Designing Medical SaaS Navigation & Med-Prescribing Flow
From 2004-2006, I worked on an internal design team as a Sr. Visual Designer for an NDA-undisclosed major medical software company. Many of the projects involved solving complex interaction and data-display problems for use in environments that demand efficient error-free workflow. Our feedback panel of doctors loved the designs.
Problem
When a doctor prescribes medication to a patient, she needs to follow several steps and consider multiple factors to ensure patient safety and minimize costs.
Goals
Keep the patient safe by giving the doctor all relevant info efficiently without ovwhelming them.
Constraints
The design needed to use the company design system and fit into an existing application that included other functionality.
My Role
I was the sole designer, and did:
- UX Design
- UI & Visual Design in the company's design system
- Wrote UX copy
The Team
I worked with a product owner, a subject-matter expert, and the internal development team.
Process
I first learned the doctor's process and problems from the subject-matter expert (SME) before sketching some ideas and iterating them with the SME. Then, I created high-fidelity mockups in InDesign with Illustrator-created symbols (which were our team's tools at the time — seems crazy now!).
Results
The med-prescribing design made it quick and easy for the doctor to step through the process while providing 1-click alteratives and popup reference info.
At the same company, I thought the inter-patient navigation could be improved in their Java-based patient chart, so I worked up designs for both urgency and rounds-based navigation.
The designs received great feedback from doctors in focus groups, with one saying:
"This design just feels right to me... I think you could sell this in a heartbeat... This is great... I love this."
- Doctor's feedback