.

      2. Give recipients more control over crafting their message.

      3. Create a platform for innovation and deeper engagement.

MY ROLE

I led the design of the new PWA appreciation experience and collaborated with three other developers on the features.

In addition, I worked alongside a research firm that conducted various focus groups and provided summarized results for analysis.

DISCOVERY

I was not surprised by the issues brought to light. The PWA was developed without an initial designer. As features were added to help the user, it seemed to become a more complex experience. It’s clear that users expected the experience to work with minimal effort.

Insights revealed an opportunity to streamline the workflow. If our users are blood recipients, they could be sick or recovering from illness; simplicity is key.

SOLUTION

Incorporate a simple, modern design that told the story of TYA as it guides the user through the app. This was achieved through identifiable icons that have an artistic touch, including a complimentary color palette that brings positive energy and movement as you advance through the screens, and using buttons/tappable regions that were large, so the user wasn’t confused where to click or what to do next.

RESULT