Awareness
Susan searches for hospitals, asks friends for recommendations and reads online reviews. She decides on a hospital and schedules an appointment via website/app, social media, or referrals.
CASE STUDY
Columbia Asia Patient Portal
Enhancing UX for Seamless Healthcare
Redesigned the Columbia Asia Patient Portal to improve UX, enabling seamless appointment booking,
medical records access, and secure payments.
Introduction
The Columbia Asia Patient Portal was designed to enhance the healthcare experience for patients by providing a seamless and user-friendly digital platform. This case study outlines the research, challenges, user insights, design solutions, and final outcomes of the project.
Client
Columbia Asia, Malaysia
Industry
Healthcare & Meical
Role
UX Research/Visual
Tools
Figma, FigJam, Miro
Project Overview
Overview
Our goals was to design and develop a user friendly and intuitive mobile web app that empowers patients to:
- Efforlessly book and manage apopintments
- Securely access their medial records
- Find specialists and explore healthcare services
- Make payments with ease
My Role
As a Senior UX Designer, I was deeply involved in every stage of design process, including
- User Research & Planning: Understanding patient needs and paint points
- User Flows & Wireframing: Mapping intuitive navigation and interactions
- Design Workshops: Collaborating with stakeholders to align on user needs
- High-Fidelity Wireframes & Prototyping: Brining the vision to life through interactive designs
Understanding the Project Scope
What?
A user-friendly mobile web app designed to help patients conveniently manage their healthcare needs.
Why?
To simplify key healthcare tasks, including:
- Appointment booking
- Medical record access
- Finding specialists
- Secure payments
Where?
The Columbia Asia Patient App serves patients across Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam, providing seamless access to Columbia Asia hospitals and services.
When?
The app is available 24/7, allowing users to book appointments, access records, and manage healthcare anytime, anywhere.
Who?
Patients in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam seeking a streamlined, digital healthcare experience.
Defining the Problem
The previous Columbia Asia app had several usability challenges, including:
- Complicated navigation and poor user experience
- Unreliable appointment booking system
- Limited dependent management (e.g., managing appointments for family members)
- Lack of secure access to medical records
These issues caused frustration for users and created inefficiencies in healthcare management. A new user-friendly, secure, and seamless app was needed to enhance patient experience, ensuring smooth appointment booking, medical record access, and bill payments.
Key Tasks & Objectives
User Research & Analysis
- Conducted user interviews and survey analysis to gather insights
- Analyzed user pain points and business objectives
Concept Exploration & Ideation
- Developed wireframes and prototypes to visualize design solutions
- Conducted stakeholder workshops to align on UX strategy
Enhancing Usability & Accessibility
- Designed with WCAG accessibility standards for inclusivity
- Ensured responsive design for optimal mobile web experience
Best Practices
These best practices were established based on market research, user feedback, and industry standards, ensuring an optimal patient experience.
Focus on User Needs
- Conducted user research to understand patient pain points.
- Prioritized core functionalities and a user-friendly experience.
Ensure Seamless Integration
- Established smooth communication between the app and hospital systems.
- Minimized technical issues related to appointment confirmations and report access.
Prioritize Transparency & Communication
- Improved clarity in appointment confirmations and notifications.
- Ensured patients received complete information upfront.
Offer Multiple Support Channels
- Implemented phone, email, and in-app chat support.
- Ensured a responsive support system for user queries.
UX Activity
Research & Discovery
To design an intuitive and patient-centric experience, I conducted extensive qualitative research to understand user behaviors, expectations, and pain points.
Qualitative Research Approach
Conducted 15+ in-depth user interviews with:
- Patients across different demographics
- Customer-facing hospital staff (e.g., receptionists, nurses, and administrators)
Key User Research Questions
To uncover real-world pain points, I designed a structured set of open-ended and behavior-driven questions, such as:
- Hospital Visits: How often do you visit a hospital?
- Experience Assessment: What has your experience been like when visiting hospitals?
- App Usage: How often do you use the hospital's app?
- Feature Prioritization: Which features do you use the most in the app?
- Competitive Analysis: Do you use any other healthcare or hospital apps? If so, which ones and why?
Survey Results & Key Insights
Overview
- Participants: 15 (Patients, Columbia Asia Staff, Doctors)
- Gender: 5 Male, 10 Female
- Location: Columbia Asia Bukit Jalil
Highlights
- Lack of Awareness: Patients and staff were not aware of the hospital app.
- Communication Gap: Appointment confirmation SMS was not received by users.
- Missing Details: Some users received confirmations but without time details.
- Support Issues: Patients did not know the right contact number for inquiries.
- Limited Features: Users could only view reports but not MRI scans.
- Waiting Time: Patients experienced long waiting times at the hospital.
Product Direction
Suggested Enhancements
for Columbia Asia Patient App
e-Billing & Transaction History
- E-billing Integration: Allow patients to view and manage their billing details.
- Detailed Transaction History: Provide a breakdown including date, time, prescribed medicines, and purchase history.
Smart Reminders & Engagement
- Age-Based Health Reminders: Notify patients when they reach check-up milestones.
- Promotions & Loyalty Programs: Introduce discounts, rewards, and membership benefits.
Virtual Consultation & Appointments
- Video Consultation: Enable remote consultations with doctors.
- Admission & Check-in: View available rooms, waiting times, room rates, and food options.
Medical Records & History
- Comprehensive Medical Record Access: Enable patients to view past records and request reports.
