Santé Québec

Context

Santé Québec's directory of health and social services was mainly used by clinicians. The goal was now to open it to the general public, so we evaluated whether citizens could find the right service, based on their needs and location.

My role

In a team of 4, I took part in designing and running the study, from the test protocol to the analysis and recommendations.

The challenge

Moving from an administrative directory to a tool that can guide anyone, whatever their age, digital skills or knowledge of the health system.

What I did

Segmented recruitment. 20 participants, split by generation (Gen Z, Y, X and Baby Boomers), in person and remotely.

Task-based tests. 4 realistic scenarios, from finding a blood test at a CLSC to a support group for an Alzheimer's caregiver.

Card sorting. An open sort of 25 services to understand how citizens group them.

Mixed measures. Success, time and pages visited, combined with SUS, ASQ and TAM scores.

Results

SUS score of 59.7, below the usability standard, despite strong trust in the source.

4.8 pages on average for simple tasks, where 2 or 3 should be enough.

14 of 20 participants reported a high cognitive load, and over half couldn't classify at least one service in the card sort.

Knowing how the health network works predicted success (r = 0.46). Digital skills did not.

What I learned

The barrier wasn't technology, it was vocabulary. People who understood how the health system is organized found their way; others got lost, whatever their age. Designing for the public means speaking their language, not the institution's.