Things are moving along here in a good way. I am currently working on finalizing wireframes for the interface and still trying to come up with a name.

New developments:

• - there will be a login screen on the intro page – once you log in your two choices of where you can go pop up
• - I am considering accordion menus to decrease the amount of scrolling once information is added
• - need to remember to add a “save” button for each section
• - each section will have instructions for how to fill out the information for that specific page
• - I am now planning on designing this EMR in Flash to allow for different ways to output the final project (i.e. for demo purposes, training, simulation, etc)

Next up? Try a few different color treatments on the wireframes, select a color scheme and start designing the GUI in Photoshop.

I would like to brand this EMR so name ideas for the application itself are taking up a lot of my headspace lately. Not easy trying to name it! Right now I affectionately refer to this project as my thesis baby.

The plan to test this project includes the following:

The group tested will consist of patients eighteen and above with chronic illnesses

Questionnaires will be provided

• ‐ if the patient is local: it might be helpful to watch the patient interact with the EMR
• ‐ if the patient is not local: an online survey will be created
• ‐ all patients will be asked the same questions

Feedback will be qualitative

Based on the feedback, design changes will be made to the GUI and print out

The final project will be assessed using the following criteria:

Consider feedback from usability testing

Balance of design – does it take into consideration patients concerns/feedback while maintaining hierarchy, design principles, and a strong grid structure?

How well did I achieve my goals?

How successful is the project in its delivery?

Plans for submission of thesis project include:

Adobe Design Achievement Awards

These awards celebrate student work created with Adobe creative software.

Adobe MAX

The purpose of the Adobe MAX event is to promote the latest releases from Adobe and discover the latest technologies being used in the computer graphics industry.

CIAS Student Showcase Portal

This website allows RIT CIAS students to upload projects from their experience at RIT.

Communication Arts

Print publication that features feature articles, competitions and resources for designers.

Core77 Design Awards

This design competition features several award categories from “client work to self‐initiated projects, entrepreneurial to pro‐bono engagements.”

Health Management Technology

This magazine features news from the healthcare industry on how technology is making an impact in this field. Lately, special focus has been on EMR coverage.

HOW Magazine

A magazine for designers on how to be more “creative, successful, productive, and connected.”

Modern Healthcare

This magazine is for those in the healthcare industry covering a wide array of topics.

Print Magazine

A magazine for designers about “design that places contemporary visual culture in its social, political and historical contexts.”

TEDMED

From their website: “TEDMED’s mission is to help America and the world understand the great challenges of health and medicine, connect the right people and inspire the leadership we need.”

The interface of this project will be designed in Adobe Photoshop and a prototype will be built in Adobe Flash Catalyst. Photoshop is the best way to achieve certain interface design elements such as gradients, the use of blending modes, opacity, and texture to name a few. The patient will be concerned with getting their information and clicking through content, not on animated graphics that are intended to capture attention. Because of this, Flash Catalyst will be a good tool to display visually how buttons, rollovers, links, and other interactive elements will work in this project. The interactive part of this project will be designed for the computer and designing for a tablet screen size will be considered.

The print out of the EMR will be designed in Adobe Illustrator to allow for the design of a strong grid structure. The design of the graphical user interface will influence the design of the print out and will be adapted for continuity.

I will be defending my thesis proposal Wednesday and while I wrap things up for this quarter, I am still finding new research that will be helpful. I recently learned there are over 300+ EMRs and a lot of them try to do too much I think, to the point of overwhelming the user with information overload. Managing prescriptions (fill/refill), appointment scheduling, and patient billing are popular features of current EMRs, but will not be included in my project. The EMR I am designing is for the storage of information.

I also thought it was worth noting that I keep seeing the phrase “decent UI” mentioned when referring to the design of EMR interfaces. That sounds to me like it translates to, “since it works, we’ll settle for it.” Not good! Design is key here to making a successful, understandable, simplified EMR.

These are a few sketch ideas I have for the layout. I think some kind of side bar will work well for the main navigation. Text will be organized through chunking, which is grouping similar information into chunks.

Sketch Ideas

I am starting to plan possible color schemes. Things to keep in mind:

• - Blue will most likely be part of the palette because it is associated with healthcare and pharmaceuticals
• - Just because this is something clinical does not mean it has to look clinical
• - Color coding areas might be helpful. Something to keep in mind
• - This needs to be high contrast so text can be found immediately. This will help in the case of an emergency
• - White space is a must
• - Neutrals/tones will be used, especially for a background color because it will be easy on the eyes for reading large amounts of text

Click to see Moodboard

Flow Chart illustrating how the patient will interact with their medical records