Northwestern Medicine – Patient Self-Scheduling Platform
Role
Senior UX Designer
Domain
Healthcare · Consumer-Facing UX · Regulated Systems
Skills
Healthcare UX · Workflow Design · Accessibility · Form Design · Information Architecture · Compliance · User Research
Overview
Northwestern Medicine’s patient self-scheduling platform was designed to allow patients to find providers, understand availability, and schedule appointments online—without needing to call or navigate complex phone trees.
The work focused on improving clarity, accessibility, and trust in a healthcare context where users are often anxious, time-constrained, or unfamiliar with medical terminology. My role was to help shape an experience that balanced clinical accuracy, regulatory requirements, and patient usability.
The Problem
Healthcare scheduling presents unique UX challenges:
Patients often don’t know which appointment type they need
Medical terminology can be confusing or intimidating
Insurance, referrals, and eligibility rules introduce friction
Accessibility requirements are critical but often underprioritized
Errors or confusion can result in missed care or delayed treatment
The existing experience required refinement to better support real patient behavior, especially for users attempting to self-serve without assistance.
My Role
I worked as a UX Designer on the patient self-scheduling experience, collaborating with Product, Engineering, Clinical stakeholders, and Accessibility partners. My responsibilities included:
Designing patient-facing scheduling workflows
Improving information hierarchy and decision support
Designing forms and selection flows for clarity and accessibility
Partnering with stakeholders to balance clinical requirements with usability
Supporting usability testing and iteration
Ensuring compliance with accessibility standards (WCAG)
This work required careful attention to language, hierarchy, and user confidence.
Research & Insights
Key insights informed the redesign:
Patients often second-guess themselves when choosing appointment types
Too much information upfront increases anxiety and abandonment
Clear reassurance (“you can change this later”) improves completion
Accessibility issues disproportionately affect older users and patients under stress
Patients value clarity and guidance more than speed
The experience needed to support decision-making, not just data entry.
Design Approach
1. Guiding Patients Through Decision Points
Rather than asking patients to know everything upfront, the design:
Broke scheduling into manageable steps
Used plain language wherever possible
Provided contextual help and explanations
Reduced the number of required decisions at each step
This helped patients move forward with confidence.
2. Improving Information Architecture
I worked to clarify:
Appointment type selection
Provider availability presentation
Location and modality (in-person vs virtual)
Next steps and confirmation messaging
Clear hierarchy reduced cognitive load and uncertainty.
3. Accessibility as a First-Class Requirement
Healthcare UX must work for everyone. The design emphasized:
Screen reader compatibility
Keyboard navigation
Sufficient contrast and readable typography
Predictable focus order
Clear error messaging
Accessibility was treated as core UX, not a checklist.
4. Designing for Emotional Context
Scheduling healthcare isn’t neutral. The experience accounted for:
Patient anxiety
Time pressure
Health uncertainty
Design decisions prioritized calm language, reassurance, and transparency.
Key Design Decisions
Prioritized read-only and lookup workflows over editing
Designed navigation for speed and muscle memory
Treated offline support as a core requirement, not an edge case
Avoided over-feature-ing the app
Maintained consistency with Spencer Stuart’s internal systems while simplifying the experience
Solution
Patient Scheduling Flow
Step-by-step guidance
Clear appointment type explanations
Transparent availability
Accessible form patterns
Confirmation & Follow-Up
Clear confirmation states
Next steps explained plainly
Reduced uncertainty after booking
The result was an experience that felt trustworthy, approachable, and usable for a wide range of patients.
Impact & Results
Improved clarity and confidence for patients scheduling online
Reduced friction in a high-stress workflow
Supported accessibility compliance across the flow
Helped shift more scheduling activity to self-service
Provided a foundation for continued refinement
Even small improvements had meaningful impact in a healthcare context.
What I Learned
Emotional context matters as much as interaction design
Healthcare UX requires deep empathy and restraint
Accessibility improvements benefit all users
Clear language can dramatically reduce anxiety
Regulated environments still allow for humane design
Artifacts (Optional)
Scheduling flow diagrams
Appointment type selection explorations
Accessibility review notes
Before/after comparisons
