Problem Space

What areas of government services have multi-lingual issues?‍

Topic Discovery

The project started with research into government services

• How do government services work?
  

• Creation of ecosystem maps of key government services for better understanding
  

Chosen area of focus

• Multi-lingual issues in Canadian Healthcare
  

• The healthcare system in Canada stood out as a service area that is struggling to provide care for multi-lingual minorities
  

Chosen Problem Space:

• Access to doctors
  

• Primary research revealed that “access to doctors” is a frequent and prominent issue that negatively impacts many Canadians.
  

• Finding doctors is problematic in Canada due to a combination of doctor shortages, lack of proper information, and the Canadian healthcare system structure
  

• These issues are only amplified for multi-lingual minorities
  

Research of problem space

Why is it so hard to find an available doctor in Canada?

• After covid, there has been an increased demand on family doctors
  

• Canadian healthcare requires each individual to have an assigned family doctor
  

• Existing doctors are looking to retire while there is a lack of newly trained doctors
  

• These issues are only amplified for multi-lingual minorities
  

Link to article source

Effect of problem of multi-lingual minorities

A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal has concluded that patients who speak languages other than English are up to 54% less likely to die or experience severe health outcomes when paired with physicians who speak the same language as them.

Link to source

• A patient's health and well being is increased when they go to a doctor who speaks the same primary language
  

• Study shows importance of helping multilingual minorities match up with doctors who speak the same language as them
  

Competitive analysis - Existing solutions

How can non English and French speaking Canadians find doctors with current existing systems?

1. Government of Canada Website

The following are recommended actions by Canadian government website:

• Asking someone you know for recommendations
  

• Contacting a settlement service provider
  

• Contact community health centre
  

• Bring an interpreter to walk in clinic
  

• Find doctors who have interpretation services
  

• Check online for help from province or territory
  

These recommendations are vague and leave Canadians with no actionable steps to take

2. Settlement service tool on the government website

This website is a tool that is recommended on the government of Canada website.

• This tool is simply a list of all the service health providers
  

• There is no way to arrange list in any order based on search parameters
  

• There is no way to find a specific location or territory to do the search
  

• Users have to manually go through the entire list making the experience confusing and frustrating for non english/french speakers
  

3. Google search

This method involves using google search and local location services through searching "doctors near me"

• This method requires calling clinics to check availability
  

• Speaking to clinic reception without knowing english can be problamatic
  

• There can be confusion in navigating a clinic's personal website found through google search.
  

4. Finddoctorbc.com

Being one of the best tools found, this website helps patients find clinics that actively take new patients.

• Features list of clinics with a "status indicator" for new patients acceptance
  

• Walk-in and non walk-in status is also shown
  

• Although multilingual minorities can use this tool, they would still struggle finding doctors who speak the same language as them
  

Service Blueprint of User Scenario

• Showing journey of an iranian immigrant attempting to find a doctor
  

• Key user knows little English and French
  

• Service blueprint highlights key pain points to address throughout the journey
  

Identified touch points

• The following touch points between the patient and clinic were key factors of a bad user journey.
  

• Touch points are mainly about transmission of information between the 2 parties.
  

Concept of solution - Doctogether.com

• A community driven website helping multilingual minorities connect with each other
  

• Communities who speak the same language can help each other with doctor recommendations
  

• Website will feature up-to-date availability statuses as well as supported languages at the office
  

• Users can filter clinics through availability and language selection
  

Feedback on concept from peers

Concept was presented to a panel of interaction designers through a storyboard draft.

Some of the comments given:

• Does the website UI itself support multiple languages?
  

• Clarification is needed on the term "walk-in clinic" because clinics may call themselves walk-in clinics via requiring an appointment
  

• How do users come across the platform/website?
  

• What happens if there is no clinic with the same language?
  

• Can users of the platform help each other on matters other than medical related situations?
  

Final Design concept

• Website features a language selector to change the language of the website UI itself
  

• In the hero section, there are 2 option. One option to find a clinic and another to join a community.
  

• Join community section features group chats showing language flag and the number of members.
  

• The clinic tracker section allows users to search for clinics using location and language as filters
  

• Users will be able to see availability status alongside a contact button
  

Concept Video

Final Documentation with research