Shadow Health: User Personas
Role: UX Research
Note: This project was done as a class assignment during my employment at Shadow Health
01. Understand
Background
Shadow Health is an educational software company that develops simulations for nursing education with a large cast of diverse virtual patients. Products range from undergraduate to graduate-level experiences with concepts and skills in Health Assessment, Pharmacology, Mental Health, Gerontology, Leadership, and more. Shadow Health’s goal is to become the worldwide leader in healthcare simulation by providing students and faculty with leading-edge technology centered on conversation-based learning to increase the effectiveness of healthcare practitioners.
Shadow Health’s unique selling point is its conversation engine, which is used to communicate with its virtual patients.
Project Goals
Problem Statement
How might we redesign Shadow Health’s Learning Management System (LMS) to better accommodate different user types?
Research Questions
Does the LMS cater well to both user types - students and faculty?
What are the limiting factors for students? For faculty? How can these be addressed/mitigated?
Research Plan
Project Steps
Desk research into Shadow Health and its various features to get a better understanding of what their business goals and user assumptions are
User Interviews to get a better understanding of the differences between the user types, how they use Shadow Health, what features they predominantly use, and how
Create User Personas to align the team on the project goals
02. Research
User Types & Criteria
Faculty Criteria
Longtime Shadow Health instructors
Currently using a Shadow Health product to teach their course
Understand the differences between the Learning Management System and the simulations
Spends a lot of time looking through student performance to understand what topics need to be covered in more detail
Student Criteria
Longtime Shadow Health students
Currently enrolled in a course that uses a Shadow Health product
Understand the differences between the Learning Management System and the simulations
Appreciate quick feedback based on their performance in assignments
Spend a lot of time looking through their own scores
Find value in tracking their own progress within their overall nursing track
03. Analysis
Faculty Interviews
Key Takeaways
There are a few differences between faculty users depending on their program levels, but generally, their approaches are the same:
Their teaching styles for pre-licensure students vs. students who are already nurses are a little different, but both stem from their goals to understand where their students are struggling
In-person programs vs. online programs have different approaches in terms of how personable they can be with students
All faculty users exhibit a passion for teaching and take time out of their schedules to check student performance and provide individualized feedback
Patterns
Most faculty users don’t understand the differences between the DCE and SPI scores or don’t use them as they’re intended
Smaller or larger class sizes affect the way faculty can interact with students and provide feedback
The learning curve in Shadow Health affects how faculty tell their students to approach their assignments - for example, most faculty mentioned allowing their students to retake assignments (especially the first few) until they feel comfortable enough using the simulations
Insightful Lessons
There needs to be a better explanation of what the DCE and SPI scores are
Faculty users go above and beyond to ensure their students understand the material properly, even if it means spending hours of their day
Faculty Audience Profile
Overview
Faculty users are former practicing nurses teaching in a nursing program at varying levels (BSN, RN to BSN, MSN, NP, etc.). They are passionate about teaching and want to engage their students and ensure their success. Typically, these users are older, having gained much experience in the field before becoming educators.
Goals
To build up students to be practice-ready
To ensure undergrad students are prepared for the NCLEX
To ensure grad students are prepared for their certification exams
Wants
Want to understand where students are struggling
Want to know the highest / lowest-performing students in their class
Want a way to intercede early if students are struggling
Paint Points / Frustrations
The gradebook is often hard to understand
Larger class sizes remove the ability to focus on individual students
Shadow Health has a significant learning curve - performance improves over time
Having to manually move grades from Shadow Health LMS to their school’s LMS
Use Cases
Shadow Health is supplementary to course material - it compliments an instructor’s lesson plans
Shadow Health helps gauge whether or not students will perform well in their foundational level courses - faculty users found that if students don’t perform well in Shadow Health, they typically don’t perform well in their courses, either
Shadow Health helps gauge what students need more assistance and how they can cater their lesson plans to those students
Student Interviews
Key Takeaways
There are large differences between students in different nursing programs
BSN students are right out of high school and take more well-rounded classes
RN-to-BSN students are already nurses who are going back to school to get a more advanced education, usually to get more responsibilities at work and a pay raise
Graduate students are already nurses going back to school to transition over to nurse practitioner or nurse educator roles
Patterns
All students considered themselves to be visual people
All students mentioned not understanding what the DCE and SPI scores were
Most nursing students are generally very organized individuals - various participants mentioned spending time writing our everything they need to do in a semester, their due dates, etc. They like knowing things ahead of time and planning around it
Most students want to understand their strengths and weaknesses and want to see their overall performance
Insightful Lessons
There needs to be a better explanation of what the DCE and SPI scores are
Nursing students generally look to the future beyond their academics - they keep in mind their need to be practice-ready and care to improve their patient interactions, conversation skills, empathy, critical thinking, etc.
Student Audience Profile
Overview
Student users are currently enrolled in a nursing program and pursuing a degree at varying levels (BSN, RN to BSN, MSN, NP, etc.). They care about understanding their progress throughout their program to gauge their strengths and weaknesses. Typically, these users range in age - from first-year college students to older practicing nurses looking to advance their degrees and gain more responsibilities or specialize.
Goals
To do well in classes and graduate from their programs
To understand the skills they’re developing and transition from academics to practice
To feel comfortable interacting with patients
Wants
Want to understand their strengths and weaknesses to assess their performance and know where to improve
Want a tool that is streamlined and well-organized - something that doesn’t add any unnecessary work to an already busy schedule
Pain Points / Frustrations
Most frustrations are related to how the LMS organizes feedback and score information
Most frustrations are related to the student results book, specifically when viewing multiple attempts on an assignment - navigating this gets pretty confusing
Most frustrations are related to the lack of streamlined processes
Use Cases
Shadow Health is a safe space to practice high-risk skills that students are currently learning without concern for an actual patient
Shadow Health is a refresher for students who are already practicing nurses
Shadow Health is an alternative to clinical hours, especially for students in online programs who do not have access to in-person labs