The results’ organization of researches financed by the Ministry is still strucuted in different databases, fed manually. This variety of digital systems delays the search for results and hinder the evaluation to the results brought to the brazilian population.
System for the Health Ministry
Context
The department that invests in researches that supply the needs of the public health care system, the department of Science and Technology, idealized a digital platform to gather all the studies’ results. The project proposes the data management restructuring, to improve the data processing and stimulate the national scientific and technological development.
How did I end up in this project?
Through the hackathon organized by the department, that lauched the Innovation Program (https://programadeinovacao.com.br/).
I participated in the first online stage, where I met my team (me as UX Designer, Shirley as health specialist, Marcel as developer, Lucas and Arlindo as business / marketing).
As the sole designer on the project, my role involved identifying the core problem, defining the information architecture, and designing the interfaces to best serve the end user.
Together, we have developed the concept of LabSUS, a digital laboratory that centralizes all the scientific data from several databases, using AI to read and turn this data into personalized dashboard, to speed up the process of evidences identification and reading, as well as decision making and public policies for the public health care system.
My team was one of the 5 finalists among 65 subscriptions.
Project development
Design Process
Online stage: Discovery and Research
Initially, our access was limited to documents provided by the Ministry’s team, which formed the foundation of our proposal. From the start, we decided to use the established federal government design system to ensure consistency and facilitate future implementation.
Second stage: MVP Definition
In the second stage, we had the chance to interact with some end users. Although these interactions were brief and focused primarily on the provided documentation, they were essential. I started by defining the data-driven information architecture and validating our direction to ensure the delivery of an MVP by the end of the weekend. Once approved, I developed conceptual dashboard interfaces to present to the jury.
Third stage: Refinement and demo day
During the final stage, we conducted further Q&A sessions with users, though time constraints prevented in-depth interviews. Despite this, I refined the information architecture from the previous phase to better align with user needs. I then mapped out a conceptual user journey to showcase the dashboard’s potential and the planned features, as seen in the final prototype below. The project was ultimately presented during the Ministry’s Demo Day.
Online stage
We proposed a basic dashboard to illustrate the screens, along with a backend architecture to integrate the different databases.
I focused on the users needs and in the end I developed basic screens, using the Government Design System, which is a clever solution, considering the service is supposed to be linked to the Federal Government main website.
You can check the pitch (it is in Portuguese):
Present stage in Brasilia
We improved the previous concept, adapting the screens according to a small information architecture we have developed according to the data provided to us.
Acceleration
We received the demand to focus only in one user: the DECIT manager, that became clear to be the primary user of the solution.
Studying again the pains and needs deeply
We had a couple of weeks to study the real pain of the manager in all the journey of a demand:
As an factitious example – A monkeypox outbreak, in an overview:
They need to analyse what needs to be prioritized, what they already have as scientific evidence available in known databases. In case there is a lack of information, a funding is necessary to investigate it further. It has a great process to select, investment and researches monitoring, until there are enough evidences to be used as a base to public policies, to determine the Federal Government actions to fight and treat the monkeypox.
There we have the great problem:
- To go on this journey, there is not a system that automatizes the processes and accelerates the information access;
- All the processes are still very manual, which causes several complaints of delays and errors in deliveries;
- Governing managers many times choose other databases over DECIT, as it is not a reference in evidences promotion;
- Besides, the department does not have a centralized control of all its investments and if these investments are useful to the public health care system, creating an information gap about the investments effectiveness.
Final Prototytpe
Conclusions
This learning journey about the Ministry, DECIT, Public Health Care System (SUS), scientific evidence and so on, was arduous and fullfilling.
It was a lot of absorbed information during these 6 months. I could meet many people that work hard to make the SUS a better public health care system to all brazilians. There are flaws and problems, but there are a lot of people that work everyday to overcome politics and improve the system.
I joined this project simply to participate in a hackathon to have a case to write in my portfolio, but in the end, I fell in love with the field that led me to do a Master’s degree on the field from 2024 to 2026.
The DECIT problem is VERY COMPLEX. We have just started a journey to help solving their pain points, so we are confident that our proposal will lead some improvement to the Public Health System someday, since this project has ended with the final delivery.
I hope to be part of its evolution, since it is one of the voluntary projects in my career that made me very proud!
E viva o SUS!