Provider Pool App
Designing a mobile marketplace application for healthcare workers during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Overview
Designing During a Pandemic
As we all know, March 2020 was the start of something new. Like most students affected by the pandemic, I had to figure out an alternative job for the summer. Luckily, I found Provider Pool, a healthcare matchmaker for workers and facilities.
As a UX/UI designer, I worked with 1 designer, 10 other specialists and the company's founders to create an entirely new mobile application for their services. Over the summer we cranked out the mobile application which was published later in 2020.
I was grateful that Provider Pool asked me to stay on as a product designer to finish up the mobile version and redesign their website.
Problem
Build the user interface for Provider Pool's mobile iOS application and ensure a straightforward experience for healthcare workers.
Research
Who is Provider Pool?
Founded in 2019, Provider Pool acts as an online community that connects nurses and healthcare workers to facilities. Nurses can pick and choose shift openings that fit their schedule and facilities can post openings. During a time when healthcare workers are so important, Provider Pool wants to make this process as easy as possible which is why our task was to create a mobile app for their services.
OUR USERS
Health care workers ranging in age groups and certifications
East Coast Medical facilities varying in locations, size, and purpose
Process
From User Flows to Wireframes
With only a logo and very basic user flow given to us, Nick (co-designer) and I began unpacking the user journey and planning our first steps. We wanted to keep the UI user-friendly, clean, and professional. With this in mind, we started with creating a style guide to keep our interface consistent and representative of the company.
Wireframing
In this part of the design process, we worked on laying out all the app's functions. We began with the onboarding process which was lengthy because of the in depth verification of nurses for Provider Pool's secured community. Next was the app's core functions such as accessing shifts, viewing certifications, and looking at past jobs.
As shown in the image below, this was a huge part of the work we did over those months with a lot of lessons learned. I realized how complex building an app can be, mostly because of how many times I had to change my perspective so I didn't miss a small, yet crucial feature on a page. As with most of the project, this portion of the summer was a lot of back and forth between us designers and Provider Pool's leadership which was a learning experience in itself.
design
Applying the Style Guide
I personally like seeing all of our hard work come to life with a splash of color and design. Because we already had a brand guide, stylizing our wires was a relatively faster step but still very important before sending it over to our developers.
CHALLENGES
Remote Work in 2020
Remember, this was 2020, so remote work at this scale was new for many, especially for a newly hired team of designers, developers and PMs.
There was a lot of Zoom calls, Slack messaging, and Google meetings with the executive board to get multiple eyes on everything before it was sent to the software engineers. We also kept in close contact with the front-end and back-end developers during the iterative process to make sure everyone was on the same page. The remote work definitely made us more attentive to every detail because of the lack of in-person perspective and collaboration.
Nonetheless, our initial designs went through a lot of growth and change. For instance, the screens below of the Shifts Page depict this process, which was especially in depth as the main page of our app.
results
Investor Presentation and Published Mobile App
Once we sent it off to the software engineers, we worked on getting the app prepared for our final presentation for stakeholders and future investors. Nick and I created mockups, a slide deck, and a video to show off our mobile application. The video below is a peak into our app which was later published on the App Store!
I was happy to be brought on to the team to continue working on the app and revamp the current Provider Pool website. I'm very grateful that I was able to help healthcare workers during the pandemic as a designer, a small step compared to their efforts.
On Boarding
In App
Say hi!
Feel free to reach out. I am always looking for new connections and opportunities.