01Interfaces built around real clinical workflows, not assumptions
Shadowed · Ward 4
Chartingback at the stationat the bedside, where nurses are
Healthcare UX design for
clinical and patient-facing products
Physicians spend nearly half their workday in digital systems, and much of that time goes to fighting software. As a healthcare design agency, we build products that work in real clinical settings: fast, clear and designed for HIPAA, FDA and GDPR from the start.
Our clientshave raised $1B+ combined
Raised by our clients
$1 billion+
60+Founders backed
2Fortune 500
11Products shipped
Why healthcare
product design matters
02HIPAA, GDPR, FDA and ISO 13485 requirements built into every phase
Compliance · every phase
Complianceone review before launcha piece of every phase
03Tested with clinicians, nurses and patients before launch
Usability test · 3 roles
The lab results screennever tried by its userstried by all three before launch
04Design that prevents errors, not just design that looks clean
Medication search
Picking a drugtwo names that look the samethe difference in capitals
What poor healthcare
UX actually costs
Time goes to software, not patients.
Four clicks to one lab result add up to hours a week. Clinicians feel it as burnout, and teams feel it as turnover.
Confusing screens cause errors.
A mislabeled field sets up a dosing error. Compliance left for after launch means rework and risk.
Nobody uses it, so the budget is lost.
Clinicians work around tools they don’t trust, and patients drop off portals that confuse them. The budget goes with them.
Healthcare product
design services
Healthcare UX Research
Research in clinical settings with the people who will use the product: observing real workflows, interviewing clinicians and patients and finding where the current system breaks.
Healthcare UI Design
Clean, accessible interfaces for high stress, time pressure and users who can’t stop to read a tooltip. Every visual decision serves workflow speed and error prevention.
EHR & Clinical System Design
EHR UX design that matches how clinicians think and work, cutting documentation burden without losing accuracy. Electronic health records are among the most complex products there are.
Patient-Facing App Design
Telehealth app design, patient portals, symptom trackers and medication tools for users of every age, digital skill level and health status. Here, accessibility and clarity are the product.
Medical Device Interface Design
Medical UX design for touchscreen interfaces on diagnostic equipment, infusion pumps and monitors, built to meet FDA human factors requirements and IEC 62366 usability standards.
Standards & Compliance Integration
HIPAA, FDA 21 CFR, ISO 13485 and IEC 62366 treated as design constraints from the first wireframe, including the human factors documentation a submission needs.
MEDORA · MEDICATION ORDER
New orderBED 12 · J. MARSHDRUGHeparinDOSE5,000mg ▾3ROUTESubcutaneousFREQUENCYEvery 12 hShow what we observed
FINDING 03Units default to mg3 NEAR-MISSES IN 2 DAYS · HEPARIN IS DOSED IN UNITSThe system“it passed QA”where it breaks, seen in use
MEDORA · PATIENT CHART
SummaryOrdersResultsNotesMARHR92BP128/80SpO₂96%Temp37.9°
Design for a glanceTIME TO FIND THE ALLERGY9s
The bannernine fields at one sizewhat matters, at a glance
MEDORA · PROGRESS NOTE · BED 12
Progress notePre-fill from the chartVITALSType here…HR 92 · BP 128/80 · SpO₂ 96%FROM VITALS 08:00MEDICATIONSType here…Heparin 5,000 units · every 12 hFROM MARLABSType here…Potassium 6.4 (critical)FROM RESULTS 06:10ASSESSMENTType here…Hyperkalaemia, likely renalPLANType here…Repeat K⁺ in 2 h · review meds2 fields need youSign note
MINUTES PER NOTE16
Documentationretyping what the chart already knowswriting only what needs a clinician
MEDORA · PATIENT APP · TODAY
TUE 21 OCTTodayAaMetformin 500 mg1 tablet with breakfast · 08:00Mark takenLisinopril 10 mg1 tablet · 20:00Mark takenVitamin D 1,000 IU1 capsule · 20:00Mark takenTaken2 more tonight · 20:00
MISSED DOSES A MONTH6
Medicinesfine print and a grey linkone dose, one big button
MEDORA · INFUSION PUMP · CHANNEL A
CHANNEL A · BED 12HEPARIN 25,000 UNITS / 250 MLRATE500mL/hVolume to infuse 250 mL · 0 h 30 minABOVE THE HEPARIN LIMIT500 mL/h is over the library max of 120 mL/hUse 50.0 mL/hKeep 500 · needs a second nurseEditStart
ERRORS THAT REACH THE PATIENT12
Infusion pumpa tenfold typo runsthe pump stops it first
MEDORA · ORDER CHANGE · 21 CFR PART 11
HEPARIN · BED 12Infusion rateChange to 45.050.045.0mL/hREASONWeight updated to 68 kgDr. Amara PatelSigned 10:42 · meaning: approved50.0 → 45.0A. Patel MD · 10:4252.0 → 50.0K. Ito RN · 08:15
UNTRACKED EDITS7
Audit traila number quietly overwrittenwho, when and why, signed
Our healthcare product
design process
Healthcare has constraints a general design process doesn’t account for. Ours does.
1
Discovery & Clinical Research
Time with the people who use the product: workflow observation, structured interviews with clinicians and patients and a review of current pain points. Regulatory requirements get mapped alongside user needs from day one.
DiscoveryUser Personas & Clinical Journey Mapping
An attending physician, a floor nurse, a patient and a billing administrator can use the same system in completely different ways. Personas and journey maps capture those differences.
PersonasInformation Architecture & Workflow Design
Data hierarchy, navigation and workflow logic structured around how clinical decisions get made, not around database schemas or admin convenience.
