Equal

Equal is an app to help HIV-positive individuals become more connected and well-informed. It is an end-of-course project of a computer science undergraduate student from UEPB (Universidade Estadual da Paraíba), Brazil. I was his advisor and guided him throughout the entire process until the high-fidelity mockup and technical report were ready to be presented to an academic committee.

Role: Advisor

Team: João Paulo Regis da Silva (UX and UI Designer)

Period: 4 months - 2022

Understanding the user

The research

The first step was to conduct exploratory research aiming to understand how people with HIV in Brazil interact in society, highlighting what difficulties, pains, and fears are experienced daily.

Information was gathered from:

  • Scientific research papers

  • YouTube channels from/for HIV-positive people

  • Netflix documentary about HIV in Brazil

Research findings: user pain points

The problem and the goal

After understanding our users' pain points, it was necessary to start thinking about what is the problem that we wanted to solve.

The question that emerged was: Can we somehow help Brazilians with HIV feel less isolated?

With that in mind, we wanted to provide a digital space where those who want to interact and be informed can reach others without fear of prejudice.

Defining the scope

The specs

At this point, searching for apps aimed at people with HIV was crucial. It helped us discover that two very well-known social networks were available (POZ Personal and PositiveSingles) but were aimed at dating.

From a Brazilian perspective, Posithividades was an app that provided a space for news, chats, interviews, and medical guides. It was discontinued and became a virtual shop focused on visibility, prevention and information about HIV.

Knowing those two types of indirect competitors, we started specifying our app. The functional requirements were defined, spanning the Registration, Profile, and Login features and three main sections to address the user pain points: Public forum, Private chat, and Specialized support.

Registration, profile and login

  • The user can register in the app and create a personal or professional profile.

  • The user must confirm and validate their registration via a token.

  • The user can edit their profile settings. Different options are available for personal and professional profiles.

  • The user can log in via Email, Facebook or Gmail.

  • The user can reset the password whenever they want

Public forum

  • The user can navigate through the forum's home screen.

  • The user can browse popular topics through a pre-defined filter menu (Trending, Recommended, Recent) and tags that categorize them.

  • The user can search for a specific topic.

  • The user can create a new post and add tags to it.

  • The user can view an open post and interact with other users there. They can also like, favourite, and comment on posts.

Private chat

  • Through a chat feature, the user can chat privately with other users, view online users, and search for older conversations.

Specialized support

  • Depending on location and preference, the user can seek specialized help, healthcare, or support centres.

  • The user can contact specialized help through a private chat.

Constructing the solution

The results

In this final phase, a low-fidelity prototype was created to provide insights and help with decisions about the information architecture.

Prior to the development of the high-fidelity prototype, aspects of the visual interface were also taken into account, such as colours, typography and the logo.

Low-fidelity wireframes

Colours, typography and the final logo

The high-fidelity mockup

View of a selected
Doctor profile

Prototype overview

The high-fidelity mockup was developed according to iPhone 12 standards, following Apple's IOS Design Kit6 and Google's Material Design Kit7. Adobe XD was the chosen tool.

The final result encompasses 26 frames featuring all functional requirements previously listed.

The Splash and Welcome screens and all the Specialized Support feature screens are shown here.

Specialized Support Feature

Specialized support
home screen

Search for a Doctor
or Psychologist

Results of the
specialized search

Analyzing the results

The suggestions

The project was very well received and approved with maximum grade by the academic committee. Some ideas were suggested:

  • Perform tests to get feedback of real users and improve the prototype

  • Try to reach (and pitch) the Brazilian Ministry of Health or the Health Secretary of Paraíba State to support the prototype improvement and future development

  • Pay close attention to privacy issues if it becomes a real product

The extras

The technical report (in Portuguese) produced about this project is publicly available at the State University of Paraíba's online library and can be downloaded at this link.

Some of the images on this page were produced by João Paulo Regis da Silva.