MedSelect Feature Redesign
Simplifying Patient Entry
Simplifying the Add Patient workflow to reduce time to completion and support nurses during critical medication dispensing moments.
Role
Lead Designer
Tools
Figma
Adobe CC
Industry
Healthcare Technology
Overview
MedSelect is a modular medication dispensing system used in hospitals and long-term care settings. Its display terminal software manages cabinet access, allowing nurses to safely and efficiently dispense medications to patients.
When I joined the project, the system’s “Add a Patient” workflow had not been updated in nearly 20 years — and required 13 steps to complete a task that could be done in three.
This case study explores how I led a redesign that simplified the process, reduced completion time, and improved usability for front-line healthcare workers.
A Surprising Discovery
I first became aware of the issue while reviewing a draft of the user manual written by one of my technical writers. The 13-step process sounded so cumbersome that I asked her if it was correct. It was.
That question started everything.
The feature had survived untouched through years of technical updates and rewrites of the software codebase, yet the underlying workflows had never been reevaluated.
Discover
Define
Who It Affected
The main users were nurses, who relied on the system to dispense medications quickly and accurately. When a new patient arrived — or when the network connection went down — they needed to add a patient to the local database before proceeding.
The Hidden Cost of Complexity
The 13-step process forced users to perform a redundant search of the local cache before adding a new patient, even when that data might not exist. The intent was to avoid duplicate patient profiles, which could cause administrative headaches and billing inefficiencies later. But in practice, it created unnecessary delays during high-pressure moments.
I searched for a reason we couldn’t change the flow to:
Select Add > Enter Patient Information > Confirm
I couldn’t find one.
Develop
Rallying Support
After confirming the issue, I approached our QA lead to prioritize the redesign and worked it into the next release cycle. Implementation managers immediately saw the value — one even said,
“I’m shocked no one considered this before. When can we bring this to all products?”
Balancing Constraints
We faced two major constraints:
Time: This redesign was added mid-cycle to an active release.
Technology: The team was in the middle of refactoring the codebase to allow for design system tokenization. We had to decide how much of the new library could be used safely without breaking legacy components.
Despite these limits, we saw an opportunity to deliver high-impact improvement with minimal disruption.
Exploring Simplicity
Once I mapped out the 13-step legacy process, I began sketching alternative flows that could reduce redundancy without compromising accuracy. Early wireframes focused on collapsing the redundant patient search step into the Add Patient process itself. Instead of forcing users through multiple screens, I designed a search panel that appeared dynamically as nurses entered new patient data.
Each iteration prioritized speed and clarity — larger touch targets for gloved hands, straightforward copy, and a predictable three-step sequence that supported fast-paced clinical workflows.
Deliver
Simplifying the Experience
The redesign replaced the redundant multi-step verification with a streamlined confirmation system.
Instead of forcing users through multiple searches and verification screens, the system now runs checks in parallel during the add-patient process and prompts the user only if a potential duplicate exists.
This shift respected the realities of the nurses’ workflow — when the database is offline or when speed matters most, they need tools that move at the pace of care.
High Fidelity Mockups
After validating the new flow through low-fidelity prototypes, I moved into high-fidelity design to refine layout, visual hierarchy, and interaction details. The goal was to create a calmer, more intuitive interface that guided nurses through the process without unnecessary clicks or cognitive load.
Final Design Highlights
Search panel and confirmation integrated into the Add Patient form.
Streamlined three-step process replacing the original 13-step workflow.
Improved visual hierarchy emphasizing key actions and data fields.
Reduced modal usage for fewer interruptions during entry.
Outcomes
Measurable Results
30+ seconds saved per patient added
Reduced frustration and task fatigue for nursing staff
Improved consistency in system design and component use
Organizational Insights
The project revealed how legacy workflows can linger unnoticed for decades, even as the technology evolves. It reinforced the importance of periodically challenging long-standing assumptions — especially in products that evolve incrementally over many years.
Reflection
What I Learned
This project taught me that asking questions with genuine curiosity can surface major opportunities for improvement — even in mature products.
It also highlighted the blind spots that can form when teams become accustomed to “the way things have always worked.”
Takeaway
By pairing critical inquiry with user-centered design, even small changes can have outsized impact on both usability and organizational confidence in the product’s evolution.