K Care – A Free Medical Clinic
Environment | Branding | UX Design
Project: Create the branding and environment for a free medical clinic located in your hometown. Find the building, create unique marketing, and figure out what your community needs.
Kalamazoo
Born and raised in Kalamazoo, I was so excited to design something for the hometown that had treated me so well. In my research, I discovered that the free medical clinic niche was not being filled in Kalamazoo.
Of the clinics that existed, they were either inaccessible to parts of town or unaccommodating to the busy schedules of those who needed it most.
I decided addressing those concerns should be the mission statement of K Care, creating an environment that’s inviting, intuitive, and built for walk-in appointments.
“... I had to get up at 6AM to make an appointment and still didn’t get one.”
“... I waited for over an hour for an appointment I scheduled ahead of time...”
“... The staff was snippy and rude, but I can’t go anywhere else...”
These insights are from the real reviews of clinics in Kalamazoo. Of these clinics, they were all either inaccessible to parts of town or unaccommodating to the busy schedules of those who needed it most.
Where?
I walked around downtown Kalamazoo to scope out real buildings and locations for K Care. Where I landed was this cool little place that I loved for two reasons: big windows and super accessible to the community. This street is super popular for foot traffic, so it’d be perfect for both getting the word out about it’s existence and making it easy to find.
Local Advertisements
If I know one thing about people from Kalamazoo– they’re proud of it. I designed these posters to be posted around the city and showing recognizable sights from the city overlaid with the K Care heart to show how connected they are to their community.
Physical Touchpoints
While designing the physical touchpoints for this brand, I wanted them to be bold and trendy– something that even people who don’t need the services provided by K Care can be invested in and be drawn to as a part of their community.
On the outside covering the windows, triangle stickers with the names of volunteers, donors, and patients alike cover the walls and continue expanding as the K Care family grows.
The App
To prototype this app, I applied the Atomic Method in order to speed up the process.
I began by creating a page and breaking down every element to its smallest atom. Then I used those atoms to create molecules that repeat throughout the app, eventually creating whole pages that I could copy and past without wasting extra time setting type.
Functions
My research showed that the most important information on this website would be what is K Care, where are they, and do I qualify for their services? On our home screen we wanted to be community focused and get people care fast, so a banner advertising their community events was added and everything was arranged in order of importance.
Research also showed that it was important to build trust between patients and their care providers, so our two first pages are details about K Care and profiles that allow users to feel more comfortable with what to expect.
Volunteers
Free medical clinics like K Care depend on the donations of people’s time and money in order to function. Our second two pages focus on that, making it easy to learn about the organization and donate quickly.
What’s next?
Develop wayfinding for the interior of the building.
Refine web design and develop a functional prototype.
Expand on poster series and marketing in general.
Speak to more real uninsured Kalamazoo citizens to better understand their specific needs.