The U.S. vision care market is valued at more than $25 billion, but could be much larger if consumers would get regular eye exams. In fact, the American Optometric Association says that the average person visits an eye care professional only every three or four years. A Prevent Blindness America study claims that the economic impact of vision problems in the U.S. is estimated at $51.4 billion.

Over 90% of users said that EyeSite™ was easy to use and didn’t take too long. They also said that they would recommend it to a friend.

While at CIBA VISION, a global leader in the research, development, and manufacturing of contact lenses and lens care products, an entrepreneurial leader named Bart Foster saw an opportunity to do something to change the game for their industry—and for the consumer. He started a new company called SoloHealth to capitalize on the growing consumer preference for self-directed healthcare services.

Challenge

A major retailer offered to conduct a pilot test of SoloHealth’s game-changing inaugural product, the EyeSite™ self-service vision-testing kiosk. The challenge was to move past a rough proof-of-concept as fast as possible to a real product that would be suitable for in-store use. We worked with SoloHealth, the hardware supplier, the software supplier, and SoloHealth’s agency to create and implement a shared vision of the kiosk.

User Interface

We developed general interaction guidelines that included rapid iterations of detailed wireframes. As we progressed through each iteration of the user interface, MAYA’s interdisciplinary team quickly evaluated the design using standard usability “rules of thumb.”

User Feedback

When EyeSite™ was ready for the in-store pilot program, MAYA developed a comprehensive research plan to gather feedback from real users, collect data to help validate SoloHealth’s business plan, and create a path for continuous improvement. We visited the store where the kiosk was being field-tested, observing, interviewing, and videotaping users. We also developed an in-store survey that a research agency administered to 200 people.

Results

Just six months after we began our collaboration with SoloHealth, EyeSite™ was the talk of the April 2008 KioskCom Self-Service Expo and the Digital Signage Show. It garnered three Awards of Excellence: “Best Healthcare Deployment,” “Best New Innovation in a Kiosk Deployment,” and “Best in Show.”