Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are. - Bernice Johnson Reagon
January 12, 2021Solaris Technologies has had the opportunity to work with many unique clients and it has always aspired the team members to be part of projects that are innovative and one of a kind. Such is the story of the collaboration of Solaris Technologies with Dental Year. The company had a brilliant vision in mind and they wanted to take their dreams and mold them into reality. The company contacted Solaris Technologies to get their project completed in such a manner that it aligns with the vision of the company and Solaris Technologies jumped on board.
The client said to Solaris Technologies, “Imagine the evolution of phones. We used to have a dumb phone which only allowed people to call or send text messages. We used to have journals for notes, libraries for knowledge and digital cameras to take pictures. Along came the smart phone and changed all of that. The smartphone compressed all of these daily requirements of the human being and provided a compact, easy to carry solution to the problem. So if phones can be smart, why can’t we do the same thing for dentistry?” The company had the attention of Solaris Technology team members when they added, “Why can’t we bring efficiency to the medical field? Instead of people going around asking their peers and friends for the best dentist and looking for a dentist who is close to their residence, why can we not bring the dentist to them? Make the process smaller, easier and more time friendly?”
“When you know what you want, and want it bad enough, you’ll find a way to get it”.
– Jim Rohn
When the idea was presented, the team of Solaris Technologies was intrigued to know how this idea arose in the minds of their clients. When asked, the client explained his personal experience with dentists and how he had to go through many different dentists to find one who could help him. He felt there was a huge gap in the dental market. With the technical advancement in the field, it can all be very overwhelming for a new client who does not understand a lot of these new techniques and technologies that can be opted for. Since there are further divisions in the dental field, not knowing who to go to can also become a time consuming process where you jump from clinic to clinic; looking for the dentist who can assist you. As a baby when the client was learning to walk, he fell and broke his front two teeth. Although these were milk teeth; the teeth act as space maintainers for the permanent teeth. When his parents took him to a family dentist, the dentist took a poor decision and decided to take his teeth out at the age of 5 and because of that, he had no front teeth for the next two years until his permanent teeth came out. At the age of 7 his front 2 teeth came out looking really crooked.
When the client was younger he would always look at his pictures and think how amazing it was until the point when he would notice his teeth. He would think to himself that a good dental procedure would add that extra oomph to his personality. He noticed how he would smile lesser and lesser in pictures as he was always conscious of how he looked. At the age of 13, his parents noticed that due to the teeth being crooked, he was feeling low self-esteem. That is when he got braces from a different dentist, however, since he had very crowded teeth, tooth extraction had to be done. While carrying out the extraction, the doctor broke the tooth right next to the tooth being extracted! To top it all off, the doctor advised that he takes his braces off in 1 and a half years instead of 2 and half years and did not follow his braces with retainers. Due to this, his teeth slowly moved and changed shape once again; moving in overtime and slowly ditching inward, concealing his lower teeth. That is when he lost all hope. He had been going to the dentist for many years and at this point he lost all hope. For the next few years he became very conscious of his looks and became the punch line for all the jokes in his high school.
His parents were really concerned about the way things had mapped out. In that very same time, a blessing happened and our client got the opportunity to move to Los Angeles for studies. Years down the line, his final dentist in Los Angeles told him that he should have been given a head gear and the previous dentist never gave him head gear so his jaw remained small. He had gone through multiple dentists and multiple dental procedures to save his smile! He despised having to conceal his smile or feeling embarrassed for how his teeth looked. He felt grateful for his last dentist and how that dentist saved him the misery of always being concerned about his looks. This gave our client the motivation to make this process a lot smoother for other people. He had spent his life in agony and he wished to make life for others easier as they go through their dental correction surgery.
