Eliminating patient anxiety through streamlined onboarding and a creative waiting room solution
.png)
As the design lead for a telehealth platform, I redesigned the patient experience in two phases to eliminate confusion and reduce technical anxiety. This project addressed fundamental challenges in how patients navigate a telehealth app when we have no visibility into their appointment schedules.
Unlike typical telehealth platforms, our system faces a unique constraint: we don't know when patients have appointments. Providers schedule visits in external software, which means:
This lack of data created significant patient anxiety: "Am I in the right place? Is this working? Did my provider forget about me?"
The existing onboarding flow created unnecessary friction right at the start:
I eliminated the noise and created clarity.
Simplified Flow:
Redesigned Home Screen:
I designed an informative landing page with a pattern background and three white content sections:
Intelligent Navigation:
Implementation: 1 week iOS | 1.5 weeks Android (design, development, QA)
By creating a clear home base, patients immediately understood:
This foundation was critical for Phase 2.
Even with better onboarding, patients still experienced significant anxiety before appointments:
Without appointment data, we couldn't reassure patients with typical solutions like "Your appointment is scheduled for 2:00 PM" or "Dr. Smith will see you shortly."
I designed a waiting room that solves a psychological problem, not just a technical one.
The Core Insight: Even though we don't know when appointments are scheduled, we can create a place where patients feel confident they're where they need to be.
Key Features:
Platform-Specific Design:
Implementation: 3 weeks iOS | 2 weeks Android (design, development, QA)
Why Universal Auto-Connect?
Without appointment data, we can't match patients to specific providers or time slots. The solution: if a patient is in the waiting room and any provider calls them, they're connected automatically. This elegantly solves:
It's a blunt instrument, but it works because we trust that if a patient is actively waiting, they're expecting a call.
Why Call It a "Waiting Room"?
The metaphor matters. A waiting room is:
Why Show Self-View?
Technical confidence comes from seeing proof. Patients can:
As both designer and QA lead, I managed the full cycle from conception to production:
Design Phase:
Development Oversight:
QA Testing:
While the waiting room solved technical anxiety, we still face a messaging challenge. Patients occasionally call support saying: "My appointment started 10 minutes ago but my provider hasn't called."
Unfortunately, we have no way to:
Future Opportunities:
This is an area where improved copy and expectation-setting could further reduce support burden.
Designing for Constraints:
Rather than fighting against the lack of appointment data, I designed around it. The waiting room doesn't need to know when appointments are—it just needs to make patients feel prepared and positioned correctly.
Phased Approach:
Building the home screen foundation first (Phase 1) gave patients a clear mental model before introducing the waiting room concept (Phase 2). The sequence mattered.
Cross-Platform Consistency:
Managing both iOS and Android implementations ensured patients had a consistent experience regardless of device, while still respecting platform-specific patterns like iPad split-view.
Integrated Design-QA Role:
Wearing both hats allowed me to catch edge cases early and ensure the implementation matched the intended experience.
Copy Iteration:
There's still work to be done on messaging for patients who've been waiting longer than expected. Setting realistic expectations upfront could prevent frustration.
Provider Communication:
Future iterations should explore how providers are notified when patients join the waiting room, creating visibility in both directions.
Metrics & Validation:
I wish I'd established clearer success metrics before implementation—measuring average wait times, drop-off rates, and correlation with support ticket reduction would strengthen the case.
This project taught me that good design doesn't always mean having perfect data—it means designing solutions that work within real-world constraints.
We couldn't tell patients when their appointments were, but we could give them:
By reframing the problem from "how do we manage scheduled appointments?" to "how do we reduce anxiety when we can't see the schedule?", we created a solution that worked with our limitations rather than against them.
The insight: Sometimes the best solution isn't more data—it's better psychology.
.svg)
.svg)