CareSpan Telemedicine Redesign & Localization
Redesigned CareSpan’s doctor–patient platform through multi-method research (interviews, affinity mapping, tree testing, heuristic analysis). Delivered a roadmap for the MVP, streamlined workflows that cut task completion time and improved trust, and facilitated a monetization workshop with stakeholders to align the product with business strategy.
The Problem & Context
CareSpan’s telemedicine platform was built primarily for the US healthcare structure and their doctors and patients. This left usability gaps for patients and barriers to scaling toward the Philippine market, My team was to consider all touchpoints of the platform and the stakeholders as the business unit to redesign this to a localized, user-focused telehealth app.
My Role & Scope
My team was to consider all touchpoints of the platform and the stakeholders as the business unit to redesign this to a localized, user-focused telehealth app. We had stakeholder interviews with the client’s upper management to align on goals and priorities, in the end we determined that nearly all our research methods would be needed to provide a holistic understanding of the local medical practice in context of telehealth platforms.
- I held user interviews with 8 doctors and 8 patients, dialing in on their telehealth experience with competitor apps and also ran them through the old CareSpan platform to double as guerrilla user testing.
- A tree test also confirmed pain points from our user interviews, from both the patient and doctor view. The tree test showed much lower percentages of patients trying to view previous appointments, and locating patient records took nearly half a minute.
- Conducted a comprehensive heuristic analysis of the old platform, informing the study with best practices.
Using these mixed methods, I mapped out user pain points and identified opportunities for redesign.
Key Research Insights
Through 8 doctors, 8 patients, 2 UX experts, and heuristic/competitive analyses, we uncovered 13 core insights.
Key findings:
- Terminology confusion (e.g., “Encounters” vs. “Consultations”).
- Transparency and ironed out communications in the virtual space
- Doctors work day-to-day, SOAP (Subjective, Objective, Assessment and Plan) method-oriented
- Patients value convenience and were “doctor shopping” where they sought 3rd or 4th opinions on telehealth platforms
- Trust and communication reliability are critical for adoption.
Design Solutions
I designed a localized dual-experience IA (“One System, Two Faces”) to support both doctors and patients. Now I do realize this is some sort of a rehash of the service design blueprint, for example, the patient’s dashboard prioritized upcoming appointments or an entry point to the booking flow — while doctors saw their daily schedules leading to corresponding patients’ medical records to prepare.
Business Alignment
Our design recommendations also informed CareSpan’s strategic roadmap:
- Short-term: Perfect the basics (consult booking, SOAP notes).
- Medium-term: Quality of life improvements (customization, offline mode, e-prescriptions).
- Long-term: Differentiators (pharma partnerships, HMO integrations, referral incentives).
Impact & Outcome
By combining qualitative research, heuristic evaluation, and proxy metrics, we delivered design solutions that improved usability and aligned with business goals:
- Reduced record retrieval time from 24s → under 10s (tree test target).
- Increased clarity in patient tasks (9% → >70% success in validation paths).
- Strengthened trust through transparency, communication, and doctor choice.
- Provided a scalable framework for B2C transition.
Reflection / Takeaway
This project reinforced the value of research-driven proxies when analytics aren’t available. By grounding design in user insights and measurable outcomes, I learned how to balance usability with business KPIs—an approach I now bring into every project.