PHARMACY PLATFORM
Helping Pharmacies Focus on What Matters Most
Automate pharmacy workflows, streamline processes, and enhance patient care—empowering pharmacies to focus on personalized health solutions.
Timeline
From explorations to final designs in 3 weeks while working with multiple projects at the same time
Background
Small, family-owned pharmacies often juggle complex workflows that limit their ability to provide personalized care. These challenges, however, are not exclusive to small pharmacies. Large chains also face similar hurdles, emphasizing the universality of the problem. This underscores the need for a novel solution that can apply across a variety of pharmacy types. Their current softwares create bottlenecks, requiring excessive manual intervention and leaving little time for meaningful patient interactions. Additionally, inefficiencies in processes prevent them from maximizing profitability and delivering the best possible outcomes for their customers.
To truly understand the pain points, in-depth interviews were conducted with pharmacy owners and their customers. Their insights highlighted several recurring issues:
Challenges For Pharmacy Owners:
Inefficient Workflows
Unnecessary steps and manual input slow down operations.
Lack of Integration
Owners rely on external tools for services like medication packs and delivery.
Customization Limitations
Tools aren’t optimized for tailored patient care, especially for seniors.
Admin Overload
Time spent on administrative tasks reduces patient care.
Challenges For Customers:
Missed Communication
Over 70% of customers overlook pharmacy messages.
Elderly Confusion
Seniors struggle to interpret notifications, leading to missed refills.
By the Numbers:
60%+ of pharmacies report processing delays due to software inefficiencies.
Pharmacists spend 20% of their day on manual data entry.
Poor communication creates trust barriers, especially for seniors.
This project presented several significant hurdles that required creative problem-solving:
Legacy System Integration
Many pharmacies operated on decade-old software systems with limited API capabilities. I conducted technical feasibility workshops with stakeholders to identify integration pathways that wouldn't require complete system overhauls.
Balancing Competing Stakeholder Needs
Pharmacy owners prioritized efficiency and profitability, while patients valued clarity and personalization. Reconciling these sometimes conflicting needs required careful prioritization and transparent communication about trade-offs.
Accessibility for Diverse Users
Creating interfaces that worked for both tech-savvy staff and elderly patients with varying abilities demanded extensive usability testing. We pivoted multiple times after initial prototypes proved too complex for senior users.
Regulatory Compliance
Healthcare solutions must navigate strict privacy regulations. I collaborated with compliance experts to ensure our design maintained HIPAA standards without compromising usability—a balance that required several design iterations.
Guided by the double diamond design process, I focused on addressing the key pain points identified during research:
Discover
Insights highlighted the need for streamlined processes that save time and improve patient care.
Define
The problem was clear: build a system that optimizes workflows, reduces manual intervention, and enhances communication with customers.
Develop
Prototypes were created to explore intuitive interfaces, smart automation, and tools tailored to pharmacists’ and patients’ needs.
Deliver
The design culminated in a conceptual platform that automates routine tasks, integrates seamlessly with legacy systems, and empowers pharmacists to prioritize patient outcomes.
Although this project is currently in development, usability testing was conducted with mock prototypes to validate the proposed solution. Key findings include:
Improved Task Efficiency
Participants estimated that automated workflows could save pharmacists up to 15% of their time, which could be redirected toward patient care.
Enhanced Patient Interaction
Simulated scenarios showed that personalized notifications significantly improved customer comprehension, especially among elderly users.
Streamlined Operations
Test users noted that integrated delivery tools simplified at-home prescription fulfillment, reducing dependency on external systems.
Positive Feedback from Users
Both pharmacists and test participants highlighted the platform’s intuitive interface and the potential for better patient trust and engagement.
Empathy Drives Innovation
Understanding the day-to-day challenges of pharmacists and patients shaped a user-centered approach to the design.
Balance Innovation with Practicality
Designing with existing systems in mind ensures a feasible and adaptable solution.
Scalability is Key
A flexible design ensures that the solution can evolve alongside the needs of various pharmacy types.
This project represents an exploration of how UX design can address operational inefficiencies and improve patient outcomes in small pharmacies. Next steps could include further user testing, iterating on prototypes, and exploring ways to implement these ideas in real-world scenarios. The vision is to empower small pharmacies to thrive while delivering meaningful care.