Cancer Treatment Centers of America

Cancer Treatment Center of America

Cancer Survivor Tree

Concept Development / UX / UI

Overview

In the past, The survivor tree was an actual tree that cancer survivors planted on the hospital property. Over time, the hospital ran out of land to plant trees. Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) then created one big tree that would live in the lobby of each treatment center. The leaves of the tree represented the cancer survivors. Each survivor leaf included the name and date that marked their five-year anniversary of living with or surviving cancer.

In recent years, CTCA decided to remove the huge tree in the lobby of each hospital. They replaced them with a digitized version of the tree that’s accessible to patients and visitors on an iPad located in a hallway of each hospital. They called the digital version of the tree the interactive survivor tree or IST.

The Challenge

The first ISTs lived on an iPad kiosk with a large HD monitor located in a hallway somewhere in the hospital. Patients and guests had to be at the hospital to connect with the IST.

The Solution

We set out to develop an IST allowing cancer survivors to access their leaf and connect with other survivors from anywhere.

Deliverables

User Interviews
Persona
Whiteboard Sketches
Wireframes
User interface design

Cancer Survivor Interviews

These are quotes from the interviews I conducted with cancer patients, five-year survivors, and caregivers. They highlight the frustrations people had with the original IST.

“The survivor tree located in the lobby represented a symbol of hope.”

“I’ve lost touch with other patients with no way to find them.”

“I want to share what I know about my experience with new patients.”

“Couldn’t access their Survivor Leaf outside the hospital.”

Themes

I clustered insights from the interviews into three themes that established the goals for the new product. The IST will be a success if it provides hope, empowers people with valuable information, and connects with the cancer-fighting community.

Hope

We heard consistently from survivors that the Survivor Tree offered hope. Patients are introduced to the Tree upon arrival. They immediately make it a goal to have their name on that tree.

Empowerment

Whether the person we talked to was a caregiver or survivor, it was crystal clear that they are empowered when they are equipped with accurate and relevant information.

Community

We learned that CTCA is a special place where unique connections are made. The community of patients, doctors, nurses, and non-medical staff help them navigate their journey.

An Interactive Survivor Tree with impact

These personas were created to evoke empathy.

Sketching the features

To identify the core feature set I sketched a few screens that I could then wireframe.

Survivor Tree site map

This bird’s eye view of the interactive survivor tree lays the groundwork for creating wireframes.

Wireframes

I wireframed the features sketched on the whiteboard taking the product to another level of fidelity.

interactive survivor tree wireframe home

The infinite, auto-scrolling home screen

The home screen provides hope, information, empowerment, and community support. The concept is a slow-scrolling page of survivor leaves, stories, and resources, all designed to capture the magnitude of the survivor tree and what CTCA offers its patients.

Survivor Leaf

The benefits of the survivor leaf are three-fold. Cancer survivors can share their stories as a testimony for those seeking hope. For the recently diagnosed, the survivor leaf provides a window into what their experience could be and it offers genuine hope. From the hospital’s perspective, CTCA patients and survivors are important advocates for the hospital. Through the witness of CTCA cancer survivors, prospective patients learn how choosing the best care is essential for their cancer journey.

Resources

Caregivers and survivors are empowered when they are equipped with accurate and relevant information.

Mid-fidelity UI Design

Since this project was intended to be a conceptual design, my focus went into research, building empathy, and high-level concept design. The purpose of creating a user interface for many of the screens was to be used as a tool for the stakeholders present to the internal executive teams.