BounceBack is a service designed to support ACL injury patients in Indonesia, aiming for a smoother and more successful recovery journey. It helps reduce re-injury risk by equipping patients and healthcare professionals with essential knowledge and resources throughout the recovery process.
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This solo project was created as a Major Project for the Master of Design Innovation and Technology at RMIT under the supervision of Emma Luke and Courtney Coombs.
The ACL is a key ligament in the knee, connecting the thigh and shin bones to maintain stability and coordination (Mousavibaygei et al. 2022). ACL injuries, often caused by movements like pivoting, slipping, or accidents, involve partial or complete tears (Wijayasurya & Setiadi 2021; Mayeda et al. 2022).
In Indonesia, 9% of 48 knee injuries are ACL tears (Dhuhairi et al., 2021), with ACL reconstruction surgeries increasing by 42% from 1575 in 2018 to 2236 in 2019 (Deviandri, 2021). These figures don’t account for undiagnosed or untreated cases. A study of 148 patients in the Indonesian ACL Community found that 29.74% experienced re-injuries within two years, often due to another ACL tear or inadequate recovery (Adithya et al., 2021).
ACL recovery extends beyond surgery, typically lasting 6–9 months. In Indonesia, challenges include limited access to quality healthcare, lack of knowledge, and poor decision-making at various stages.
ACL recovery impacts both physical and mental health, with patients often facing identity shifts, recovery concerns, and fears of re-injury or another surgery. Psychological responses like fear of uncertainty are also common (Piussi et al. 2022).
Interviews were done with 4 experts, which are: an Orthopaedic Doctor, Physiotherapy Researcher, Senior Physiotherapist, and the admin of the Indonesian ACL Community.
Although the ACL injury happens mostly on athletes, once someone got an ACL injury, there are no boundaries between athletes and non-athletes
The lack of unified knowledge and consistent communication between stakeholders, which results in different information being given from each of the experts to patients.
There is a lack of data collection about past recovery processes that might be beneficial for future improvements
It’s hard for patients to search and book for the right and suitable doctors and physiotherapists
Most experts also mentioned that in a patient’s recovery process, there is a ‘team’ that should be in constant communication, which involves the patient, the Orthopaedic Doctor, and the Sport Physiotherapist. Therefore, a Jobs-To-Be-Done framework is used to identify the needs of different users of BounceBack.
There are various types of ACL patients in Indonesia, which usually is divided into two; athletes and non-athletes. However, BounceBack serves as an inclusive design that would cater different needs of different users. To ensure that BounceBack answers different needs, personas of various users are created.
Age
28 years old
Occupation
Stay-at-home mother
Injury Cause
Slipped on a wet area
Gaining knowledge
Time accessibility
Age
37 years old
Occupation
Police Officer
Injury Cause
Motorbike accident
Financial accessibility
Age
16 years old
Occupation
Basketball student-athlete
Injury Cause
Pivot movement in basketball
Smoother recovery journey
Mental support
This concept uses user-centred design to provide digital and physical support for patients. A digital platform serves as the primary medium, reflecting Indonesians' preference for online information, while a toolkit acts as the first touchpoint, introducing users to their injury and recovery process.
Successful recovery requires collaboration between patients, orthopaedic doctors, and physiotherapists. Support from the Indonesian ACL Community and partnerships with ISPC and IOSSMA can guide users and help recommend trusted doctors. Involving sports physio clinics trained in ACL cases can educate users on their options and provide preferred recovery choices with clinic and hospital stakeholders.
In Indonesia, patients typically fall into two groups
Most patients first seek help from traditional massage therapists based on cultural beliefs
Other patients would opt to consult a doctor immediately to ask about the injury.
To confirm any suspicions of the injury, patients would have to consult to a doctor get brief information about what has happened to their knee. Hence, the starting point of the whole service would be after the consultations.
The starting point of the whole service would be after consultations and receiving the right diagnosis from the doctor. This service is designed to support patients through:
Given to first-time ACL patients, it includes essential information about the injury and practical tips to kickstart their recovery.
Introduced through the toolkit, this app provides step-by-step guidance throughout the patient’s recovery journey.
