Wishplay converts virtual reality from being an entertaining technology to a real experimented surrounding in a hospital and hospice environments. With this, Wishplay helps to enhance mental health, increase physical exercises, rewind a memory and bring a destination in place. Patients, at any age, have just to make a wish and wish play will make it come true through a VR visual.


 

Design Experience Aim:

This project is a collaboration with Wishplay to design an onboarding system experience to guarantee the safety of the patient; as we believe, safety always comes first. 

The goal is to be able to reach long-term hospitalized patients to enhance their quality of life through VR experiences by:

  • Creating a platform that is the Wikipedia of VR content
  • Intuitive enough that anyone can use it
  • A web-based app that controls content experience
  • Make Wishplay technology universal, inexpensive and scalable.

The onboarding system experience was designed based on primary and secondary research. It also has been tested in one of the Human Factors Testing Lab designed environment/room at Toronto General Hospital. A checklist was proposed to familiarize the patient with the VR after adjusting the back-end process of being eligible to use VR.



Process

Research Core Insights

The VR experience can be life-changing for the User and the people that care about them. Witnessing the Users happiness, empowerment and satisfaction can be inspiring for all stakeholders (users, family members, friends, physicians, etc.). It is with caution and an abundance of care that we design the onboarding and preparatory phase of the Wishplay experience. In order to identify Wishplay’s priorities for the onboarding process, safety, ethics and technological use have to be well connected.

Virtual Reality and Patients:

  • Long term chronic care settings
  • Psychological
  • Physiological

Ethics:

  • Respect decisions and boundaries
  • Designer accountability 
  • Right to access internet

VR Interactivity and Content:

  • Headsets usability
  • Content and content acquisition


Research Analysis 

Possible Risks:

  • Side effects as addiction, psychological trauma, nausea, discomfort, distress and other psychological or physiological side effects.
  • It might be triggering or traumatic if the user is susceptible
  • Vulnerable to the agendas of stakeholders other than the user.
  • Checks and balances to ensure that the users' concerns are paramount.

Testing Assumptions:

  • VR technology has been tested safe and effective for the general user.
  • VR content is seamless and fully realized as a technology.
  • Volunteers will be experienced users (onboarders) for the duration of the process and trained extensively.
  • The user will have to be medically cleared for VR.


Testing Insights


Testing Process

Due to some testing shortages, observing and interacting with a possible user in the Human Factor Media Lab was hard to do. Thus, a persona was created and three different actors (individually) pretended to be the interviewer (volunteer/actor). 

The test took place in a private hospital room arranged setting, with 3 participants (volunteer/actor,  test facilitator, user/patient)

Usability Objectives:

  • Test the checklist approach
  • Verify the system’s questions &  answers.
  • Ensure that the chronology of the system is  functional.
  • Make sure to maintains user’s safety 
  • Test the checklist clearness


Training Simulation 

Each of the 3 volunteers had to go through a brief training before testing the onboarding process. The training included:

  • Explanation of the onboarding process
  • Going through the checklist
  • What is in the ‘Kit’ 
  • How to use the given devices
  • Questions and answers between volunteer and facilitator.

Before entering the room, volunteers were given a kit, which included:

  • Complete VR headset (Battery, cable)
  • Disinfectant wipes
  • Tablet (Intractable Checklist, Level 1 content) 

The testing was measured upon:

  •  Volunteer training simulation (10 Minutes)
  •  Volunteer meeting with the user (20 Minutes)
  • Debrief from the volunteer (10 Minutes)



Room setting in the Human Factors Media Lab

The kit was given to volunteers before entering the testing room



The Testing Phase

Expectations:

  • Volunteers will be able to follow the checklist.
  • Volunteers will follow a certain pattern.
  • The testing will not accede 20 minutes

During the testing:

  • Volunteers approached the user each time with a different attitude, characteristics and responses.
  • Volunteers struggle with the checklist; in terms of handling the tasks and ethics of responding to the user.

Interactions:

  •  Various interactions (verbal and physical) between the user and the 3 different volunteers took place.
  • The user was worried about the headset weight; volunteer (1) said a positive well-noted remark: "Why won’t you hold it with your hands”

After Testing (Debrief):

 After each meeting, feedback and suggestions from the assigned volunteer by asking questions as:

  • At which point were you struggling the most?
  • Did anything cause discomfort?
  • Do you have any suggestions?

Testing Scope, Findings and Analysis

The testing was measured upon:

  • The duration was set for each of the testing sections.
  • The guidance and understanding of the checklist.
  • Remarks during the presentation.
  • Feedback from volunteers.

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Requesting to Make a Wish

The back-end process and the checklist verification were adjusted, updated and restructured according to the test findings and analysis. It was found that:

  • The checklist needs to be simpler and easier to read to avoid being a distraction. Looking at Checklist can be distracting for Volunteers and users. Volunteer needs to keep visual contact with User.
  • Volunteer training is the key to successfully completing steps to onboarding. Comprehensive training will make the Checklist a (redundant) safety measure rather than a menu to follow.
  • The onboarding process took under 20 min as planned. It might be longer with complicated information; however, an average of 30 minutes should be sufficient in most cases.
  • The volunteer should be sitting within a patient-level is suggested (eye to eye).
  • The wording around the need to clean the headset at the end of the visit needs to be practiced (within the volunteers' training).
  • There needs to be away for a volunteer to see what is being shown on the headset to the user to cue start and stops and to verify content.
  • Accessing the checklist again after showing the video on the tablet to the user, waste time and cause the user stress.
  • The setting for the demonstration should be quiet (no external noises from the hallway).
  • Time to load content is critical. Preloading to prevent delays would make the process less anxious for both volunteers and users.
  • Recording the interaction on the tablet would be useful (define exactly how the user interacted in case the volunteer changed).

Before testing: suitable patient strategy for a back-end 'wish request'.

After testing: back-end steps to request the 'make a wish' journey. 


Checklist used during the testing phase















Restructured Checklist

This project is a back-end proposal.

Collaboration with WISHPLAY

(Team-Work-Project)

Using Format