Health Care Provider Users Product Research -
Usability / Beta Release / Concept Testing
Context
In my role on our health care provider user team (I.e., doctors, therapists, etc.), I led a two-phase research initiative aimed to assess the usability of new scheduling features planned for release.
TLDR: ways to schedule more easily and quickly to convert more patient appointments.
Technology performance delayed the full feature release. With a phased development approach already planned, as a team we decided to scope the research incrementally, testing near-term items while informing future directions.
Research Aims & Methodology
The goals of this research were to better understand clinical users’ ways of working to ultimately enhance user efficiency and conversion. I worked closely with Product Management, Engineering, Design and Content to have appropriate stimuli and scoped the plan to focus where users would encounter the most change or possible confusion.
We worked closely with adjacent clinical teams to select representative user segments, including platform usage and their experience or “savviness” with technology.
Sequence of events:
I led user interviews - pre-beta release - to inform any urgent changes needed and start to gain insights on concepts in-design
I oversaw 2-weeks use of the new features including documentation of issues
I led a second round of user interviews to follow-up and deep dive into issues, along with a second concept review
Analysis & Synthesis Process
Given the sequence of events, I analyzed findings and synthesized learnings from each round to accommodate the teams’ capacity.
I focused on a task analysis, prioritizing based on more urgent needs that can pose risks to patient and clinical safety, then efficiency blockers. We planned a group synthesis session to help inform the team’s roadmap.
Recommendations, Impact & Future Directions
Adapting to the team’s needs, I ensured findings and recommendations were timely with initial outputs focused on substance. I shared learnings via Miro boards first, to make the findings easily accessible, later transferring to report and deck formats to share with broader stakeholders.
Recommendations were shared in order of risk, starting with:
errors and patient safety concerns (ex: appropriate use of alerts / icons)
areas of confusion (ex: use of drag and drop to add new time slots)
opportunities, including ways to address user accessibility (ex: use of color, size, aspect ratios, etc.)
The Product team prioritized top concerns to optimize the user experience and reduce any risks to the provider, patient and business. Near the project’s end, it was clear that teams would be shifting, so I made it a priority to have the work documented, prioritized and shared appropriately with the near-term and future needs made clear.
Personal Reflections
This research initiative was an excellent opportunity to leverage a variety of tools (survey, Figma prototypes, interviews on Dscout) and approaches including the need to advocate, negotiate, practice patience and candor to garner impactful outcomes.
I enjoyed working with this team closely from scoping to research delivery knowing that our work would impact hundreds of users’ day-to-day, as well as the many thousands of patients they care for.
Stakeholder Testimonial - Lead Product Manager
“I had the pleasure of working with Christina last year and was consistently impressed by her expertise as a UX researcher and her ability to bring structure and clarity to complex problems. She has a keen ability to uncover deep user insights and translate them into actionable recommendations which helped me build the product roadmap.
Beyond her research skills, Christina has a strong operational mindset, ensuring that processes are not only effective but also scalable. We worked closely together on a calendar feature beta group, which came with its fair share of challenges—aligning with engineering release timelines and navigating early technical issues. Despite these hurdles, Christina remained adaptable and solution-oriented.”