Lumo
Lumo is a translating tablet that seeks to illuminate and amplify the voices and autonomy of non-English speaking mothers throughout their pregnancy journey.
Project Overview
Lumo is a case study I conducted at Columbia University’s School of Engineering. I collaborated alongside a group of engineers and designers to design a solution in response to the broad design prompt posed to us: “design for mothers.”
Our team chose to design a solution for the obstacles non-english speaking mothers face in receiving prenatal and postpartum care in US hospitals. My responsibilities included conducting user interviews with non-English speaking mothers, and designing the final hi-fidelity prototype.
Role
Lead Designer, UX Researcher
Team
Researchers: Maya Joseph, Brygitte De La Cruz, Yicheng (Rico) Li
Timeline
Sep - Dec 2022
the problem spaceNon-English speaking mothers in pregnancy
Research shows that significant health disparities have been associated with a lack of English proficiency across a variety of health outcomes for women receiving care in hospitals, many of which arise from the language barrier when communicating with healthcare professionals.
1/3 of U.S. hospitals fail to provide interpreters despite being required by federal law
– Reuters Health, 2016“There is a particular risk for women... who have little or no command of the English language”
– The Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health report "Why mothers die", 2000-2002 user researchIdentifying the needs of mothers and healthcare professionals
We interviewed non-English speaking immigrant mothers who received care in US hospitals and healthcare professionals such as OBGYNs, medical translators, and nurses to identify the needs our final design should address.
Efficiency
“I would have simple questions, but the doctors would have to call upon the interpreter and they would wait… I would just not ask them because I didn’t want to go through the process of calling an interpreter. I had spent enough time at the hospital”
“Interpretation currently significantly increases the time of an appointment”
Privacy and Intimacy
“I am a private person… I do not want any additional strangers in the room”
Lack of empathy and connection
"Sometimes I felt like I wasn’t taken seriously and my questions were brushed away after being translated”
“Over the phone, body language and other cues are lost for both of us [mother and doctor] especially when I have to relay hard or upsetting information”
problem statementHow can we amplify the voices of non-English mothers receiving prenatal and postpartum care to facilitate a more empathetic connection with their healthcare professionals?
prototypingBridging the language barrier gap
It was time for ideation! We came up with two potential design solutions in response to our problem statement.
Prototype 1: Emotion Communication Translation App
The mother’s words will be translated to the healthcare provider marked in a color that reflects the patient’s emotional state, to better inform the Doctor of how to proceed in conversation with the patient.
Feedback from Mothers:
“It would be nice if the app automatically translated what the doctor said”
Prototype 2: Live Progress Screen
During delivery, patients will have a screen displayed tracking the progress of the baby.
The nurse will have a separate board of buttons in which they press to update the baby’s progress, and key phrases that will be outputted on the screen in the mother’s language to guide the mother in labor (i.e. push, relax, breathe, etc.)
Feedback from Mothers:
Liked that the app automatically translates what the doctor says without an intermediary person
“When the doctor says something, sometimes I would forget. Having that info visible, would be helpful”
User Evaluations
From the feedback from presenting our prototypes to mothers and doctors, we created three plots that rated the prototypes’ helpfulness, professionalism, and user-friendliness.
We found that the most optimal design solution would combine the most successful elements of the live feedback screen and the translation app.
Our final design should have…
Visible dispalying of information and ability to refer back to said information
Fast, automatic translation
No third-party interpreters in the room
final designLumo
Lumo is a translation tablet that harnesses existing voice recognition technology to provide live translation of prenatal and postpartum appointments.
Before appointments, mothers can select their native language on the tablet. As the mother and doctors speak, the tablet records what they are saying to provide a live translation.
Amplifying the voice of mothers without third-party translators
The conversation is synchronously transcribed onto the screen in both English and the mother’s language, allowing for the experience of a natural flow of conversation.
The design is kept minimal and sleek, so as to not overwhelm the patient and doctor with visual distractions. The pink light appears to indicate the mother is speaking, while the turquoise light appears to indicate the doctor is speaking.
Providing a sense of security and comfort
In the high-stress environment of a mother’s pregnancy journey, taking new information is challenging, especially in a foreign language. Lumo’s bookmarking and transcript feature alleviates such stress, providing the mother with a newfound sense of security.
Lumo’s bookmarking feature allows the mother to bookmark specific questions, phrases, or pieces of information she would like to review during or after the appointment.
With the consent of mothers and doctors, the mother will be able to take home a printed or digital transcript of the appointment and her bookmarked information.
Proposed Experience: Journey Map
Reflections
This was my first full-fledged case study, so it was also my first time designing something from the ground up rather than redesigning an already existing product. Going through the design process in this position was a bit daunting, as it meant we did not have a concrete idea of our product until later in the design process. But I also think that this uncertainty taught me to be comfortable with it, and to really quite literally “trust the [design] process.” As we conducted more interviews and received feedback on our prototypes, we gradually gained a steady footing in our understanding of what our final product should look like.
As the designer of the final product, I would have liked to have been able to have one more feedback session on the final product to see what parts of the visual design and functionality I could improve upon. I wanted to keep the design minimal and sleek to avoid any distractions, but looking back, I noticed that the text could still be encapsulated by a bounding box so that the phrases could be more easily distinguishable from one another when reading. I would also tweak the intensity and placement of the different light colors, as it might be distracting with the intensity it is at now. I would also want to reevaluate the overall design from an accessibility point of view, such as thinking about how this product can be improved for people with blindness and deafness.