Care, Just a Click Away
UW Medicine Location Webpage Redesign
This sponsored project refined the web searching experience for patients seeking care across hospitals and clinics, aiming to make finding medical services accessible, simple, and stress-free.
My Role
Product Designer
UX Researcher
Project Manager
Disciplines
Collaborative Research
User Centered Design
Usability Testing
Team
Borui Wang
Carly Minow
Congyi Zhu
Daniel Gao
Date
June 2024
10 weeks
Problems
1
Unclear terminology and duplicate search bars
Goal
Patients struggled to navigate UW Medicine’s location search system due to
2
Poor search result usability
3
Inefficient amenities info retrieval
Redesign the "Find a Location" feature to make healthcare access intuitive and efficient for patients of all medical literacy levels
Competitive Analysis
💻 Effective Website Layout
🔍 Omni Search Bar & Filters
🗺️ Interactive Maps
ℹ️ Amenities Section
Assessed amenity availability, discoverability, and usability within hospital
-
Parking - Identify the parking area (employee, patient, and long-term parking areas) and the method by which you pay for parking (kiosk, app, etc.)
Emergency Department - Locate the entrance to the Emergency Department and identify the signage indicating emergency services.
Cafeteria - Read the menu and order something to eat.
Coffee Shop - Purchase a medium-sized coffee and note the price.
Gift Shop - Find a small gift item priced under $10.
Vending Machine - Purchase a bottle of water from the nearest vending machine and note the price.
Information Desk - Find operational hours and hospital maps at the desk. Also, take a photo of the signage on the desk.
Quiet Place - Find a designated quiet area and take a photo of the signage indicating it as such.
Wi-Fi Access - Connect to the hospital Wi-Fi network and take note of the network name and password and the pricing if it’s not free.
Pharmacy - Locate the hospital pharmacy and evaluate its proximity to other hospital services.
Charging/outlets - Locate charging stations or outlets and evaluate its proximity to other hospital services, especially dining tables and sitting areas.
Most tasks were rated as a 3/5 difficulty. However, we found an essential constrain
Services and amenities (Parking, cashier, detours) are not communicated online
Field Study at UWMC-Montlake
Uncover pain points, observing user interactions and gathering feedback
Key aspects of the testing process
6 moderated “talk-aloud“ tests via Zoom or in person
Usability tasks followed by immediate Q&A sessions
Test scripts and tasks developed by the team with sponsor input
Initial User Testing
Research Key Takeaways
🤐 Language barriers
Complex terminology hindered non-native speakers and seniors
😵 Confusing navigation
Unclear layouts and limited search functionality
🤔 Ambiguous services
Vague amenities and specialty lists caused frustration
Key Design Decisions
🔍 Omni search
Combined location/provider/insurance searches, supporting plain language search
🗺️ Map-first results
Interactive hospital map with refined result cards
⭐ Enhanced detail pages
Completed essential info in modular templates
Information Architecture
Initial Sketches
Rough interface layouts explorations based on IA
Lo-Fi Prototype
Transformed UI sketches into testable Figma prototypes for iterative refinement before Hi-Fi development
Usability Testing
Tested with 3 returning and 2 new users, categorizing feedback as "good," "bad," or "comments" for iteration
Insights for improvements
🔍 Search/Home Page
A welcoming title
Recommendations and shortcuts
🗺️ Map/Result Page
Enhance contrast for better readability
Add a legend for map icons
📍 Location Page
Overview Section
A traditional list of hours over a collapsible format
Services Section
Reduce repetitive searches
Provide examples of valid search terms
Service Section
Rename the "new patients" to "accepting new patients" for clarity
Final Designs
1. Omni Search
The central hub for all user entering
Plain language search for any keywords
Quote from early testing:
"I don't know the location name, so why is that the location search bar?"
2. Search Results & Map
Interactive map with clear icons/legend
At-a-glance location cards
Improved usability & visual clarity
3. Overview & Amenities
Clearer layout for easy navigation
New amenities subsection to mirror on-site experience
4. Services & Providers
Plain-language search and advanced filters (insurance and new patients)
Provider cards with critical info
Streamlined care-search process
Design System
Brand-aligned colors & fonts with modern rounded corners
Material icons for visual consistency
Responsive grid optimized for desktop
Evaluation
Sponsor Validation
Design Showcase Feedback
We evaluated our hi-fi prototype with Kory Kuriel, Director of Digital Experience at UW Medicine.
Key feedback
Strengthen visual hierarchy & brand consistency
Improve accessibility (color contrast, text sizing)
Enhance map UX with clearer legends
Location page structure
Validation
Senior designers confirmed our plain-language approach successfully improved accessibility
Actual UW Medicine patients praised the empathetic, user-focused redesign
Key Insights
Recognized for user-centered methodology
Generated discussion about AI implementation potential
Validated as significant improvement over existing system
Future Plan
AI could significantly enhance the search experience through intent recognition, personalization, and predictive assistance using NLP for more natural interactions. While this enables data-driven optimizations, implementing AI requires rigorous privacy safeguards including data anonymization, transparent consent protocols, and bias mitigation to ensure ethical, compliant healthcare solutions that maintain user trust.