Patient Journey Map
User Personas
FemaleAge: 38MarriedMalaysia
Lisa Cheng
Business Analyst
About
Lisa Cheng is planning her first medical checkup. She wants to visit the nearest hospital and book an appointment conveniently.
Expectations
- Quick process & affordable healthcare
- Good reviews for trust and reliability
- Easy scheduling system
Pre-Visit
Susan checks hospital location and contacts the right person. She receives automated appointment confirmation, email notification, and a reminder call.
Experience
Susan arrives at the hospital and speaks to a medical representative, waits in the waiting area, consults a doctor, undergoes a medical checkup, collects her medical report, and makes payment.
Post-Visit
Susan leaves the hospital and receives a follow-up email with doctor's recommendations and a reminder in 3 months for her next check-up.
Analysis
Existing Patient's App
To design an intuitive and patient-centric experience, I conducted extensive qualitative research to understand user behaviors, expectations, and pain points.
Current Usage: 4-8%Target Usage: 40%
Identified Pain Points
Despite being launched years ago, the existing Columbia Asia Patient App faces major usability challenges. Key issues include:
1. Check-in & Appointment Frustrations
- No Seamless Check-in: Patients still need to take a ticket and queue despite booking via the app.
- Staff Unawareness: Hospital staff are unfamiliar with the app's features, leading to priority lane mismanagement.
- Ineffective Check-in Feature: Despite being available, the check-in function does not work at multiple locations.
2. Limited App Functionality
- Billing & Reports Access Issues: Bills cannot be downloaded, and medical reports are often not reviewed or visible.
- No Improvements Despite Feedback: Patients logged multiple cases, but no improvements were seen over time.
3. Login & Authentication Failures
- Persistent Login & OTP Issues: Users get logged out unexpectedly and cannot reset passwords.
- OTP authentication fails frequently, making it impossible to sign in.
- Users cannot select a location during sign-up, even after reinstalling the app.
4. Poor User Experience & Navigation
- Unintuitive Sign-up Process: Users experience password confirmation failures despite entering the correct credentials.
- Session Expiry Issue: When users switch apps to check OTP, they get logged out and have to restart the sign-in process.
- Multiple MRN Handling: No clear way to manage multiple MRNs, especially for children's records.
User Sentiment Summary
- “Used to love this app, but now I can't even log in or sign up.”
- “Hopeless, good for nothing app. None of the OTPs work. Wasted my time.”
- “Tried contacting customer service for 3 months, still no resolution.”
Research Synthesis
Organizing Pain Points into Categories
Competitive Research
Competitor Analysis
Examined leading healthcare apps (Sunway Hospital, MyHealth 360, Doctor Anywhere, Practo) to identify UX opportunities:
Sunway Hospital
Key Opportunities
- Engaging Dashboard: The Sunway Hospital app integrates promotional healthcare packages and health-related videos to enhance user engagement.
- Intuitive Navigation: A bottom navigation pattern ensures quick and easy access to key features.
- Appointment Management: Users can conveniently view their upcoming, past, and canceled appointments in one place.
- Doctor Favorites: The app allows users to mark doctors as favorites, making it easier to revisit preferred healthcare providers without searching again.
My Health 360
Key Opportunities
- Comprehensive Dashboard: My Health 360 centralizes appointment booking, medical records, health tracking, bill management, and a personal health planner.
- Streamlined User Journey: Reducing the need to navigate multiple menus helps users manage their health efficiently.
- User Empowerment: Health tracking and easy access to medical records encourage a proactive role in managing health.
- Engagement-Driven Design: A well-structured dashboard improves usability and keeps users actively engaged.
- Effortless Navigation: Bottom navigation provides quick access to essential functions with minimal effort.
Doctor Anywhere
Key Opportunities
- Seamless Sign-Up & Login: Users can easily sign up or log in via Google, Facebook, or email.
- Location-Based Convenience: The app auto-detects locations and populates nearby hospitals and doctors.
- Multi-Language Support: Users can select their preferred language from the first screen.
- Intuitive Navigation: A bottom navigation pattern ensures quick and effortless access to key features.
- Streamlined Appointment Booking: Appointment options are categorized to reduce cognitive load.
Practo
Key Opportunities
- Effortless Sign-Up: Practo offers a frictionless sign-up process using just a mobile number and name.
- Seamless Exploration: Infinite scroll showcases healthcare services, offers, surgery categories, symptoms, and specialties without requiring multiple pages.
Competitor Analysis Summary
Following the research phase, I facilitated a two-day workshop with the clients to present key insights. The session included collaborative activities such as empathy mapping, ideation, brainstorming, wireframe sketching, and idea voting. This interactive approach helped align stakeholders, refine design goals, and generate actionable solutions for an improved user experience.
Proposed Flow
Flow 01
- Login
- Onboarding
- Appointment
Flow 02
- Login
- Onboarding
- Appointment
Flow 03
- Login
- Onboarding
- Appointment
User Flow
Onboarding & Login
Wireframe
1 / 4
Material Design for Consistency & Branding
I incorporated the Material Design system to ensure a seamless, intuitive, and responsive user experience across devices. By utilizing its well-structured components and flexible design principles, I maintained consistency while enhancing usability. At the same time, I carefully integrated the original brand colors to preserve the brand's visual identity and recognition.
Visual Design
1 / 5
Prototype
Outcome
The redesigned Columbia Asia Patient Portal significantly improved user experience, addressing major pain points and enhancing patient engagement. This case study demonstrates the importance of user research, iterative design, and collaboration in delivering a seamless healthcare solution.
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