Problem: Complex, overwhelming EMR UX
User: Doctors managing patients in fast-paced environment
Role: UX/UI design lead
Approach: User research, journey mapping, heuristic analysis
Result: Streamlined interface, clearer hierarchy, less cognitive load
👩💻 Why Redesign Chameleon?
I redesigned a complex Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system frequently used by clinicians in Israeli hospitals. The original interface was overloaded, unclear, and cognitively demanding — especially for doctors working under constant time pressure.
Goal: reduce cognitive load, simplify task flows, and improve clarity in high-stakes clinical environments.
Outcome: a cleaner, faster, more intuitive interface with clearer hierarchy, fewer steps per task, and a more modern visual experience designed around real physician workflows.
🔍 Problem Overview
Clinicians rely on EMR systems every minute of their workday — reviewing patient history, documenting treatment, ordering tests, and communicating with the care team. The existing Chameleon interface created friction instead of support.
Core Issues Identified
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Heavy visual clutter and outdated UI
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Important elements lacked hierarchy or prioritization
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Multiple repetitive flows with too many steps
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Inconsistent grouping of information
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High cognitive load during time-sensitive tasks
Doctors reported feeling overwhelmed, slowed down, and frustrated with basic actions.
🔎 Research & Discovery
To understand both the product context and user pain points, I conducted a focused research phase:
Methods
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Heuristic evaluation of the current UI
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Task analysis of common clinician workflows
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Informal interviews with a practicing cardiologist
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Competitive UX audit of leading EMR systems
Key Insights
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Doctors repeat certain tasks dozens of times per shift — small inefficiencies add up quickly.
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Critical data was visually buried among nonessential elements
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The layout required constant scanning and decision-making
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Workflow steps were scattered across unrelated screens
These insights guided the redesign strategy.
🏥 Researching Competitive Analysis
Analyzed competitors, revealing insights into their strengths and opportunities:
Multi-module EHR ecosystem for enterprise healthcare organizations, designed for interoperability and scalability.
UX Design Perspective
Offers modules for specific clinical contexts. A great reference for modular UX and interface consistency.
Provides a complete ambulatory EHR, practice management, mobile tools, analytics, specialty-specific content for population health management.
UX Design Perspective
Agile, streamlined, and built for smaller teams—ideal for inspiration on mobile-first and specialty-tailored flows.
Chameleon CRM 101
I analyze the product and user experience to identify design improvements.
Here is its current appearance -
🩺 Clinical Priorities → UX Decisions
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Problem: Doctors must find critical information FAST.
Solution: Clear left navigation, high-contrast hierarchy, and consistent grouping patterns. -
Problem: Too many pop-ups and nested menus.
Solution: Flattened IA, surface primary tasks at the top, reduce steps by 40%. -
Problem: Important patient data was visually lost.
Solution: Strong visual focus anchors (name, status, alerts). -
Problem: Complex workflows created errors.
Solution: Linear step-by-step task flows + error-prevention design patterns.
😷 Researching My Users
To identify key pain points, I interviewed my father, a doctor, and his colleagues for diverse insights. Using these personas and tailored questions, highlighted a range of users in the case study, focusing on their motivations, obstacles, and accessibility needs.
🧑⚕️ Dr. Jakov Dvorkin, 68, Cardiologist
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Cardiologist with 40+ years of medical practice
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Daily user of Chameleon EMR
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Needs speed, clarity, and efficiency
Goals
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Access patient information quickly
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Document treatment accurately
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Minimize time navigating the system
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Reduce cognitive strain
Frustrations
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Too many clicks for routine actions
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Information not grouped intuitively
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Hard to find urgent or priority data
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Interface visually chaotic
This persona shaped the new IA, navigation, and visual hierarchy.
"I want to quickly check for urgent patient results or dangerous medication interactions withoutifting through tabs, as every click takes time away from patient care."
🧭 User Journey Map
🏁 User Journey
Below is a sample end-to-end journey that Dr. Jakov might go through, illustrating how he interacts with Chameleon in a day, highlighting pain points and opportunities for improvement.
🎢 Journey Road
The visual user journey map for Dr. Jakov Dvorkin shows his emotional experience with Ch EMR, highlighting low pain points and improvement opportunities later in the day
👩⚕️ User Insights
From interviewing and analyzing doctor workflows, they needed:
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A quick, glanceable overview
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A consistent way to move between modules
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Highlighting of critical or abnormal values
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Reduced cognitive load
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Faster access to labs, meds, and vitals
These insights shaped all design decisions.
🎨 Design Solutions
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Reduce cognitive load by simplifying layouts.
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Make primary actions visible and accessible within one or two clicks.
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Create a modern, intuitive interface that aligns with doctors’ mental models.
🧩Key decisions
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Separate patient overview from deep-data pages
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Group related information into modular sections
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Prioritize urgent or abnormal values above the fold.
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Use a unified left-side navigation
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Remove repeated or unnecessary elements
✏️ Core User Flows
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I mapped essential doctor tasks such as:
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Reviewing a new patient
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Checking critical labs
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Updating medications
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Monitoring vitals
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Writing notes or summaries
Improvements
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Fewer steps to complete common tasks
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Split-pane layouts for simultaneous viewing
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Quick actions built into each module
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Predictable placement of key sections
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This reduced friction in daily use.
