CareBridge
Designing a patient-centered tablet experience that transformed clinical workflows and unlocked major business growth.
Context
The organization set out to expand its digital product suite by introducing its first patient-facing tablet application, aimed at improving communication and engagement within clinical environments. As the Lead Product Designer, I owned both the UX/UI design and product strategy, working cross-functionally with stakeholders, developers, and clinical teams. This initiative required translating complex healthcare workflows into an intuitive, accessible experience for patients with varying levels of technical literacy. I was responsible for defining the product vision, aligning business goals with user needs, and driving the design process from concept through delivery.
How might we increase patient autonomy without increasing clinical burden or exposing unnecessary information?
User Research
Direct usability testing with incarcerated patients was limited. When direct access was constrained, I triangulated evidence instead — nursing feedback, prototype reviews with clinical stakeholders, and the existing workflows patients were already navigating. I stayed explicit about the difference between what I could validate and what remained uncertain. Real-world tablet behavior and direct patient comprehension stayed in the second category, and naming that mattered as much as the research itself.
Key Pain Points
No visibility into a request: Once a patient asked for care, nothing confirmed it had been received. They waited for a verbal update, or asked staff to check on their behalf.
Free text slowed triage: Open description gave patients flexibility, but nurses needed enough structure to assess urgency and act on a request quickly.
Wide range of access needs: Low digital literacy, vision impairment, language barriers, and varying reading comprehension across the patient population.
Requirements Gathering
I facilitated requirements gathering sessions with product managers, developers, and stakeholders to define core functionality and prioritize features for an MVP release. This included translating business and clinical needs into detailed user stories, acceptance criteria, and functional requirements. I ensured alignment between technical feasibility and user experience, balancing constraints with usability goals. My role bridged product and design, ensuring that all requirements were both implementable and user-centered.
UI Implementation
I designed high-fidelity UI screens that adhered to accessibility standards and aligned with the company's evolving design system. I focused on clear visual hierarchy, readable typography, and intuitive interaction patterns to support users with varying levels of digital familiarity. I collaborated closely with developers to ensure accurate implementation, providing design specifications, prototypes, and ongoing support throughout development. My involvement ensured consistency, scalability, and a seamless handoff from design to engineering.
Provider View
Patient View
Solution
Patients gained a clearer way to initiate and follow their healthcare requests. Free text gave patients flexibility, but triage needed structure, so the system surfaces predefined urgency indicators to nurses without asking patients to self-assess their own condition. Status communication closed the informational gap while preserving privacy boundaries. Deciding who can see what, and why, turned out to be a UX decision rather than a permissions setting.
Project Outcome
The first patient-facing product in the company's history, and the design work that anchored a competitive RFP win worth $25M in new revenue.
I led the end-to-end design of the company's first patient-facing tablet application, shaping both the product strategy and user experience. The solution played a key role in strengthening the company's position in a competitive RFP process, contributing to a win worth $25M in new revenue. Beyond business impact, the product introduced a scalable foundation for future patient-centered digital initiatives. It also improved operational efficiency by enabling more seamless interactions between patients and clinical staff.
What I took from this
Access is part of the architecture, not a compliance step at the end.
Simple interfaces can require complex reasoning. Removing information means understanding which information actually matters.
Constraints change research methods, not the responsibility to validate. When direct access isn't available, assumptions need to become explicit.