The Starting Point
Rethink the Foundation
Years of feature additions without user-centered design had created an increasingly difficult product to learn and navigate.
Simplify Complex Work
Navigation and layouts changed between workflows, increasing cognitive load and slowing experienced users.
Build for Everyone
Accessibility wasn't considered as part of the product strategy.
"We don't have blind users."
Discovery
Understanding Care Director in the context of real patient care.
Contextual Inquiry
Observed Care Managers at several locations to discover their real work and gain a real-world assessment of what was and was not working.
Users spent more time working around the software than working within it.
Affinity Mapping
Observations and notes were consolidated across all subjects to uncover themes.
Biggest insights came from how Care Director didn't model real-world needs. "It doesn't think like a nurse."
Flow Diagrams
Flow models visualized each user's service ecosystem, revealing common breakdowns.
Flow diagram illustrating how interface friction compounded organizational communication breakdowns.
Shift
The hardest part wasn't redesigning the interface.
It was helping an engineering organization see the product through the eyes of their users.
Built Empathy
All team members, including product management and development, "walked the wall" to experience user research firsthand.
Team-wide visioning
Participants identified key problems, then worked in mixed-role groups to storyboard solutions informed by research.
Research-driven Personas
Behavioral personas grounded agile user stories in observed behavior rather than assumptions.
Improve Today
Embedding user-centered practices into everyday product development.
Embedded UX in Agile
Focused entire team on user-centered thinking. Created regular dialog with development teams, integrating UX into the agile sprint cycle.
Addressed Accessibility
Presented user feedback directly relating to accessibility issues to build teamwide empathy. Accessibility check established as part of user testing and QA processes.
Consistent User Testing
New feature testing built into agile cycle so we could consistently deliver updates that improved users' experience and made their workflow smoother.
Invent Tomorrow
The next generation of Care Director: Care Director Plan
Explored New Possibilities
Think through work choices and content possibilities
Established a Design System
Outlined complete design tool set to ensure consistency across features.
Validated an Interactive Prototype
Validated with product teams whose tools would integrate with Care Director Plan, ensuring the design worked within the broader ecosystem.
Impact
Rapid Adoption
The new Care Director Plan launched with immediate adoption: 30% of existing customers onboarded rapidly.
Fewer Hospital Visits
Outcomes included a 40% reduction in utilization, higher program participation, and improved patient experience.
Market Growth
Due to improved accessibility and usability, Care Director expanded into international markets with stricter accessibility standards.