The toolkit is designed to be the patient’s first touchpoint, combining functionality and helpful guidance. Packaged in a cardboard box, it features thoughtfully organised sections containing:
Provides a roadmap for the recovery journey, with key do’s and don’ts for the current phase, a checklist of essential equipment like knee braces, crutches, and many more.
A simple and effective cryotherapy tool for pain relief. Patients can easily fill it with ice and apply it to swollen or painful areas. It’s also beneficial post-surgery to reduce swelling after physiotherapy sessions (Muawanah et al., 2022).
Essential for compression during the early stages of injury, helping to control swelling and support healing (Cooper & Hughes, 2018).
By offering practical tools and clear guidance, the toolkit ensures patients feel supported and prepared from day one.
BounceBack ensures a smooth recovery journey by connecting two key user groups: patients and experts (doctors and physiotherapists). Each group has its own tailored platform, seamlessly integrated to foster collaboration and guidance.
The user flow illustrates how the BounceBack system bridges the gap between patients and experts, enabling smooth interactions and efficient tracking.
Patients can book physiotherapy appointments directly through the sports physiotherapist’s account. Before each session, the physiotherapist has access to the patient’s past progress, ensuring personalised care.
During the session, the physiotherapist provides guidance and logs updates on the app, giving patients a clear record of their progress to review anytime.
Similarly, patients can reserve consultations with their orthopedic doctor through the app. Doctors can access the patient’s history, track previous progress, and add new diagnoses or updates during the consultation.
This creates a cohesive system where all essential information is centralised and easily accessible for both patients and experts.
This streamlined approach ensures that every interaction, whether with a physiotherapist or an orthopedic doctor, is efficient and well-informed, making the recovery process smoother and more transparent.
The onboarding process ensures users start their recovery journey on the right track with the correct diagnosis and expert support.
Click image to enlarge
Click image to enlarge
The ‘My Journey’ section guides users daily with reminders to book sessions, progress highlights, phase trackers, and rehab tips to keep them motivated.
The Explore section helps users understand their injury with engaging graphics and phase-specific content, like tutorials and motivational tips. In the Community section, users can share progress, post concerns, and connect with others, fostering mutual support and motivation throughout their recovery.
On the Profile page, users can view injury details, surgical history, and overall recovery progress in clear percentages. Detailed outcome measures, like passive knee extension, are displayed with progress graphs and expert notes to track improvements effectively.
The expert’s platform mainly serves as a complementary platform for patients, so that patients are able to see progresses noted by experts, and experts are able to log and look back at the patient’s progress.
In the My Schedule section, experts can view their daily appointments and access patient profiles, where they can log progress updates. Progress tracking is tailored to each patient’s unique recovery, with goals like achieving 0° passive knee extension based on individual starting points, ensuring personalized and realistic targets.
On the Explore page, experts can access user statistics, such as the types of ACL grafts (BPTB, QT, HT, and Peroneus Longus) and their recovery success rates, to guide future decisions. A unified discussion panel allows orthopedic doctors and sports physiotherapists to share insights and collaborate, fostering better knowledge exchange.
To make it accessible for every users, a desktop version of the expert platform was created, especially to accomodate the needs of doctors. On consultation sessions, doctors would use their desktop instead of phones, hence it is important to create a desktop version.
A design system ensures a consistent visual identity across the platforms, with blue shades chosen to evoke hope and refreshment, fostering comfort and motivation. Components like buttons, lists, navigation, and icons were styled uniformly to maintain cohesion throughout.
Usability testing with 6 users, including heat mapping, showed that users found curated lists of doctors and physio clinics for ACL cases helpful. The progress statistics and patient history were also key features. AI heatmapping using Attention Insight on Figma revealed that intended elements, like CTAs and key information, effectively captured user attention.
This project is a work in progress, but I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished within the limited timeframe, from exploring patients’ medical journeys to developing tools like an information booklet and experimenting with techniques like laser cutting.
Future improvements could include telemedicine for home-based physiotherapy with accurate tracking, integrating AR physiotherapy with advanced movement detection, and offering a subscription system that provides essential equipment like braces and crutches. Enhancing the process logging section with detailed scoring measures—such as KOOS, ACL-RSI, IKDC, and others—could also provide a more comprehensive view of patients’ rehabilitation progress.
