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Dentistry without the teething problems.
Removing the pain around going to the dentist, on both sides of the chair.
Time: 8 weeks
My role: Research, Design concept, Architecture, Flows, Wireframes, UI
Time: 8 weeks
My role: Research, Design concept, Architecture, Flows, Wireframes, UI
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Brief
K Dental Studios — an established luxury dentist — was looking to improve their website’s functionality and conversion rate. Important requirements included intuitive navigation; creating solutions for users that will make interactions with the clinic more streamlined; and, where possible, contactless and digital. The website also had to be mobile friendly. The final look was meant to be elegant and simple.
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Challenges
Navigation - The client had large amounts of information for customers on their website. The aim was to organise it in a way that would be easy to access without being overwhelming.
Business identity - Besides dental treatments there are also beauty treatments available in a sister brand called K Skin Studios. We had to establish whether each treatment group should be separate sections of the business, or find a way to integrate them both into a coherent part of the customer’s journey.
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Goals
Platform for patients where they can manage their bookings, payments and everything related to their dental health like notes from their dentists, scans, after care advice and general good dental practice tips.
The business goal was making bookings easier with visible and accessible "call to action" buttons.
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Unique Solution
Making browsing between different sections entertaining and engaging in order to create excitement about the idea of improving health and looks. To achieve this I restructured the architecture of the website and designed a brand new patient's portal.
Bringing dentists closer to the patients and helping manage a more personal experience by creating a user friendly layout with features that patients are looking for, and an area where they can receive personal notes from their dentists.
By undertaking an initial stakeholder interview I was able to fully understand the written brief. We spoke about the client’s vision for the brand and how she would like to interact with her patients online. I also had a chance to get to know about the types of documentation and the regulations that dentists have to comply with. This was important when considering the type of information should be stored in the patient portal database on the client’s side.
A variety of customer groups were interviewed: an existing patient of the clinic; a person who recently completed a treatment; people looking for a new dental practice; and someone struggling to find the right place to solve complicated wisdom teeth problems.
This research showed how important it is to be able to find the key information on the website quickly and to make and manage a booking online. Patients expressed the need to be able to find all of the information about their individual treatments in one place, and wanted a clear breakdown of the treatment costs. Visiting a dentist is not something people get excited about and they would like to be reminded when the time comes for their next check-up.
I analysed a range of dental and non-dental websites for inspiration, seeking user design that provided a high quality booking experience. The Apple brand was a client's example of a simple and beautiful design, and so I tried to see if I could find creative ideas that could be transferred from their website.
Three main personas were created: someone looking for a new dentist practice, an emergency patient, and an existing user coming back for a series of treatments. As I was about to design the patient portal I decided to focus on the latter persona.
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I analysed the journey of that persona while she was receiving composite bonding treatment. Although the overall experience was rather positive, there were points that could have been improved by consistent communication with the patient i.e. explaining what is about to happen, what to expect, and how they can prepare for it.
User stories were strongly focused around functionality, clear pricing and communication. This informed the following problem statements:
The website needs to have clearly communicated information about treatments and prices.Patients should be able to have access to one place where all their information is kept. They need to easily find past payments and treatments, pre and post treatment advice, as well as individual tips from their dentist.
By reorganising the website's architecture and information with accessible "call to action" buttons, it will be easier to book appointments. We will know this to be true when we see an increased number of bookings.
By creating a patient portal it will be easier for them to understand their treatments and progress.We will know this to be true when we see patients using the portal and less time will be spent on explaining things face to face, over phone or through emails.
I designed a flow for online bookings and payments. It is slightly different for registered users and for guest users. After making the payment, guest users have an option of creating an account. At that point it is as easy as setting up the password.
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To simplify navigation, I organised the information across six main categories. Treatments got divided into dental and aesthetics, prices were no longer separated from each treatment. Facial rejuvenation and dental treatments that improve looks, rather than health, were combined into one category. This created an idea that there is a natural link from one to another. I discovered in this project that dentists are the best to perform cosmetic procedures, as they are specialised in the face anatomy. I wanted to underline that and reflect this in the website's structure, so that the message can be carried out through all of the channels of communication with the patients.