🎨 UI Design System
The visual design is:
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Clean
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Calm
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Data-focused
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Easy to scan under pressure
UI decisions
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Neutral backgrounds with medical accents
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Clear visual hierarchy
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Readable tables and cards
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Highlight colors for critical values
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Rounded components for a soft, friendly feel
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Consistent iconography & spacing
The result is a clearer, less stressful interface.
Final
Design
📊 Dashboard
The dashboard provides doctors with an at-a-glance overview of their day, cutting through clutter and highlighting what matters most.
- Key metrics upfront:
Vital alerts, upcoming appointments, and urgent tasks are surfaced immediately.
- Prioritized layout:
Information is structured by urgency and relevance, reducing unnecessary clicks.
- Customizable widgets: Doctors can adapt the dashboard to fit their unique workflow.
Before & After
Before: A cluttered dashboard with scattered navigation, dense tables, and minimal hierarchy.
After: A clean, modern interface with streamlined workflows, simplified navigation, and emphasis on quick access to patient data.
✅ Why it matters
By simplifying the starting point of the day, this design minimizes stress and helps doctors begin each shift with clarity and confidence.
This minimizes the time spent navigating through various menus -
allowing doctors to concentrate on their patients rather than the system.
👥 Patient Records
Managing patient histories is one of the most time-consuming tasks for doctors.
The redesigned Patient Records screen focuses on speed, clarity, and reliability.
- Clean structure:
Medical history, medications, and test results are organized into tabs for easy scanning.
- Search & filters:
Patient details are searchable, so critical data is always one step away.
- Consistency in labeling: Terminology is standardized across records to support fast recognition.
Before & After
Before: A cluttered dashboard with scattered navigation, dense tables, and minimal hierarchy.
After: A clean, modern interface with streamlined workflows, simplified navigation, and emphasis on quick access to patient data.
✅ Why it matters
This screen makes finding and updating patient information intuitive, which reduces errors and saves time during consultations.
Doctors can quickly access essential data during consultations, minimizing errors and improving decision-making under pressure.
📅 Appointment Management
Doctors juggle multiple patients daily, so scheduling must be both powerful and effortless.
- Calendar-like design:
A familiar layout reduces the learning curve.
- Quick actions:
Reschedule, confirm, or cancel appointments directly from the calendar.
- Conflict detection:
Overlaps are flagged to avoid double-booking.
- Mobile-friendly view:
Swipe between days and weeks on smaller screens.
✅ Why it matters
The design ensures that scheduling supports — rather than slows down — the pace of care.
Streamlined scheduling reduces double-bookings, improves collaboration, and optimizes hospital resource allocation.
📋 Reports & Analytics
Healthcare organizations rely on reports for decision-making. The redesigned screen presents data in a clear, actionable format.
- Visual clarity:
Charts and summaries make complex data digestible at a glance.
- Filter & export options:
Reports can be tailored to specific needs and shared quickly.
- Focus on trends:
Key changes and anomalies are highlighted for guidance.
✅ Why it matters
This design turns raw data into insights, supporting better medical and organizational outcomes.
This frees up valuable time, letting doctors focus on patient care instead of paperwork.
Final
Thoughts
🔥Why This Project Matters to Me
Growing up with a father who is a cardiologist, I saw how much pressure doctors carry every day.
A more intuitive system can genuinely improve their mental load and help them focus on what matters most, patients.
This project combines my love for product design with a mission that feels meaningful.
✨ Reflection
Redesigning Chameleon was a challenging yet significant. I transformed an outdated EMR system into a modern, intuitive tool tailored to a doctor's workflow. This experience taught me to balance usability with complexity. Although conceptual, these designs my commitment to addressing healthcare needs and creating efficient supportive tools for users.
Before / After: What Was Broken — What I Fixed
Why the old system was failing
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Overwhelming interface
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Low contrast, unclear hierarchy
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Too many cognitive decisions per task
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Important actions buried inside menus
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No visual grouping, causing confusion
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Doctors performing the same repetitive tasks dozens of times a day
What my redesign solves
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Reduced mental load
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Increased clarity and readability
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Fewer clicks for core tasks
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Predictable information hierarchy
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Modern, calm visual system
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Designed specifically around the daily rhythm of physicians
🚀 Conclusion
Chameleon EMR now delivers:
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Faster access to critical patient information
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Clearer hierarchy and navigation
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A calmer, more readable interface
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Reduced cognitive overload
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More predictable workflows
🆕 Key Outcomes
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Simplified navigation reduced steps to key tasks by ~40%
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Clearer hierarchy lowers cognitive load in multi-task scenarios
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Visual redesign improves error prevention and efficiency
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Created a modern, intuitive, doctor-friendly interface
🧠 User Impact
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Less time spent searching for information → more time for patient care.
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Lower screen overwhelm → faster clinical decisions.
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Clearer structure → reduced risk of interaction errors.
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More predictable UI patterns → less training required for new users.
🔍 Design Challenges
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Balancing complex clinical data density with clear, scannable UI.
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Simplifying workflows without losing essential medical detail.
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Designing for high-stress, time-critical decision environments.
🔁 What I Learned
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In healthcare UX, clarity isn’t a bonus — it’s literally mission-critical.
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Even small reductions in cognitive friction have a massive real-world impact.
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Trust is built through consistency, predictability, and removing ambiguity.
⏭️ Next Steps
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Conduct usability testing in a real clinical environment.
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Add accessibility support: dark mode, large text, high-contrast UI.
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Expand system to mobile and tablet views for bedside use.
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Iterate based on physician feedback.