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be”.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
The team of Solaris Technologies loved this idea and jumped on board instantly. It was a distinctive idea and the team could envision that impact it would have on the users. They understood how difficult it must have been for the client to go through all these horrendous experiences in his life. The team of Solaris Technologies wanted to be part of this innovative project and give rise to more education based dental applications. It would assist in making the lives of the user easy and create a more modern means of getting check-ups. Solaris Technologies wanted to do justice to the project and started the work by jotting down all the important aspects of the work that needed to be covered. The client wanted both the website and the application made for their work so that the user could more easily access the services by using a PC or a smartphone. The user interface had to be designed from scratch and the client wanted Solaris Technologies to design it as they saw fit for their line of work.
There were many sessions conducted to go over the features that are essential and cannot be skipped and the features that were more optional and could be passed over. After many discussions and many drafts, the client and Solaris Technologies finally agreed on an appropriate route that would be most beneficial for the client and their field of work.
“If you are persistent you will get it. If you are consistent you will keep it. Success doesn’t just come and find you, you have to go out and get it. Never stop trying. Never stop believing. Never give up. Your day will come. Success is what happens after you have survived all of your disappointments. Successful people are not gifted; they just work hard, then succeed on purpose”.
– G.K. Nielson
USER INTERFACE
The user interface was very important for this client. Dental Year understood that smart dentistry was a very foreign concept for a lot of people and the product must be very user friendly and welcoming to make it more comfortable for the user to navigate. Solaris Technologies designed an easy to navigate application that uses a clean design to help potential clients narrow down their concerns and book an appointment with a dentist that fits their requirements. Shifting this process online helps to save time and make visits to the dentist more fruitful and efficient.
The prototype of the application design was tested multiple times to ensure that the final product is easy to navigate for people of the different ages so that people of age do not have any issues while using the application and they too can benefit from the client’s services. The demographic being targeted was very large. We narrowed it down as much as possible so that the website and application could be designed to fit all the requirements of the demographic. The end result was a design that was easy to understand with a very minute learning curve.
WRITE UP
The product was easy to use and even easier to understand as the information was presented in very plain and human text, making it easier for the viewers to comprehend a lot of complex information. The information provided in the project was written down in such a manner that people who do not have a medical background could easily understand the text and make better informed decisions about the procedures that they want to opt for.
“You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.”
-George Lorimer
The write up was broken down into simpler parts, making sure that the use of jargons was cut short as much as possible. The whole purpose of the information provided was to make it easier for people who do not know a lot about dentistry to easily understand all the complex concepts, techniques and procedures being mentioned by people and medical professionals. The wording was simple, understandable and not elaborated any more than needed to make sure that the viewer’s remain indulged in the content being provided.
CALENDAR
A feature that was very essential for the work was the calendar. It was one of the first features that was added to the project. As the services provided include appointments, it was essential to have an internal calendar that was selectively accessible by the viewer. To put it in simpler words, the calendar was added for internal workings of the people handling the work so that they do not double book any slot for a dentist or a dental assistant. However, the people navigating the website were given access to the view of available slots in each and every dentist’s routine so that they would ask for an appointment in a specific slot with their dentist of choice.
This feature was very useful as it allowed the work to have more flow and be carried out smoothly without any delays or inconveniences. It also proved to be extremely helpful for the users as they could adjust their appointments easily according to their schedule and in case they couldn’t find a spot, the application would suggest a different dentist with similar qualifications in their area. This helped viewers to find the dentist that best fits their needs.
FILTERS
To make it easier for the viewers to source the appropriate dentist, the filter feature was added to the application so that people could set different filters to meet the right dentist. These filters include the procedure, the distance from the viewer’s location and price range. This allowed the viewer to choose a dentist that would be a financially adoptable option; someone who is qualified to do the sort of procedure that they require; and be available in their vicinity so that it is also feasible to reach the dentist and make it to the appointment on time.
These filters were very much appreciated by the viewers as they made the process 3 folds easier. It was also a great filter for the people at Dental Year as it allowed them to manage the data of the viewers and arrange it into manageable folders, providing more accurate services to their clients which in turn adds to their customer service and popularity as a brand.
