NowPatient

A user-first app for
 a patient-led healthcare system.

Role Lead Product Designer
Client Infohealth, UK (under the umbrella of Obodo.co.uk)
Year 2021

My Role

User Experience
User Interface
User Testing
Quality Assurance
Prototyping

Project

Now Patient is a pharmacy in your pocket, providing secure, face-to-face access to pharmacists online for advice and prescription dispensing.

NowPatient is a telehealth platform – an NHS-approved repeat prescription service that allows users to order their medication whenever and from wherever they choose. In the United Kingdom, they function as an online pharmacy. When Infohealth was approached, they had already begun the process of revamping the service — a new corporate presence was already in place, and the initial prototype for the new app had been created with the intention of expanding their offering with online consultations with doctors and pharmacists. I was given the task of incorporating those requirements into a brand new application and supervising the handoff to the development team over the next two months.

Approach

Mobile-first app.

The primary objective of this project was to update th NowPatient experience from its antiquated online interface to one that is optimized for mobile use and is thus suitable for the requirements of modern telehealth. Keeping this in mind during our first round of stakeholder workshops, we came to the conclusion that a hybrid strategy would be the best way to go. While designing with the mobile experience in mind (for a web interface as well as native apps in the future), we also planned for the system to be extremely responsive and easy to implement for a variety of viewports, beginning with older non-flagship phones as well as tablet devices and a standard desktop experience. By taking this strategy, the development team was able to significantly reduce the amount of time that was required to produce the finished product.

Enhancing the functionalities

Two types of users had to be served.

While NowPatient continues to focus primarily on repeat prescriptions from outside doctors, they also wanted to enable users to schedule appointments and provide them with single-use prescriptions for any situation that may arise. This required designing a flexible solution that could accommodate either scenario, and information architecture were essential to achieving this. During several iterations and user tests, I discovered a user-friendly and natural solution. The final step in achieving this objective was to develop a native call feature within the app (to be released later) for a seamless experience across all devices.

Design System

Ease of development and evolution.

Due to the rapid pace at which this project was being carried out, work on developing the fundamental design system began simultaneously with the design of the earliest iterations of the user interface. Every single component and module has been developed with full responsiveness and the ability to scale in mind from the very beginning. The comprehensive documentation that was "baked" into Figma's environment (to be used later on after the initial release) along with the appropriate instructions that were handed off to stakeholders in a Notion format were the two most important factors that contributed to the project's success. This strategy made it simple for everyone to participate and cut down on the number of impromptu meetings that were necessary during the quality assurance phase of the project's development. That documentation would also serve as a central point of truth for the entirety of the product design and development process whenever there were any inconsistencies that occurred.

Handoff

Ready for takeoff.

In addition to designing the application and design system, I created a full mobile prototype that could be tested and presented to shareholders who were unable to attend our daily meetings. The prototype would also provide developers with guidelines on how to prepare micro-interactions and animations. Following internal and external user testing, the project was moved into development, which I oversaw, providing ad hoc support and constant QA.

Please keep in mind that the new version of the application has not yet been released for reasons unknown.

Play with Figma prototype →