ArchitectureWireframing & Prototyping
Critical clinical flows are wireframed before visual design. Prototypes are tested in conditions close to clinical reality, with time pressure and interruptions included.
PrototypesUsability Testing with Clinical Users
Structured sessions with clinicians, nurses and patients from your user base, with close attention to error recovery: what happens when something goes wrong, and whether users recover without risk to the patient.
TestingCompliance Documentation & Handoff
Dev-ready specs, an annotated component library and the design documentation regulators ask for: human factors reports, use error risk analysis and formative usability findings where FDA or other agencies require them.
HandoffWhy choose Glow
for healthcare product design
We work where clinicians work.
Research happens on the ward and in the clinic, with the people who will use the product.
The hardest user sets the bar.
A clinician with 20 patients and no time, a patient of 80. If it works for them, it works for everyone.
Compliance from the first wireframe.
HIPAA, FDA, GDPR and ISO 13485 shape the design, with the documents a submission needs.
One team, and it is all yours.
Research to handoff with one team. Every file, library and document is yours.
Founders and product leads
on working with Glow
“About a week ago, we went a bit viral with 10k users in 2 days and we received a lot of positive feedback about the design - so thank you Glow for that!”
Israel Benarousse·CEO, Dropcall
View story
“Glow Design Agency delivered high-quality UX/UI designs that enabled the client to close more deals. Their animated video and design gained the client almost 500+ new LinkedIn followers. The team executed work on time and within budget.
Doug Marinaro·CEO, Riptide
"The design work provided by Glow Design Agency completely exceeded project stakeholder expectations in terms of both quality and delivery. Their team was organized and communicative throughout the process, breaking down complex industry concepts and translating them into a sleek and useable UI."
Jon Fry·CEO & Founder at Lendflow (YC W21)
View story
"Glow Design provided UI/UX design for a office space provider and has since expanded their role to include design updates for the site's front- and backend as well as social media visuals and animations."
Eric Zellhart·VP Product at LiquidSpace
View story
"Glow Design Agency provided UI and UX design services for e-cars charging market company. They were tasked with designing the UX and UI of the app's prototype."
Max Grollmann·Managing Director
View story
"Glow was hired by an e-commerce platform for their UI/UX design services. They redesigned website and provided support. After the new website was launched, the client saw a significant increase in conversions."
Vinicius Rodrigues·CTO at E-Commerce Platform
Real results
from our projects
Registering one patient took 8 to 10 minutes across five systems with duplicate data entry. One unified workflow cut it to 3 minutes and saved staff about 30 minutes a day.
Long registration and multi-screen intake forms kept patients from their first consultation. One-tap consultation start, minimal required fields and clear navigation turned that around in year one.
Physicians spent 40% of documentation time navigating instead of entering data. An information architecture restructure and contextual navigation cut that time and improved documentation completion.
Frequently asked
questions
What is UX design in healthcare?
Healthcare UX design is the practice of designing clinical and patient-facing software so it’s safe, fast and easy to use under real conditions: time pressure, interruptions, mixed digital skills and strict regulation. The goal is fewer errors, faster workflows and products clinicians and patients actually adopt.
Healthcare UX design is the practice of designing clinical and patient-facing software so it’s safe, fast and easy to use under real conditions: time pressure, interruptions, mixed digital skills and strict regulation. The goal is fewer errors, faster workflows and products clinicians and patients actually adopt.
How long does a healthcare product design project take?
It depends on scope. A focused usability study and redesign of one clinical workflow can take 4 to 6 weeks. A full engagement with research, UX strategy, UI, prototyping, testing and compliance documentation usually runs 3 to 5 months. You get a realistic timeline before work starts.
It depends on scope. A focused usability study and redesign of one clinical workflow can take 4 to 6 weeks. A full engagement with research, UX strategy, UI, prototyping, testing and compliance documentation usually runs 3 to 5 months. You get a realistic timeline before work starts.
Do you work with early-stage healthcare startups?
Yes, a good share of our healthcare work is with startups building their first clinical product. We shape the engagement around your stage, starting with the highest-risk design decisions and building out as the product and funding grow.
Yes, a good share of our healthcare work is with startups building their first clinical product. We shape the engagement around your stage, starting with the highest-risk design decisions and building out as the product and funding grow.
Can you redesign an existing healthcare product?
Yes. We usually start with a UX audit of the live product, find where users struggle most and build the redesign on that evidence. For regulated products, we also review existing usability documentation before proposing changes.
Yes. We usually start with a UX audit of the live product, find where users struggle most and build the redesign on that evidence. For regulated products, we also review existing usability documentation before proposing changes.
How do you handle HIPAA and FDA compliance in the design process?
We treat HIPAA, FDA 21 CFR requirements, ISO 13485 and IEC 62366 as design constraints from the start. That means data access patterns that support audit logging, authentication UX that meets security requirements and the human factors documentation FDA submissions require. Your regulatory team is involved throughout, not only at handoff.
We treat HIPAA, FDA 21 CFR requirements, ISO 13485 and IEC 62366 as design constraints from the start. That means data access patterns that support audit logging, authentication UX that meets security requirements and the human factors documentation FDA submissions require. Your regulatory team is involved throughout, not only at handoff.
How much does healthcare product design cost?
It depends on the number of user types, the complexity of clinical workflows, the regulatory requirements and how much usability testing you need. Fixing a design problem in a live clinical system, especially a regulated one, costs far more than fixing it during design. We’ll give you a realistic estimate after a first call.
It depends on the number of user types, the complexity of clinical workflows, the regulatory requirements and how much usability testing you need. Fixing a design problem in a live clinical system, especially a regulated one, costs far more than fixing it during design. We’ll give you a realistic estimate after a first call.
