Jonathan Letourneau, MDesMDes: Master of Design Studies
I innovate within highly regulated industries, using service design and emerging technology to create and test new experiences.
Role
UI/UX DesignerDuration
Six MonthsTeam
7 Teams, 20 ContributorsAudience
Mass General Brigham Staff ObjectiveEvolve the functionality of COVID Pass to facilitate bespoke custom-developed features from leadership.Approach Implementation of a modular design with consistent assets and reusable components This enabled the team to standardize the addition of new features.ChallengesOrchestrating effective collaboration between highly complex teams through the use of standard applications.
Overview
Project Kickoff
Connect with product team and stakeholders to define scope and objectives.
Ideation Explored UI/UX updates while balancing technical capabilities.
Prototyping Collaborated with development team to test feasibility of a modular design. Received feedback from business owners on solution effectiveness.
Testing
Facilitated feedback sessions with business owners to confirm solution accuracy and usability testing with users to confirm solution efficacy.
Launch
Successful launch of the new version of COVID Pass
Impact
The updated platform enabled the deployment of key new features, saving Mass General Brigham over $2,000,000.
Background
COVID-19 Public Health Directive
March 16, 2020: In response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Department of Public Health required healthcare workers to be screened for COVID-19 symptoms on a daily basis.
To accommodate this directive, the Brigham Digital Innovation Hub (iHub) was tasked with developing a solution to screen all of Mass General Brigham’s 80,000 employees each day.
The solution, COVID Pass, was a definitive success. The team designed and developed the first version of COVID Pass within two weeks, achieving over 2 million uses in the first one hundred days.
A Direct Employee Communication Tool
COVID Pass evolved beyond screening, becoming a vital communication tool connecting leadership with employees on time-sensitive health matters, including testing and vaccine scheduling. Its adaptable framework ensured continued relevance and utility in critical healthcare operations.
Evolving Functionality
After extensive use, it became clear that COVID Pass needed a redesign to maintain its value in the post-pandemic era. The upcoming version aims to incorporate modular design, improve responsiveness, and expand language options, setting a new standard for healthcare workforce communication tools.
Project Teams
- Operational Team
- Development Team - Project Management Team - Electronic Health Record Team - Workforce Management Team - Data Analysts
Outcomes
32,000,000+ COVID-19 AttestationsSince its inception, COVID Pass has processed over 32 million COVID-19 attestations at 16 institutions, including 20 community health centers and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
$2,000,000+ Direct SavingsBy redirecting COVID-19 testing through COVID Pass, Mass General Brigham realized over $1 million in savings. The dashboard’s design facilitated the development of a specialized module for additional COVID-19 screening at nursing facilities, leading to additional $1 million in savings within the first six months. 140,000+ COVID-19 Tests ScheduledCOVID Pass enabled the efficient scheduling of over 140,000 COVID-19 tests, enhancing the institution’s response to the pandemic, enabling employees more visibility to their return to work status.
80,000+ Daily User BaseCOVID Pass serves a daily active user base of over 80,000 across the Mass General Brigham ecosystem and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
To reach employees institution-wide, COVID Pass was strategically integrated into five key technical touchpoints. The solution was built using Fluent UI
Supported Platforms:
Windows desktop integration
Progressive web app
MGB Kiosks (iPads)
Electronic health record (EHR)
A New Perspective
A key component of my contribution to this project was providing insights into human-centered design and the importance of intuitive systems. This manifested itself through collaborative feedback sessions where I presented several design options for the team to discuss. This was a new approach as the previous approach to development involved discussion around a single design file created in PowerPoint. COVID Pass Wireframe
Design System
Creating a design system for COVID Pass required balancing the contrasting design standards of public-facing Mass General Brigham with internal IT services standards. The final system was built upon IT standards, enhanced by Mass General Brigham’s updated visual aesthetics.
Consistency
Significant UI/UX updates brought consistency to COVID Pass interactions and feedback mechanisms. The update unified the design of buttons, notifications, and calls to action to enable a cohesive and logical user experience.
Prototyping
The ideation and prototyping process for COVID Pass faced challenges due to the team’s existing reliance on PowerPoint, which limited the development of a design system with embedded CSS and scalable components. Integrating Adobe XD initially proved futile until we adopted an approach that utilized both Adobe XD and PowerPoint effectively.
User Testing
Validating our solution with users outside of the COVID Pass team was a novel concept to our development process. Achieving buy-in for user testing was a challenging process, but I leveraged this opportunity to intentionally expand my professional network within the organization.
I set up feedback sessions to validate our solution. This research was more evaluative than generative because I was unable to create enough space for user feedback earlier in the process.
I created, scheduled, and facilitated these remote usability testing sessions. The research confirmed our hypothesis around the benefit of visually separating COVID Pass’s functionalities, but it informed us to reduce the cognitive load of multiple dashboard cards. To solve for this problem, we changed our approach to coloring and categorizing the dashboard cards. Instead of making the colors unique, we used a single color for all cards, and only changed the color if the needed to take action (Teal = Information, Yellow = interact, Red = required action)
Solution
Modular Dashboard
The modular dashboard is the core update to COVID Pass. The dashboard is a flexible framework for deploying key services for all employees. The interface is designed with customizable cards that could be toggled on or off, providing personalized views based on each employee’s status. For more complex services, we incorporated advanced functionalities for managers to streamline their workflow.
Please click through the slideshow to view the original designUpdated Mobile DesignOriginal Mobile DesignUpdated Desktop DesignOriginal Desktop Design
Dynamic Content
One key update to COVID Pass was returning key employee health data to the dashboard. Data such as a COVID testing appointment, or vaccine scheduling data would dynamically update for employees.
This feature is used widely as new additions to COVID Pass such as the Respiration Protection Program. This yearly program now lives in COVID Pass and is the the core tool to assess an employee’s compliance status.
Dynamic Cards
Creating logic between COVID Pass cards help nudge employees to take positive actions. For example, once an employee attests to symptoms the Employee COVID Testing Card changes color and dynamically updates to encourage employees to schedule a COVID-19 test. Within three years, COVID Pass facilitated over 140,000 COVID-19 Tests.
Dashboard cards show dynamic content based on user actionsDashboard cards update dynamically based on the user state
Attestation
COVID attestation in COVID Pass is an employee screening tool for all 80,000 employees across Mass General Brigham 16 member institutions and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
COVID Testing
During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, Mass General Brigham stood up multiple COVID-19 testing facilities for employees. COVID Pass was the main platform for employees to schedule testing. The “reason for testing” screen helped Occupational Health collect metadata on employee wellness.
Updated Attestation DesignOriginal Attestation DesignUpdated Testing WorkflowOriginal Testing Workflow
Publications