THE PROBLEM
60% of the world’s popular suffers from dental fear and 3.5 billion people globally suffers from oral diseases; this is more than half of the population suffering from a disease that can easily be prevented just by going to the dentist (World DentalFederation, 2018). Regular dental visits are so significant in getting early diagnosis and treatments of tooth decay or infections, yet 25% of Canadians do not visit the dentist regularly due to varying factors related to fear. Dental fear is so common but the resources for tackling this fear is so limited.
HOW MIGHT WE...
How might we assist and motivate young children to young adults in overcoming the expectant fear of going to the dentist by tackling the dreaded dental chair experience and making it more comfortable.
THE SOLUTION
Mindful Adventures is a virtual reality mobile game application that allows patients to feel more comfortable during their dental procedures as the game helps in alleviating the dreaded dental chair experience by whisking users into an another world, far away from all the sound and sight of the treatment room. By being immersed in a fun adventure of their choice, and tasked with completing challenges and missions that goes towards earning points that can be exchanged for rewards, will allow users to feel less fearful of the dentist and more relaxed during their appointment.
Children to young adults who fears the dental chair experience. However, everyone who doesn't like being in the dental chair is able to benefit from this solution in some ways.
Over 4 months long process with user-focused research and data-driven iterations, that led to an Aha and pivotal moment in the focused area. A shift in direction brought stronger and rational design choices, helping to create a more meaningful impact in the problem space.
These 4 design principles were selected to provide a foundational support for the proposed solution as it helps in clarifying the design choices made.
USERS: BENEFIT SOUGHT
People are more motivated to go to the dentist if they feel comfortable during their appointment.
Dental procedures can feel invasive, making people less incline to go back.
It is important for users to be able to relax in such a high stress environment.
The anticipation of what comes next during the procedure builds up fear, and so allowing users to feel occupied helps relieve the fear.
It is significant for users to have a sense of control over the situation, this means being able to communicate with the dentist while also being able to choose how they feel during their appointments.
THE PIVOT
The project's goal in tackling dental fear initially focused on improving the booking experience and the relationship between dentist and patient through the offered transparency of the appointments and the ability to connect directly with dentists. However, due to further research, it was evident that this did not address the actual fear that people still experience while at the dentist. A pivot was made to narrow down the focus even further to a specific pain point. From there, the focus shifted from improving the booking of appointments to improving the dental chair experience.
AHA MOMENT
Through research, it was learned that dental fear/hate stems from many factors and there isn’t just one overall thing that people fears the most; it is a collection of different factors that drives the senses which pushes the fear in people. However, it can be seen that a number of the most common fears happens when people are sitting in the dental chair.
- The fear of the needle.
- The fear of pain.
- The anticipation of what will happen next.
- The sounds of the drills.
BRAINSTORMING
USER JOURNEY
Mindful Adventures is used during the dental procedures, when the users are in the dental chair and so the key changes that happens in the user journey is focused in the procedure stages.The user journey helps to show how a user’s mood can change with a slight difference in the procedural stages. It is important to recognize that the additional steps in putting the phone in the headset is no longer an issue as users are given the headset to be worn directly.
FINAL SOLUTION : DESIGN PRINCIPLES
FINAL SOLUTION - PROTOTYPING
The UI of the final app prototype went through several changes after user testing feedbacks and heuristic analysis were conducted. It is important that the app is easy to use as it hopes to target a wide range of users, and so making sure that the final product meets the criteria of the best UX practices is key in ensuring the design is rational and thoughtful throughout.
USER-TESTING KEY QUOTES
“Being able to redeem points is like an added cherry-on-top.”
“This has a lot of potential to be used in a variety of different settings like hospitals, and other high stress environments, especially with young children.”
“I think providing in game tutorials that briefly explains how to use the different functions will be very helpful, ones that people can follow along but it needs to be short yet still effective.”
“What is stopping them from playing outside of the dentist office and earning the points all at once?”
“What if the person doesn’t have a phone? Can they still feel comfortable and take part in this VR game?”
MINDFUL ADVENTURES:
KEY FEATURES
ONBOARDING
This appointment sign-in acts as the sign-up/logging into the game, basically triggering the access to the game for the patients who sign ins. With this, users don’t need to use their own phones nor need to download the app; they simply use the ones provided by the dental office. This makes it more accessible to those who don’t have a phone of their own and so anyone is able to enjoy this solution and it is not limited to those who have phones.
Selecting an Adventure
The location library offers an array of scenic locations to explore, making it fun with every dental visit. Each locations is accompanied by a narrative to help pull the users right into the adventure. This is the main page in which users will be interacting most with since this is where they choose an adventure of choice.
In-game Experience
& Guides
Trying to mimic the real-life experience that users will encounter while wearing the headset, these screens help in telling that. The adventures all take place in real life to help users feel as though they are truly in another world. The toolbox is the main component that users will be interacting with during their adventure.
Beginners need guides but expert players doesn’t, and so the help button is within easy reach but not obstructing those who doesn’t need it. For players who do need a little help, there are appropriate resources and even an in-game guide to make sure users are enjoying their adventure to the fullest.
Ending Experience
It is important that the overall experience, from beginning to end is a well-rounded, enjoyable experience, and so the ending is just as important as the beginning. The ending makes sure that the users experience aren’t abruptly interrupted as the appointment comes to an end with the help of corresponding the appointment time with the adventure time. It is important for users to know how much they have accomplished within the game as this helps in strengthening that positive feeling and makes the users feel good overall. Also, showcasing appreciation for going to the dentist goes a long way.
Reflection
I have learned so much throughout this long journey filled with incredible problem solving, designing, endless stress, and new discoveries. I will be lying if I didn’t say that several times throughout this project that I wanted to give up and scrap everything. I didn’t think months long project could be this difficult but I’m incredibly grateful for the all outcomes this project had lead me to. While not every outcome was positive, I can definitely say that each outcome lead me to more learnings. I know I had a late semester pivot and if I were to pivot earlier I believe I could have added more things to the project to elevate it to the next stage. However, I’m glad that I pivoted to a new solution, one that I believe in and is clearly a solution to the focused problem space. I know there is so much more to improve on and the project is not even close to done.
Next Steps
- Expand the narratives of the offered adventures.
- Conduct more user testings on younger users to refine the current solution and refine the prototyper even more.
- Strengthen solution with more research regarding younger users.
- Expand the game to different areas of focus( meditative, artistic, mystery.. etc)
