Reducing uncertainty across mental healthcare discovery, appointment scheduling, payment and ongoing patient engagement.
00 / Project overview
PsychPlus envisions a future where mental well-being is prioritized as much as physical health. The patient app supports the care journey before and after an appointment, from finding a psychiatrist or therapist to managing medications, reminders and follow-up care.
The redesign focused on the moments where uncertainty was breaking confidence: before sign-up, during provider selection, throughout booking and payment, and after an appointment was confirmed.
My role and ownership
Defined the research plan and synthesized behavioral and attitudinal evidence.
Reframed onboarding so exploration happened before account commitment.
Redesigned provider discovery, scheduling, payment and appointment management.
Established a scalable, accessible mobile design system and handoff approach.
Existing experience
These production screens show how account creation, provider discovery, scheduling, insurance and payment were connected in the original experience. The audit focuses only on the moments that added the most uncertainty.
The journey begins with authentication, before patients can understand the available care or evaluate provider fit.
A multi-step registration flow requests identity and password details before patients experience meaningful product value.
The same account step changes its validation feedback in place, adding another state patients must interpret before moving forward.
The second step extends the commitment with demographic information while the care-discovery goal remains out of reach.
Legal consent completes the account flow before patients have browsed providers or understood the service.
Scheduling cards, upcoming appointments, care-team content and navigation compete within the same visual hierarchy.
A large modal interrupts the home context and asks patients to choose a visit mode before showing provider or availability context.
Insurance versus self-pay is requested before patients understand provider fit, expected cost or coverage status.
Provider cards prioritize name, location and time slots, but provide limited evidence for comparing suitability and trust.
The empty state reports that no data was found but offers no recovery action, alternate date, provider or visit type.
Selection is visible, but acceptance, verification and patient responsibility are not explained as separate states.
Payment type, card details and billing information appear in one long form without a clear summary of total, coverage or estimated due.
Provider details, policies, consent and the final booking action are compressed into a dense card instead of a clear care-management handoff.
Patients repeatedly had to commit, choose or pay before receiving enough context to feel confident. That pattern connected the entry, discovery, scheduling and post-booking problems.
Account creation appeared before patients could discover value.
Provider information did not support confident comparison.
Broken sequence and unclear next steps interrupted booking.
Patients could not quickly distinguish total, coverage and responsibility.
Weak reminders and status visibility reduced continuity.
Inconsistent components and states lowered perceived quality.
01 / The challenge
The real problem was uncertainty.
Retention and appointment conversion were falling because the experience asked for commitment before it created clarity or trust.
Broken flows prevented patients from completing core tasks with confidence.
Outdated hierarchy and inconsistent patterns made the product feel unreliable.
The app offered limited reasons to return between appointments.
Accessibility gaps and missing states increased friction at sensitive moments.
Help patients confidently explore care, choose an appropriate provider and complete an appointment booking with minimal effort, while building enough trust to keep them engaged after the visit?
Reduce premature sign-up friction.
Improve provider relevance and confidence.
Recover appointment conversion.
Reduce checkout confusion.
Increase retention and care preparedness.
02 / Research and discovery
We combined product evidence, market context, patient interviews, surveys, an experience audit and prototype testing to understand both the reasons behind abandonment and the scale of recurring issues.
Expectations, emotional barriers and decision-making.
Frequency and relative priority of reported issues.
Usability, consistency and accessibility defects.
Abandonment across sign-up, discovery, booking and payment.
Validation of revised concepts and remaining friction.
What we wanted to learn
What prevents patients from exploring and booking care in the existing app?
What information helps a patient decide whether a provider is right for them?
Where does scheduling create hesitation, confusion or rework?
Which reminders, statuses and care-management features would make the app worth returning to?
03 / Patient interviews
The conversations focused on how patients searched for care, evaluated providers, interpreted payment information and prepared for upcoming visits.
“Why should I create an account before I can even see what is available?”
“I need more than a name and specialty. I want to understand their experience and approach.”
“I was not sure whether I had selected the appointment or whether there was another step.”
“I cannot tell what I owe, what insurance covers or what happens next.”
