Athena Breast Health Network User Experience

The Athena Breast Health Network, a collaboration of five UC medical centers, aims to improve breast cancer care through research and data-driven insights. It seeks to develop a “rapid learning system” by integrating clinical and research processes to personalize breast cancer prevention, screening, treatment, and care.

To build better predictive risk models, Athena collected detailed family histories for breast cancer patients. However, the single-question per screen questionnaire, intended for iPad completion before appointments, took at least 45 minutes, and often longer for patients with large extended families or many family-members with cancer diagnoses. This disrupted clinic schedules and required nursing staff assistance.

My suggestions included:

• Creating a desktop interface for patients to complete the questionnaire at home before their first appointment. This included a reminder system.
• Ditching the lengthy single-question format and allowing non-linear information entry. This fit with my mental model research and decreased cognitive load.
• Adding a “Save and Finish Later” feature that allowed patients to enter data over multiple sessions, benefitting both patients and the clinic staff. It also eliminated the need for patients to rely solely on memory, leading to more accurate data collection. 

Deliverables included research on mental models for family history recording, wireframes, desktop design suggestions, and a presentation of my work at the annual Athena Breast Health Network Conference.