Case Study - CCS Cases
Web Application
Project Overview
CCS Cases is a medical education platform used to prepare doctoral residents for the CCS portion of the USMLE step 3 exam. The exam simulates real world medical environments, enabling students to evaluate the presentation of a patient and order the appropriate exams and treatment.
Our client first approached us for this project with the goal of moving their java-based service to a web-based platform. In this project, our client handled backend development, DNS configuration and hosting internally. Boxhouse was hired to lead the front-end buildout and further design of the user interface and user experience.
Initial State of the Project
When starting this project, the basic UI design of the project had already been laid out. However, it lacked many of the essential functional requirements necessary to facilitate the move to the web based platform. To kick things off, we worked to address the technical limitations of the present implementation and alleviated problems with responsiveness for supporting mobile platforms.
After carrying out our plan, our client successfully shipped the product and began encouraging users to transition from the java platform onto the new web platform. The product was well received, and was quickly preferred over the java-based platform.
Report Card
In order to give users more insight into their performance and how they compared to other users, we worked with our client to introduce the report card feature. This feature gives users a more comprehensive overview of their performance when compared to the individual case grading page.
Overhauling the UI
After the initial success of the project, our client was interested in improving users' experiences on the platform with a more intuitive and inviting UI. Boxhouse was asked to produce design mockups detailing how the interface could be improved across desktop and mobile platforms.
The core of the application, being the exam, was designed to resemble the real exam. So, this was off limits for design overhauls. However, the case selector, account settings and grading feedback pages were in need of a cohesive design upgrade that better reflected the brand of the platform.
We made several key decisions in the process of redesigning the software, putting together a design system and color scheme that could be used for a consistent visual experience across the platform. Read on to learn more about the changes we made.
The Case List
The case list is used for users to select the case they would like to practice. Each case represents a different scenario for the user to practice their diagnostic proficiency and reach the correct diagnosis for the case.
With the case list redesign, we sought to improve the visibility of cases that users wanted to practice. By introducing a variety of filtering and sorting mechanisms, we nailed down that objective in a visually appealing and intuitive way.
Grading Feedback
After completing a particular case, the user receives feedback elaborating on what was done correctly and what could be improved upon. During this redesign we worked with our client to introduce the Action Log Timeline. The goal was to allow users to see the decisions they made chronologically, helping them to better understand how they could improve.
Account Settings
Last to update in this project was the account settings page. In this overhaul, we strove to give users the ability to customize their experience to better meet their needs. This included many configuration toggles and theme options
Final Words
Our experience working on CCS Cases was one of many challenges and even more successes. Having the opportunity to impact the future of tens of thousands of doctors all over the world has given us a great appreciation for the rigorous difficulty of their studies. If you'd like to learn more about how the team here at Boxhouse can bring your vision to life, reach out today by giving us a call at 216-423-5924 or scheduling a consultation with our online consultation scheduler.
If you'd like to view the software live for yourself, you can do so by visiting app.ccscases.com and creating a demo account from there.