🏳️‍⚧️ UX Research for a Gender-Affirming Surgery Health App

Note: This project began in March 2021, and is now currently paused.

This project was inspired by some of the lessons learned from a pilot TNB (transgender & non-binary) Surgery Doula program at one of the largest and most reputable transgender healthcare clinics in New York City.

The goal of this project is to design a digital health solution for the end users: TNB individuals who are seeking gender affirming surgery (GAS).

Our intended outcome of this project is to design and build an MVP for a safe and secure web app that provides solutions for TNB individuals seeking GAS.

Starting with a project abstract and proposal, I was able to assemble an all-trans project team of 5 individuals. Our team is comprised of a senior UX researcher, a pre-med student, a colleague who has a wealth of experience working in tech, a care coordinator, and myself. My role on the team is Project Lead.

The process of seeking GAS is often a daunting and arduous process, as it is not widely provided or accessible. Transgender & non-binary individuals already have significant barriers to accessing healthcare and services. One significant barrier is that most health centers do not have a streamlined, trauma-informed, or evidence-based process to surgery coordination and supporting trans patients through the process of GAS.

Before beginning out research, we wanted to find existing literature that can help inform our approach. During our literature review, we were excited to learn about TRANS-ARC (Transgender & Non-Binary Surgery - Allied Research Collective), a group led by trans community members, advocates, researchers, and clinicians from around the U.S. who are dedicated to improving trans surgical care and outcomes.

First we started with a study plan:

Our team designed a survey on Google Forms. After a few iterations of survey drafts, we were ready to launch our survey. Our team distributed a survey flyer widely with our networks via email and social media platforms such as: Twitter, Instagram, trans-related Facebook groups, and trans-related Discord servers.

The survey included qualifying screener questions, so that participants who did not identify as transgender or non-binary, who identified as cisgender, or who did not disclose their gender identity were not eligible to take the survey. Participants who stated that they were not interested in pursuing GAS, or who declined to answer having interest in seeking GAS were also not eligible to take the survey.

The survey also included question logic to separate respondents in to two different (but similar) surveys. One of the surveys was for participants who have already had GAS, and the other survey was for participants who have not yet had surgery, but are considering, seeking, or planning for GAS.

We had a total of 246 survey responses! There were 92 responses from participants who have already had GAS, and 153 responses from participants who have not had surgery, but are considering, seeking, or planning for GAS.

Our team is currently in the process of analyzing and synthesizing the data collected to gather insights and findings. Our plan for data analysis and synthesis will be to divide the survey into sections and assign each section to a project team member (or two) to review themes in responses for each section. Then each team member will create a deck to report themes and insights, and present to the rest of the project team.

Due to the ongoing global pandemic, unique life changes and circumstances for everyone on the team, this project has been paused. A significant roadblock for this project is the lack of funding and resources. The project team has been completely volunteer-based, and each project team member is currently prioritizing other life commitments to sustain their livelihood.

Although this project has been paused, it has been a very exciting project and I am very proud of the progress our project team has made so far. I have learned that it is a very challenging time to lead a project without project funding to compensate for the hard work of our project team.

Project funding would also be very helpful to incentivize and compensate survey respondents for their time to participate in research studies. For the next stage(s) of research, we are hoping to fundraise or secure funding that would allow us to provide incentives to individuals who are interested in participating in user interviews or focus groups.

After reviewing the demographics of our survey participants, we acknowledge that our research data has predominantly come from white trans people. We also acknowledge that this provides limitations to our research, and is currently a significant knowledge gap that we will need to prioritize. We want to understand the specific needs, barriers, and experiences of BIPOC (Black Indigenous people of color) trans people.