MySmileBuddy

“MySmileBuddy (MSB)” MSB is a web-based digital health platform that educates and guides parents of young children through day-to-day management of risks for tooth decay – the #1 chronic disease of U.S. children.

My Experiences and Gains

As the Learning Experience Designer and UX designer, I cooperated with Subject Matters Experts(SMEs) from Columbia University College of Dental Medicine to develop the educational content, conduct user testings, and accordingly iterate this application.

Education Contents:

I developed instructional videos and flyers designed to teach children the importance of brushing their teeth and how to protect their dental health. Leveraging my expertise in Final Cut Pro and Adobe Creative Suite, I skillfully edited the video footage to suit various learning objectives, seamlessly integrating educational theories like metacognition and constructivism.

Product Iteration:

I conducted six rounds of user testing sessions with dentists, carefully collecting the results and engaging in extensive discussions with my team. Based on the feedback and insights gathered, I iterated on the design functions to enhance the overall user experience. Simultaneously, I also took on the responsibility of troubleshooting any bugs that arose and collaborated with the CS team to draft a comprehensive technical document for updating our website.

At present, I am actively conducting the second round of user interviews, specifically targeting families, in order to further refine and improve our product through iterative feedback.

Overview

Role

Learning Experience Designer

UX Designer

Timeline

Nov 2022- Current

Client

Columbia University College of Dental Medicine

Introduction

“MySmileBuddy (MSB)” MSB is a web-based digital health platform that guides parents of young children through day-to-day management of risks for tooth decay – the #1 chronic disease of U.S. children.

MSB complements and minimizes conventional dental treatment that is expensive and imposing on children -- and too often fails to prevent new cavities.

Since 2008, MSB has been developed, tested, and refined by a team of dental, medical, social service, and education professionals. MSB builds on established principles of behavior change and disease management. It educates, assesses risk, sets goals, plans action, and provides supportive follow-up.

MSB’s digital platform can be used by parents or delivered by coaches in a variety of home, office, and community sites – including Head Start, WIC, and Home Visiting Programs.

In a trial with over 1200 young children all with cavities before age six, MSB was feasible, acceptable, and effective:

99% of parents said they would recommend MSB.
The proportion of parents reporting that their children have poor oral health dropped from 51% to 2%.
Tooth decay progression stopped in the majority of children.

1. Learning Through Survey

As a valuable addition to the survey about children's dental condition, I implemented an information button.

This feature aims to create a learning opportunity for parents who may encounter unfamiliar terms or question purposes they don't fully understand.

By clicking on the question mark, parents can access relevant information and gain a deeper understanding of dental health, empowering them to make informed decisions and actively participate in their children's dental care.

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2. Education Flyers & Videos

I developed educational flyers to support the Action stage. I received the educational content from SMEs and designed them into templates.

These flyers serve as effective follow-up materials aimed at providing ongoing education to families. To reinforce behavior change and enhance understanding, we implemented a weekly delivery system via text and email.

I also collaborated with a video vendor to create instructional videos on the website for parents and kids to learn.

Through these regular communications, we consistently remind and educate families about the necessary behavioral changes, while also explaining the underlying reasons behind these recommendations.

Click to check the video on YouTube

3. Product Iteration through user testing

In addition to troubleshooting various bugs, a significant part of my role involved redesigning the layout of the most crucial component on our platform: the diet widget in the survey. By revamping this section, we aimed to enhance its usability and effectiveness. The diet widget allows parents to input information about their child's consumption of food and drinks, enabling us to analyze their risk of developing cavities.

This data collection process plays a vital role in providing valuable insights and personalized recommendations for maintaining optimal dental health.

Previous Design - Testing Foundings:

Users forgot to switch on the Foods/Drinks whenever selected a time slot to choose all the data needed
The chosen images only have a blue outline; the user doesn't know which one is chosen.
After selecting a time slot, nothing is shown to indicate that the time slot is already completed.
Users were confused by the food and drink photos in our system. The displayed photos didn't clearly represent the categories, causing uncertainty and hindering accurate selections.
Users lacked clarity on the contents of the food and drink categories.

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Re-Design by Anqi

Time Slot:
- Scroll down to choose the time slot
- The chosen time slot will turn grey
- Current time slot will show blue
Both drink and food categories will be listed on one long page. All categories will be presented with an image and a text description of the category below the image.
Show four items in one line rather than four
Drop down box to show the details
- Click the whole box 👉triangle down 👉show the details & blur other items👉 click the delete icon or categories box to close.

4. User Testing

I and my teammate, Rong prepared user testing scripts for dentists to successfully conduct the user testing.

Cleo Wang