Pharmacy Application
Product Designer 2020
While working as a pharmacy technician, I was given the opportunity to take on an additional challenge by my boss—designing an app that could improve the prescription management process. This was not an official project but rather an initiative for me to learn, experiment, and explore solutions that could address common patient frustrations.
Project Context
//Medicine is a necessity
At Bayonne Pharmacy, managing prescriptions and refills is a massive undertaking. On one busy day in February alone, we prepared 419 new prescriptions and refills, amounting to 12,570 pills counted by technicians.
On top of this, the pharmacy staff handled a constant stream of phone calls from:
Distressed customers uncertain about their medication status.
Patients unsure if the pharmacy had their prescription on file.
People seeking easier ways to request deliveries and transfers.
Patients simply wanting to understand their medications better.
It was clear that transparency and accessibility were major pain points for our customers. To explore potential solutions, I took on the challenge of designing an app that could address these issues and, in the process, gain valuable experience in user-centered design.
Opportunity
I was given the opportunity to take on an additional challenge by my boss—designing an app that could improve the prescription management process. This was not an official project but rather an initiative for me to learn, experiment, and explore solutions that could address common patient frustrations.
Through my research, I discovered that nearly 70% of our customers were primarily Arabic speakers, which meant that any digital solution needed to include bilingual support in English and Arabic to be effective. I conducted usability studies, gathered insights, and documented the entire process with screenshots of the checkout flow, questionnaire process, homepage, and detailed notes from the account creation process to checkout.
My Role
As a pharmacist technician with a keen interest in UX design, I took on the challenge to:
Conduct user research by interviewing pharmacy staff and customers to uncover pain points.
Develop low-fidelity sketches and user flows to conceptualize the app structure.
Analyze competitors and market trends to identify best practices for improving medication management systems.
Document my learnings and challenges throughout the process for future reference and potential application in similar projects.
Approach
With a focus on both customer and staff needs, I designed the app with the following objectives in mind:
Increase transparency by clearly showing refill status, insurance eligibility, copay amounts, and prescription availability.
Streamline medication requests by offering remote delivery and transfer options, reducing the phone call backlog.
Ensure bilingual accessibility by placing an easy language toggle on the homepage, enabling customers to switch to Arabic instantly.
Prevent unnecessary pharmacy visits by providing clear pickup notifications to avoid frustration.
The goal was to then piece together a workflow that can ensure technicians can save time on the dozens of phone calls they were receiving, while patients have easy access to the information they need.
Design Solutions
Take a look for yourself, scroll away!
User Research
Through my usability studies and research, I discovered several key insights:
Customers valued transparency most. They wanted clear, immediate access to their prescription details without needing to call.
Pharmacy staff needed efficiency improvements. The constant interruption of phone calls made it challenging to focus on in-store operations.
Bilingual support was essential. Many Arabic-speaking customers relied heavily on personal interactions due to language barriers, making digital solutions with language support critical.
Simplicity was key. Users responded positively to straightforward designs that provided all essential information at a glance, avoiding unnecessary navigation.