“I should not have to open different pages to confirm when my appointment is.”
“If the interface feels inconsistent, I worry the process may also be unreliable.”
04 / Survey signals
The survey reinforced the interview themes: start earlier than the calendar. Exploration, provider confidence and eligibility determine whether a patient ever reaches scheduling.
Design response: guest exploration and progressive account creation.
Design response: prominent filters with visible, persistent selections.
Design response: visible progress and one primary decision per screen.
Design response: comparable profiles, care approach and feedback.
Design response: group total, coverage, responsibility and consent.
Design response: persistent upcoming-visit cards and preferences.
05 / Synthesis
Calm visuals mattered, but predictable behavior, evidence, status and recovery mattered more.
Patients needed to explore services before sharing personal information.
Specialty alone was not enough to support confident choice.
One unclear step could break the entire booking funnel.
Total, coverage and responsibility needed a plain-language hierarchy.
Every action needed clear feedback and an obvious next step.
Guest mode, value-led onboarding and progressive sign-up.
Lightweight needs questions and a personalized home.
Filters, richer cards, profiles, ratings and care approach.
Progressive steps, editable summaries and confirmations.
Structured cost hierarchy and explicit insurance states.
Prominent appointments, reminders, medication and education access.
06 / Behavioral personas
Maya needed freedom to explore. Daniel needed speed and continuity. The final structure separated guest discovery from authenticated care management while keeping both paths consistent.
The cautious first-time seeker
“I am ready to look for help, but I do not want to share everything before I know this service feels right for me.”
29, marketing coordinator, new to therapy, prefers virtual care.
Researches privately and delays commitment until she trusts the service.
Explore before sign-up, understand provider approach, see cost and availability.
Forced registration, clinical jargon, shallow profiles and unclear insurance.
Find a provider who feels relevant and trustworthy, then book without restarting or decoding the process.
The returning care manager
“I already know why I am here. Show me my next appointment, what I need to do and any changes that affect my care.”
47, operations manager, ongoing psychiatric care, mixed visit types.
Returns for appointments, medication information, reminders and provider changes.
See the next action immediately, reschedule quickly and maintain continuity.
Hidden status, weak reminders, repetitive steps and inconsistent navigation.
Manage ongoing care with minimal effort and remain prepared for each appointment.
Maya needs confidence before commitment. Daniel needs the next care action immediately. Both need visible status, clear recovery and one predictable product language.
07 / Journey map
Four moments mattered most: before account creation, before provider choice, before payment and after every action.
Forced registration before exploration.
OpportunityGuest mode and transparent value.
Unclear why information is requested.
OpportunityExplain purpose, privacy and skip options.
Weak filters and limited relevance.
OpportunityUseful defaults and visible applied filters.
Not enough proof of provider fit.
OpportunityApproach, experience, insurance and availability.
Broken sequence and hidden dependencies.
OpportunityProgressive steps and editable summary.
Dense information and unclear coverage.
OpportunityPlain-language cost hierarchy.
Weak visibility after booking.
OpportunityPersistent appointment card and reminders.
Few reasons to return between visits.
OpportunityMedication, education and easy rebooking.
08 / Design principles
Every solution was tied to a testable hypothesis and an expected product signal.
Explain value and choices before requesting personal information.
Reduce simultaneous choices and keep progress visible.
Show the provider and financial information patients need to decide.
Confirm actions, explain exceptions and make the next step obvious.
Use a reassuring tone while keeping hierarchy, labels and actions explicit.
09 / Information architecture
The revised structure made scheduling available from every relevant entry point while preserving user choices across account creation, back navigation and eligibility checks.
Patients can understand services before committing.
Purpose, privacy and skip options remain visible.
Filters include service, specialty, availability, visit type, location, language and insurance.
Progress is visible and prior choices remain editable.
The selected provider and slot are preserved.
Responsibility is grouped in plain language.
Calendar, preparation, reminders and rescheduling are available immediately.
10 / The redesigned experience
The final experience reduced uncertainty from the first visit through ongoing care. Each chapter pairs an insight, a design decision and the behavior it was intended to support.