“One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from a horse master. He told me to go slow to go fast. I think that applies to everything in life. We live as though there aren’t enough hours in the day but if we do each thing calmly and carefully we will get it done quicker and with much less stress.”
-Viggo Mortensen
TYPOGRAPHY
Typography is very essential for any project that is being designed. It adds the tone of the work and sets the mood of the viewer. The font was thoroughly thought out as the age range being targeted was very large. The team at Solaris Technologies did not wish to make the font too bubbly as it would make the product look a tad bit non serious and that could be detrimental to the work of the client. Which is why the team decided to go with something more classic. The font used for the client was the Montserrat Font. The two main variations of the Montserrat font that were used by the team members were regular and semi bold. These two variations were sufficient for the project and they sat very well with the design of the website and the application. It complimented the overall look of the work that was created for the client and the client was immensely satisfied with how the product appeared.
COLOR PALETTE
The colors used for the work had to be well thought out. The client wanted the colors to look sober and clean and the team members at Solaris Technologies did not wish to use dark colors. The team members suggested staying in the light colors and playing with a lighter palette to keep the mood of the website light and avoid the possibility of making it seem too serious and corporate. The colors decided by the team members after a unanimous agreement are:
#ace8fe #2f516a #5db6d4 #63b9da #4647 which are different shades of blue from a royal blue all the way to a sky blue. The team decided to go with different shades of one color to keep the design very clean and simple. It was essential that the work did not look crowded and gave off a light outlook as the information that it was paired with was already formal enough. These colors played a great role in keeping the overall look of the project light while making sure that it does not come off as unprofessional or casual. The collaboration of the colors with the content created a very unique front of the project as both of them sat well together.
VISUAL GALLERY
Solaris Technologies came up with the idea of adding a visual gallery to the project to make it more appealing for the viewers. These images and videos were not simply pictures of clients, although those were also added to the gallery. The main purpose of this gallery was to educate the viewers about the changing technologies, the best way to get their concerns checked and the most efficient way to conduct personal oral hygiene practices at home on a day to day basis.
These videos were graphically designed to make them look more proper and to avoid using the precious time of dentists that could otherwise be spent to help a client. The gallery added a pictorial element to the work which made it more appealing for the viewers. This element was very helpful as the younger audience is usually not attracted to a lot of lengthy write up and these videos provided a way out by bringing the information to the audience in video form. This feature was a great way to make the product friendlier for a larger audience as it catered to both types of people; those who like to read information and those who prefer to watch and listen.
Visual galleries are great to build confidence of the client as people are always a little hesitant to trust companies and services online. Seeing the success stories of previous clients and watching how the work is so professionally handled builds a certain level of trust between the potential client and the company.
MULTIPLE PLAN OPTIONS
One more thing that the company wanted to add to their work was multiple plan options. These plan options have various different things to offer and one of them also acted as a discount bundle offer. These multiple plan options were created to ensure that people who have different financial budgets can all avail the services that are being provided by the company. This also gives the users a clear idea of the budget that they need to keep in mind when opting for a procedure.
It also allows them to learn about small procedures such as scaling which they might not be aware of otherwise. Giving users a few choices also makes them feel that they are cared for and makes them more attracted towards the packages being offered. This benefits both the dentist and the potential clients.
CONCLUSION
Solaris Technologies was exhilarated to be part of such an amazing journey that was aiming to help people make better informed decisions in their life when they had to decide for their dental health. The journey had many hurdles that the team needed to face as the requirements of the work were a bit unique. Mostly, companies target a small target audience and need to create their design according to that narrowed down demographic. However, due to the nature of the work, the demographics were very broad. However, the team of Solaris Technologies planned according to the requirements of the client and came up with a solution that was best fit for Dental Year. The company tried and tested many different forms, designs, colors and typographies to reach their final decision. The client, Dental Year, was very cooperative throughout the process and always took the suggestions provided by Solaris Technologies seriously. Since the team was well aware of the story that had given birth to the idea of this website and application, they were determined to bring this idea to life and make the life of the users more comfortable.
