GRIFFIN'S EDGE
UI Design For Medical Training Simulation
SYMPTOM EDITOR
I was tasked with designing the UI for the Symptom Editor. The purpose of this screen was to allow an instructor to create different unique symptoms, so that they can create new tests for students in the application without needing us to constantly update the application whenever they need new symptoms. The user is able to set the symptoms name, a description of the symptom, the tell or feature that the student looks for that gives away the symptom, an icon for that symptom. There are also text boxes that allow the user to set up different responses that the virtual patient would have to the student treating them. The color scheme was made to match the logo provided by the client, the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine.
SYMPTOMMAKER SCRIPT
I programmed the functionality of the SymptomMaker script as well. This included storing all of the user input from the text fields, saving it as an asset file in a specific folder, and telling the user if there were any errors, such as there already being a symptom with the same name or if they didn't fill out all of the input fields.
POST MORTEM
What Went Right:
This project allowed me to develop my skills in UI, and develop more advanced techniques for Unity's Canvas and other related game objects. I worked on the final Symptom Editor scene. I used a scroll view to add all of the input fields without them crowding the screen, added color to the different text and fields to match the SCNM logo's color palette, and edited the SymptomMaker script to include all of the newer fields and catch new errors. I also got a SceneChanger script added that adds menu functionality so the user can traverse between menus without having to load the scene from the editor.
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What Went Wrong:
While trying to figure out errors, I got stumped a couple times and couldn’t get the buttons to function the way I wanted them to. To overcome this problem, I stepped away from the code for a bit and came back to see if there were any errors I was ignoring or overlooking. I also sat with another programmer and look over it together. This technique is helpful because different people approach problems in different ways, so being able to think about something from someone else's perspective can be very valuable.
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Take Aways:
Experience in Unity UI is my biggest take away from this project. I learned a lot about how to use the scroll view, anchoring, and other tools available in Unity to make sure the screen stretches to fit different users' screen sizes and resolutions and ways to fit a lot of content in a clean and user friendly way. This project also taught me about presentation. Little things like featuring a company’s logo, or just having a easy to use interface to take you to different parts of the project and different menus early on can be super important. These things are attractive to the client because it’s hard to see a lot of the background work that isn’t fully ready yet, so it gives them something to look at and play with while the back end is being worked on.