International SOS
Assistance App
Product Design
International SOS is a company that provides medical and travel security services for people who work or study abroad. As the sole designer for their mobile app’s product team working on a visual overhaul of the app, I focused on updating the design system to support the new features that the product partners, engineers, and I decided to implement.
Using the atomic design method, I created new components and templates to meet the business requirements of the app. For example, while International SOS has an extremely extensive CMS of travel, medical, and security information, the app needed to present that information to users who are going to be accessing it while they’re in transit, with little time and attention to spare. I worked with two business analysts to simplify the oftentimes-complex content and present it in ways that fit into our persona’s user journey.
Presenting segments of destination guides according to interest level
Users have the ability to search destination guides in the itinerary section of the app. From there, they can access country- or city-level guides and learn more about these destinations. The information is comprehensive; it can range from active security alerts and country stability to a list of national holidays and the type of electrical outlets found there.
🤔 Problem
While the internal CMS is full of in-depth information that could be helpful to prepare users for their journey, the CMS itself is not well-organized, leading to confusing presentation of that info on the app.
💡 Insights
User journey maps show that the most frequent app touchpoints are when users are in transit: they are checking the app for immediately relevant travel information. Secondary users may then look for more detailed info further down.
😎 Solution
Reorganize app UI to show destination information in an inverted pyramid structure (high-to-low granularity). Work with BA to standardize hierarchy of information in the CMS across country and city guides.
High-level facts -> More detailed information
At the country-level guide, medical and security risk ratings are presented first, followed by a live feed of active alerts for the area. As they scroll down, they can expand the remaining sections of the guide (medical, security, travel) and their subsections.
If the user wants to read about these topics in more detail, they can tap on each subsection to open a long-form content card. They’re also able to navigate up and down the content card to the previous and next subsections with arrows to prevent the need for closing the card to go back and forth.
With guidance from our users’ journey maps, we hypothesized that the majority of business travellers would only be interested in high-level destination information when opening the app in transit, thus the prominent placement of risk ratings and active alerts at the home screen level. If a user were to want more detailed information, which International SOS prided itself on having — such as what hospitals were in the area, what the local crime situation is like, or even whether the tap water was safe to drink — the user would be motivated enough to tap through to find it.