A 5-phase Design Thinking process — user interviews, journey mapping, iterative wireframing, high-fidelity prototyping, and rigorous usability testing with 25 participants.
- Business analysis
- Research review
- Competitive analysis
- User interviews
- Empathy mapping
- Journey mapping
- User flows & IA
- Lo-fi wireframes
- Preference testing
- Hi-fi designs
- A/B test variants
- ADA compliance
- Moderated usability
- Icon recognition
- Dev handoff
The challenge
With the advent of COVID-19 and a surge in demand for mobile healthcare, Kaiser Permanente's app needed to evolve. Users were struggling with unclear navigation, fragmented workflows, and confusing widgets — particularly around scheduling, prescriptions, and physician messaging.
Problem
Multiple usability barriers across the app's core workflows were driving up support calls and reducing user confidence in digital healthcare tools.
My Role
Led product design for a team of 7 — primary liaison to product, participated in bi-weekly sprints, conducted UX research, and collaborated with engineering on feasibility.
The top 3 reasons patients use the Kaiser app: scheduling appointments, ordering prescriptions, and messaging physicians.
Users reported friction due to unclear navigation, appointment availability, and messaging delays. Multi-step flows created confusion, especially for older patients.
Discovery & research
We conducted interviews and surveys with 25 participants via video calls to gain deeper insights into KP's demographic and their needs. I regularly reviewed findings with product managers and stakeholders to ensure alignment with expectations, budget, and scope.
Key insights
- Remote care is becoming an expectation — users need strong usability, personalization, and simplicity in mobile healthcare.
- Communication is the primary use case — messaging doctors and scheduling appointments are the top reasons patients open the app.
- Feature overload causes confusion — several widgets and features were not understood by users and cluttered the experience.
Define
Leveraging Kaiser's existing user personas along with data from high-level interviews, we created journey maps to identify critical touchpoints and opportunities to enhance the overall experience.
Journey mapping
User flows
Mapped the core task flows — appointment scheduling, prescription refills, and physician messaging — to identify where users were dropping off and where steps could be consolidated.
Ideation
Drawing from user interviews, surveys, and competitive analysis, I collaborated with the team to brainstorm key features and elements. We began with lo-fi wireframes to outline structure, layout, and components — allowing us to quickly test and iterate before moving into detailed design.
Lo-fidelity wireframes
After several rounds of revision based on preference testing and stakeholder reviews, we added Important Alerts and Upcoming Visits to personalize the experience. We optimized the messaging section by adding physician portraits and refined designs into hi-fi wireframes.
Hi-fidelity wireframes
Prototyping
Building on strong foundations from Define and Ideation, we developed high-fidelity interactive prototypes. These designs were prepared for A/B testing against the existing experience and refined through collaboration with ADA and design system teams to ensure full compliance.
Usability testing
We ran moderated usability tests to validate our design decisions. Two critical findings shaped the final direction.
Finding 1: Icon recognition failure
The stethoscope icon representing "Appointments" didn't translate for 60% of users. We revised it to a calendar — follow-up tests showed a 35% increase in recognition, significantly improving thumb-nav usability.
Finding 2: Decluttering the message page
Users found the Billing and Medical Records tabs on the message page unnecessary and confusing. Relocating them to the homepage menu reduced clutter and created a cleaner messaging experience — confirmed in follow-up interviews.
Results & impact
By following UI/UX best practices and centering every decision on user needs, this iteration of the mobile app shipped to users and delivered measurable improvements.
- Foundation for migration: the process and testing framework established here laid the groundwork for Kaiser's immense migration to MyChart.
- Improved navigation clarity: icon and label changes reduced confusion and aligned with user mental models.
- Cleaner experience: decluttering key screens improved task focus and user satisfaction.