iHealth
Unified Care

OVERVIEW

iHealth is a digital health company known for its COVID-19 test kits, monitoring devices, and the Unified Care program. The Unified Care program offers a patient-facing mobile app (B2C) and internal tools (B2B) that support remote patient care, improve health outcomes, and simplify clinical workflows for healthcare providers.

RESPONSIBILITY

Research
Product Design
Web Design
Design System
Marketing Strategy

TEAM

Product Design
Product Managers
Developers
Care Team
Marketing & Sales

THE PROBLEMS

As iHealth repositioned itself in the healthcare space, there were key problems we needed to address to better support our users, care teams, internal and business partners.

At the program level:
‍Unified Care was expanding to reach new users, referring providers, and partners, but it lacked the product and design strategies to support the evolving business model (Onsite + Online).

At the product level:
‍Limited functionalities, fragmented experiences, outdated UI, and tech incompatibility significantly impacted the overall product performance, user experience, and engagement — preventing the app from supporting holistic patient care.

Our goal was to redesign and optimize the Unified Care app to deliver better patient care support, improve product functionality, and scale with the evolving needs of the program.

UNIFIED CARE APP (ORIGINAL)

The Unified Care app was designed to help patients monitor vitals at home, connect with the Care Team, and receive personalized support to improve their health outcomes.

57% of primary users were seniors (65+). As the program expanded, we expected a more diverse user base, requiring design solutions that support varying levels of digital literacy and healthcare needs.

KEY CHALLENGES

Designing in the healthcare space comes with unique challenges. Below are the key challenges I navigated throughout the project lifecycle.

ROADMAP

We adopted a phased rollout approach, prioritizing high-impact features first and gradually introducing new features to address user and business needs over time.

RESEARCH & INSIGHTS

Working collaboratively, we used a range of research methods to understand user pain points, clinical workflows, and technical constraints. These findings surfaced opportunities for improvements across the app, portal, and website experiences.

HOW MIGHT WE

By synthesizing research insights, we translated core challenges into "How Might We" opportunities to guide the app redesign.

IDEATION & PRIORITIZATION

Working with cross-functional teams, we evaluated opportunities based on feature impact, business value, and technical feasibility — prioritizing features that addressed the most critical patient and clinical needs. The information architecture was restructured to support both product improvements and long-term scalability.

CHAT FEATURE: PROBLEMS

The chat feature connects patients with their care team, but low usage was limiting effective communication and care support. Three core issues drove this:
‍

01

Displayed as a floating button with a small tap area, low visual hierarchy, and poor contrast — making it easy to miss

02

Lacked clarity on health data and actionable content, limiting patient understanding and engagement

03

Couldn't support rich content or scale to new message types as the program expanded
‍

DESIGN STRATEGY

To address these gaps, the redesign focused on five key areas:
‍

01 ACCESSIBILITY

Redesigned button style, placement, and tap area make chat prominent and easy to reach throughout the app

02 TRUST

Displaying care team credentials builds patient confidence in who they're communicating with

03 CLARITY

Data labels, visualizations, and contextual content help patients understand their health progress and act on meaningful insights

04 ENTRY POINTS

Multiple entry points throughout the app improve feature visibility and drive engagement

05 SCALABILITY

Reusable UI components support 15+ message types, making chat ready for future care workflows

RESET PASSWORD: PROBLEMS

Although only 15% of users log in via password, forgotten passwords required calling our support team.
‍

01

Support dependency increased support tickets and slower response times

02

Patients couldn't access the app quickly when they needed it most, increasing user frictions

03

Resetting passwords over the phone doesn't comply with standard healthcare security practices, leading to potential security risks

DESIGN STRATEGY

To address these gaps, the new feature focused on following key areas:
‍

01 SELF-SERVE RESET

Users can verify identity and reset their passwords without calling support

02 SECURITY COMPLIANCE

SMS verification, resend code functionality, and tech requirements align with standard healthcare security practices

03 CLEAR GUIDANCE

Step-by-step instructions guide users through the flow to completion with minimal friction

TRADEOFFS

The medication reminder feature was initially scoped as a full self-serve setup. Through product demos and design reviews, we shifted to a care team–assisted setup to better fit existing clinical workflows.
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01 DIGITAL LITERACY

Senior users struggled with multi-step interactions, making an assisted model a more reliable experience

02 CROSS-PLATFORM COMPLEXITY

Self-serve setup required significant effort across both the mobile app and Care Portal

03 TIME CONSTRAINTS

A multi-step self-serve flow wasn't feasible within the project timeline

IMPROVED EXPERIENCE

Throughout the project, I designed and launched new features to enhance patient care and clinical workflows.

DESIGN SYSTEM

Without a unified design system, the app suffered from visual inconsistencies and higher development costs. As I introduced new features and redesigned the product interface, I evolved the Unified Care app’s Design System by establishing design foundations and creating reusable components.

WEB DEVELOPMENT

As Unified Care expanded its model — reaching new users, referring providers, and enterprise partners — the existing websites no longer supported the program's growth. As design lead, I optimized iHealth's and Unified Care's websites for business growth, web performance, and premium healthcare brand standards, delivering end-to-end design solutions beyond the app experience.

IMPACT

Launching new features for the Unified Care app had meaningful impact at scale. Remote patient care and clinical workflows were optimized and simplified — leading to better engagement, care delivery, and support services. Throughout the project, we received 95% positive feedback from both users and internal team members. The design system also improved design and development efficiency by 30–50%.

TAKEAWAYS

1. Design decisions in healthcare directly affect care quality, user engagement, and behavioral change
‍
2. Clear data visualization and educational guidance help users understand their vitals and trends, driving positive behavioral changes

3. Designing for patients requires understanding both clinical workflows and user behaviors — the two are deeply connected

4. Trust is built across every touchpoint — consistency between the app, care portal, and web experience gives patients and providers confidence in the program

Let's make magic together

@2026 SHARON HUANGLINKEDIN