Product & Identity Design, 2022

Building a friendly intake flow for Options MD

Options MD is a virtual clinic that helps people with treatment-resistant depression find support and lasting relief.

Problem

About 30% of people diagnosed with depression are unable to find treatment that works, despite adherence to 2+ prescriptions. This phenomenon is called “treatment resistance,” and it affects 5.5 million Americans. When I began working with Options MD, they had a huge online community but no user base for their brand-new virtual clinic. Our goals were to build an MVP, test it, and start bringing in new patients.

Solution

By harnessing a database of 300+ available options and a catalog of top medical experts, Options MD’s platform helps patients attain a personalized treatment program uniquely suited to their needs and preferences. For 2 years, I operated as Options MD’s lead creative, collaborating with their engineering team and clinical advisors to build an on-screen experience that boosted engagement and inspired conversions.

My Role

Tools Used

Designing the product, website, identity, and collateral, working closely with co-founders. Regularly iterating on user flows to meet business objectives and improve usability.

Miro, FigJam, Figma, Sketch, Coda, Principle, Adobe Suite, Jira

The Team

I acted as Solo Designer and Creative Director with guidance from 2 Co-founders, 2 Engineers, 1 Project Manager, 2 Data Scientists, and about a dozen Medical Advisors.

Research

I conducted a competitive analysis which included looking at virtual clinics within and outside mental health care to uncover trends and areas of opportunity. I closely studied user flows, taglines, imagery, and CTAs for inspiration to ensure that my designs for Options MD had all compulsory elements covered.

Requirements Gathering

The UX interview process provided valuable insight into the challenges, grievances and successes of people with depression. We spoke to patients about their specific needs regarding mental health, depression treatment and experiences with previous doctors. Questions were asked about how the patient chose a doctor in the past, whether they felt their previous doctor was trustworthy, and what the pricing structure would be for a virtual clinic for those suffering from treatment-resistant depression. This information provided priceless insight that may help inform improved patient care in the future.

Interviews

Options MD’s audience is primarily made up of middle-aged women, a demographic that disproportionately suffers from treatment-resistant depression. Many of the people viewing the product will be discovering Options MD for the first time. After the initial consultation, users will return to the app whenever they want to review their treatment options or schedule appointments with clinicians.

Audience

To create user personas for Options MD, I worked in collaboration with owners, engineers and medical advisors. Together, we formulated patient profiles that represented the most common cases of treatment-resistant depression and included elements such as age, income, occupation, goals, challenges, pain points, needs and triggers. This process of crafting user personas enabled us to paint a clearer picture of our users' needs.

Personas

Based on the persona’s we built, we found that this audience is probably experiencing a slew of emotions while taking the intake assessment. They could be feeling anxious or depressed, fed up with their search, or motivated to find a dependable clinic.Therefore, the design and messaging need to find the perfect blend of friendliness, approachability, calm, and authority.

User Needs

Ideation

To build out the architecture and user flows of Options MD's virtual clinic from scratch, I engaged in cross-functional collaboration with engineering, medical and business owners. Together, we laid out which screens were necessary for the MVP and how these screens related to one another. To ensure that the users' experience was smooth, I explored various user flows while identifying potential pain points.

Architecture & User Flow

Specs Gathering

Since the patient intake process involves gathering a bit of complex medical history from users, I teamed up with data science and Options MD's medical advisors to determine which elements should be included in the more complex questions (and how) within the intake assessment.

To ensure accessibility, I created wireframes in greyscale focusing on designing clear indicators of progress, past actions, and component states. My aim was to simplify the patient intake process by shortening the time spent answering complex questions, e.g., “Which treatments have you tried for your depression?”

Wireframes

Visual Design

Once the team was aligned on the first round of wireframes, I drafted clickable prototypes featuring a patient intake assessment, scheduling flow, information about available treatments and clinicians, and opportunities for discovery. I utilized a minimal design system to ensure consistency across the interface and to provide a calming overall experience.

Prototypes

Intake Flow

Intake assessments can be a stressful experience for new patients, so I focused on designing an interface that feels friendly and trustworthy.

Guides & Brand Elements

I designed visual guidelines including a minimal color palette, typography guides and focus states for interactive elements.

You’ve Arrived

The TRD patient has been on the hunt for relief for months or even years. They’re done looking, and this design is built to feel like a one stop shop. It delivers a huge library of all possible treatments, access to clinical trials, expert clinicians, and a bevy of encouraging and educational content.

Evaluation

Throughout the design process, I conducted user testing to gain insights into how our product was performing. I worked closely with the project manager to invite real patients to provide feedback on what they found successful (or otherwise) within the platform. Those conversations enabled us to effectively prioritize which features should be included in upcoming sprints.

Launch & Testing

I regularly produced video demos of the product, using Principle and Photoshop to create quick iterations of the intended motion design.

Demos

To ensure our product team at Options MD felt supported and able to work efficiently, I initiated and led cross-functional retrospective meetings. This included using a virtual whiteboard along with a few simple prompts to create a list of wins and opportunities. We then discussed each one to ascertain the most effective path forward.

Retrospective

Over the course of testing, iterating, and releasing features, we found success in multiple areas. Firstly, we gathered valuable insight through user interviews and feedback. We also started to build Options MD’s data set, which ultimately increases the company’s research value and improves their ability to treat patients. We learned how best to engage with insurance partners and clinicians. And, we started actually helping patients find the right treatment for them, which is Options MD’s mission. As a result, we saw an increase in user adoption, user satisfaction, and revenue.

Long-Term Impact