To make a booking users can choose between two main types of treatments and scroll through options. To make the search easier I included filters and sorting options. Below you can see how they work. By selecting price range users can see very quickly if the treatment, they are interested in, is available to them. If it turns out it is not, the message will come up informing them about financial options and other ways the same problem can be treated.
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After selecting the treatment, it's time to choose a date and time from the calendar. If it is an existing patient, they can log in, otherwise they can continue as a new patient. After providing all the basic information and making the payment, an account can be created simply by choosing a password.
By exploring the Practice’s instagram account I identified that their tone of voice is rather light. It was obvious from the stakeholder interview I took that the patient's best interest is in the heart of the company. Therefore, I decided to use a font that will express that spirit. "Raleway" is an elegant but not so serious font, after all, a dentist visit is not something that we are usually looking forward to, so it’s good to use visual communication to soften the image of that experience.
I used bright and gentle colours to give a light and sophisticated look. The tone of the blue is referring to the uniforms that dentists are wearing and light beige was a colour that the stakeholder particularly likes and suggested in the interview. She is a fan of Apple aesthetics, so I tried to create that feel of simple and elegant, airy design.
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On the right hand side I added a simple bar with all shortcuts people usually want to find on the website first: location, phone number, email and a search option. In the navigation bar the "book now" button is highlighted and very visible, I also added this call to action button throughout the site, where it felt applicable. In the top right hand corner are the "profile" and "calendar" icons. Typically used in e-commerce, the "cart" icon didn't feel right for the booking but I needed an equivalent. I created a simple icon symbolising calendar and payment, so people can go back to the booking process, should they need to. Once a booking has started, a number appears next to the icon, the same as it does on shopping websites.
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I wanted the process of finding information to be easier, without editing the content. I added extra navigation on the right side of the text, outlining main content so users can jump straight into what they are interested in.
On the left side are different options of treatments and their prices. Clicking on one will take you to the calendar and booking process.
To have the same functionality on the mobile I added a slide up menu on the bottom for email, phone, location and search.
Navigation shortcuts to the sections on the page are right below the header.
Instead of "book now" I used the "check prices & book" button that triggers a sliding section with booking options.
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I decided to focus on basic functionality of the patients portal. After some time, this can be reviewed and adjusted, depending on the user's feedback. Although, first I wanted to release the minimum viable product that wouldn't be expensive to build, and, at the same time, could be used to test functionality. Research showed that the most important things to users were payments and bookings. On the practice’s side: one place where all the patient’s data and history is stored. The solution has to work on both ends and would, therefore, need developing i.e either building a new system or finding a way to link it with existing software that is currently in use.
Treatments and payments got divided into past, ongoing and future ones. This way of organising it reflects the fact that some of the procedures will be happening over a couple of visits and payments will be split. In the "future visits" section there is the option to reschedule.
The solution I created provides a way to easily check upcoming payments, reschedule visits and have access to history. All the data is stored in account settings, and dentists can communicate with patients through messages. It gives a more personalised feel instead of sending email updates — which can be done automatically — and, in turn, can help to organise communication. The right email or message comes directly to the relevant dentist, instead of landing in the studio’s general email box.
The business owner imagined K Skin Studio's customers becoming K Dental Studio's customers and vice versa. On the home page I included some of the case studies. From there one can navigate to specific treatments, and get inspired about possible improvements. On treatment pages I included links to patients' stories where there are more examples of completed treatments. The idea was to make it an entertaining, engaging, and fun activity, that will also build trust and lead to choosing the clinic. At the minute there were no case studies of facial beauty treatments that I could use, but in the idea, the "stories" section is where both would be exposed. At the bottom are testimonials that can also be reassuring.
The complexity of the website provided many opportunities for improvements. Through prioritising what is most needed in the nearest future, I chose to focus on rearranging the navigation and building the patient portal. I would love to run analytics after implementing a new system to see how it performs. I would also be interested in seeing how the patients portal can be developed. In the longer run I would like to see how business identity and strategy can be organised around improving dental health and aesthetic medicine.
