John Callanta
Roles & Responsibilities
To research, assess, and improve the user experience of a healthcare portal focusing on the most used features.
Overview
Healthcare portals serve a diverse range of users, yet many struggle with complex navigation, privacy concerns, and inefficient appointment booking. This study explores how to quickly book an appointment with a user’s healthcare provider.
Problem Statement
Healthcare portals do not offer a streamlined booking experience with a primary care provider.
Solution
Redesigned the booking process to minimize steps
to completion.
1. User Interviews
Based on observations of friends and family interacting with their healthcare portals, I identified key user needs and pain points.
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They use the portal for booking appointments
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Checking lab results or records
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Paying a bill
2. Competitive Research
Before creating a design strategy, I researched current healthcare portals and observed user obstacles specifically towards booking an appointment as someone looking for a general practitioner.
3. Determining Competitor User Flows
I researched various healthcare portals and observed user obstacles specifically towards booking an appointment as someone looking
for a general practitioner.
Parameters:
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User already has an account and a primary care physician.
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User is looking to book an appointment with their PCP.
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I observed exactly the amount of steps from log-in to booking completion.
4. Designing The Optimal User Flow
In some portals, it took a user 18 steps to complete a booking due to filling out unnecessary information like inputting current medications or selecting specific
The steps that are not a priority for booking can be moved to another section of the portal or be given to the PCP to complete thus reducing the steps to 8 or under.
Version 1: 9-Steps to Completion
Version 2: 8-Steps to Completion
Version 3: 7-Steps to Completion
5. Wireframes & Iterations
Wireframes V1
I started the initial wireframe on an iPad and selected the frames that had the potential for a clean and straightforward design for the user.
Tasks:
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Sketched screen layouts
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Picked the layout that included sensible information and made notes.
Wireframes V2
The first version depicts an early version of the sketches in FigJam & Figma
Discoveries:
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Homepage occupies the entire screen and seems better to reduce the size to allow for more icons above the fold of the screen.
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Doctor profiles from the wireframe seemed feasible butt after designing, the elements became cramped with the available times.
Wireframes V3
A revised version to the wireframe and design shows a reduction on the vertical columns
Discoveries:
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Te reduction in columns allows for other services to be included.
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There are opportunities to reduce information on doctor profiles and keep only necessary information for filtering.
6. Final Design
My final iteration had minute changes specifically with clarity on the intended booking for a primary care physician.
Final Design:
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Removed the 2nd image below the Primary Care button to create hierarchy.
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When a user clicks on Primary Care, they will be directed to the provider's calendar which brings the steps to completion to 3 after a user has logged in. Comparing this to 18 stems for some competitors.
7. Final Thoughts & Reflections
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Based on my research, healthcare portals have to be many things to everyone even though majority of users complete only a handful of tasks.
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There are other opportunities for improvement such as designing better privacy measures for the elderly.
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Many of the additional tasks from other portals can be completed either by the healthcare provider or on a separate task flow.
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Overall, I thought this was a fun exercise in exploring aspects around HIPAA, platform limitations, and diversity in users.