Patients can browse services, providers, availability and educational content before creating an account. Registration appears only when it is needed to save or reserve care.
Guest mode is the primary entry path, not a hidden secondary action.
Service cards explain what psychiatry, therapy and virtual care offer.
Account creation preserves selected providers, filters and time slots.
A short, optional questionnaire captures care preferences, symptoms of concern, visit type and practical needs. Purpose, privacy and skip options are explicit.
Questions are framed as preferences, not a clinical assessment.
Progress shows how much remains and patients can skip at any time.
Recommendations are explained as relevance support, not diagnosis.
First-time visitors see recommended next steps. Returning patients see their upcoming appointment, preparation tasks, medication shortcuts and useful content.
Home adapts to the patient's current relationship with care.
Upcoming appointments use persistent status and preparation guidance.
Medication, documents and education create reasons to return between visits.
Search and filter support specialty, service, availability, visit type, insurance, location, language and gender preference. Applied filters remain visible when patients move between list and profile.
Filter chips show the active decision context above the results.
Provider cards surface the evidence patients compare most often.
Unavailable and ineligible choices explain why and offer recovery.
Profiles combine credentials, experience, care approach, conditions treated, languages, visit options, insurance, patient feedback and earliest availability in a scannable hierarchy.
Fit evidence appears before long biography or administrative detail.
Availability and accepted insurance remain visible near the booking action.
Care approach uses plain language rather than clinical jargon.
The booking flow uses progressive steps, visible progress, editable choices, plain-language insurance states and a focused cost breakdown.
Back navigation does not erase provider, visit type, date or time.
Acceptance, verification and estimated responsibility are separated.
A concise review screen exposes every editable choice before confirmation.
Upcoming visits are prominent, reminders are configurable and success, information, warning, empty, loading, offline and error states explain what happened and what to do next.
Confirmation includes calendar, preparation, reminder and reschedule actions.
Status remains visible across home, appointment list and appointment detail.
Every exception includes a clear recovery path.
11 / Validation and iteration
We focused on finding a provider, booking, understanding payment and locating the upcoming visit, then refined the experience where ambiguity remained.
+50 percentage points
59% faster
75% lower per participant
+2.0 points out of 7
Participants were unsure whether answers would be interpreted as diagnosis.
Users returning from a profile did not always remember what constrained the list.
Patients could not distinguish provider acceptance from benefit verification.
Patients still needed calendar, reminder, preparation and rescheduling actions.
12 / Design system and delivery
A tokenised system across colour, typography and components, built so the EHR and Patient platforms stay consistent and shippable.
Primary, accents, neutral ramp and semantic states.
Heading, title, label, paragraph and subheading scales.
Variants, sizes, states and properties.
Status badges across every semantic colour and size.
Default, focus, filled, error, disabled and unit states.
Colour, type, spacing, radius, elevation and motion as semantic roles.
Variants, states, responsive rules and content limits.
Discovery, booking, payment, reminders and recovery.
Lists, profiles, forms, summaries and appointment details.
Do and don't examples, redlines and exceptional behaviour.
Naming, versioning, contribution and deprecation rules.
Accessibility by design
WCAG-aligned text, control, focus and semantic-state contrast.
Minimum 44 × 44 point targets for primary interactions.
Dynamic type, logical reading order and meaningful labels.
Messages tied to fields with clear correction guidance.
Reduced jargon and direct explanation of insurance and status.
Icons, labels and text support every semantic state.
13 / Impact of the revamp
The redesigned entry and booking funnel improved patient engagement and the business's primary conversion metric.
Post-revamp increase from the supplied internal metric.
+91% within one month.
+191% in the following measurement period.
Post-revamp increase from the supplied internal metric.
The app moved from a transactional booking utility toward a connected patient-care experience, without losing focus on the conversion path that mattered most.
14 / Reflection
The strongest outcome came from treating uncertainty as a product problem, not only a visual one.
Personalization must earn trust before it asks for personal context.
Improving the calendar alone cannot solve booking abandonment.
Predictable navigation, states and recovery create clinical trust.
Components create more value when teams understand how and why they behave.
Have a product challenge?
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