Case Study: LifeSource Blood Donation App
Company: Perxels Design Agency
Role: I was the Lead Product Designer throughout the project, from planning and requirement gathering to strategy, wireframing and content management. I also collaborated with the development and engineering teams to brainstorm ideas and solve problems
Problem:
There has been a recent rise in deaths due to the absence of quick blood donors and bureaucracy associated with sick persons quickly getting their required blood type. According to the WHO, out of the 75 countries that report fewer than 10 donations per 1000 people, 38 are from Africa.
Challenge:
To ensure the sustainability of lives and blood banks in Nigeria, we thought it much to design a mobile application that allows people desperately in need of blood to get quick access to blood in their neighborhood and locality without distance been a challenge to them getting good health care. Also providing an opportunity for donors to have the chance to donate blood freely at their convenience and at the nearest preferred blood donation center close to them without necessarily visiting a hospital.
Solution
LifeSource is a blood donation app that connects potential donors to patients in need of blood. It makes reaching out to potential donors simple and helps people to become voluntary donors. In addition, donors can track the impact of their donations and create awareness around blood donation.
Every human being requires blood; hence it is essential to all human life and the world over. This seems obvious because blood constitutes approximately 8 percent of body weight, and the average male’s volume is between 5 -6 liters, and in the average female is between 4–5 liters.
Underlining the need for blood donations is the fact that Nigeria has the fourth-highest maternal mortality rate in the world, accounting for 19% of all maternal deaths globally, with postpartum haemorrhage (the loss of too much blood following birth) leading the cause of such deaths, and the lack of infrastructure to get crucial blood supplies in Nigeria compounds this problem.
Nigeria’s low blood donation rate is associated with the way people perceive the same, based on their religious beliefs. For instance, the Jehovah Witness believers see blood donation and transfusion as against the will of God.
Documents needed to be created for the project?
User Research
To understand the problem better, I created two separate interviews for the project
i) The Donors and Receivers
ii) The Hospital and Blood Banks
Purpose of the Research?
This research aims to validate the claim of lack of blood donors and problems associated with blood donations. Furthermore, this research enlightens us on the steps and decisions to design a better solution to the problem. Design decisions were made regarding user flow, user pain points, and user goals from the research result.
After performing user interviews with 18 persons, we discovered the key problem areas.
Major Problems got from the Research.
i) The process of blood donation is cumbersome and tiring for a lot of people
ii) The challenge of not being able to find donors nearby or readily available
iii) Lack of proper awareness to donors on the benefits attached to blood donation to citizens
iv) Poor Motivation to Donate
Solution and App Feature
After going through the response from the interview and pinpointing the pain points, frustrations, needs, and emotions of donors, I came up with a potential solution that addresses the discovered problems, putting the patients and donors in mind.
User Persona
Empathy Map
User Flow
Sitemap
Low-Fidelity Wireframe
Hi-Fidelity Wireframe
Onboarding Screens
I decided to go ahead with a simple onboarding screen using illustrations to demonstrate blood donation. illustrations were gotten from storyset.com
Login & Sign Up
Users will be given two choices: login and sign up. Users are also asked to complete their accounts using a one-time password sent to their email box.
Home screen
The card home screen was aimed to simplify the content on the home page, thus creating pleasing and actionable experiences that keep the users engaged with the app. Based on research, I introduced a bottom nav, so users have access to important features instantly.
Notification
Here, you can choose to allow notifications from the app where you receive daily, weekly or monthly prompts on the benefits of staying healthy, donating blood, and its noble benefits to your neighbours.
Blood Test Questions
A feature was added to the app to allow for quick access to pre-determine if a potential donor is eligible to donate before heading to the nearest hospital or blood bank to donate blood
Result of Questions
After series of questions have been asked from the donor, a screen is shown to tell whether the screening stage was successful or not. From where the donor would be prompted to either go back to the homepage or proceed to donate blood. This reduces the process of blood donation been cumbersome and tiring for a lot of people which was one of the problems highlighted during the research and empathizing stage.
Donor Section
In the donor section, users can enter the blood type they are looking for, locations and proceed to send messages. After obtaining a list of donors available around donor search, donor search can send donor requests to available donors.
Profile Page
Users can turn on their donor status on and off on the profile page, check rewards won, points earned, badges, total donations, and check active donations and rewards.
Message
On the message page, users who have activated the feature as active donors can receive messages from the donor requester. The donor can accept or reject requests based on their preference and can also see the details of the donor request message.
Schedule Appointment
The user can schedule a donation appointment at his convenience, choose the preferred and closest blood collection centre, date, and time. He can also reschedule based on his availability.
Branding
Logo
Typography
Colors
What did I learn?
Designing the app has been a challenging and rewarding journey. It was clear from the onset that the major challenge will be to design a mobile application that allows people desperately in need of blood to get quick access to blood in their neighbourhood and locality without distance been a challenge to them getting good health care.
I researched the pain points and the underlying reasons and opinions behind the dwindling state of blood donation. I understood the users’ needs through the interviews and conversations with people of selected categories (Medical Personnel and Individuals). Finally, I faced the challenge of creating an engaging app both from the user experience perspective and the visual perspective.
What are the next steps?
- Deep research about specific features
- Usability test of the prototype with users
- Improve user flow
- A comprehensive business model
Reflections and Final Thoughts
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this case study. If you have any feedback, I’d like to hear from you. As a freelance product designer, I cherish and admire creating productive solutions that simplify how the world evolves and how responsive and friendly designs have the power to change our world with clear logic and interface.
I enjoy uncovering and solving visual challenges and understand that the best user interfaces and products should not only hold an aesthetic value but should function seamlessly and deliver on business goals.
Currently, I’m looking for a Product Designer role. If you have any vacancies or think I will be a good fit, please let me know via joolarinde@gmail.com or any of my social media.
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