How I created a Concept Review tool to make complex product design easier
My role: Product Designer
Timeline: 2 months
Working as a Product Designer in healthcare and fintech, I witnessed product and design teams consistently struggle with collecting feedback from SMEs. This was especially hard while designing complex products like EHRs where it was very difficult to get time from specialized roles like Doctors, Medical Directors, and Directors of Nursing (DONs). While we frequently interacted with executives and administrative healthcare professionals, getting direct feedback from these specialized end-users was always a challenge.
Solution: create a private online platform for collecting and organizing SME feedback.
Methods used:
New post workflow (~1 mins)
Seeing if others felt the same
To validate if others shared similar challenges, I conducted a survey among product and design professionals. The results were clear: 85% struggled with gathering feedback from SMEs, and 80% faced limited access to end-users. These insights confirmed that my experience wasn't unique, highlighting a widespread need for improved feedback processes.
"It's always a PAIN getting SME feedback. They're busy and easily distracted"
Robert — Product Owner working in Fintech
"We do focus groups which are great for early ideation, but sometimes we just want validation on an idea rather than open brainstorming—that can be hard to collect."
Alex — Product Designer working in Healthcare
"How might we" brainstorm
To address the key challenges, I facilitated a 'How might we' brainstorming session with other Designers and Product Managers. This helped us reframe the problems into opportunities and kickstart ideation.
Solution brainstorm
From there, we dove into more granular ideation.
Some ideas were more high-level, others a bit more granular.
Comparing key feature ideas with existing tools
After the brainstorms, I compared key feature ideas with existing tools that serve similar use-cases. However, post tools lacked a combination of form-based responses and private video channels, which we felt were key features for the use-case we were trying to solve.
Feature brainstorm & voting
To define which ideas we were going to design for, we voted on which ideas we wanted to include in the initial work.
Information Architecture Ideation
Building on the prioritized features, I mapped out where various features or data in the app might live.
Wireframing
With the information architecture in place, I began wireframing the core screens. A central focus here was the post creation workflow, as that was the foundation for many other functions in the app.
Hi-Fi Prototyping
Afterwards, I prototyped the key workflows. The new post workflow was the key item we wanted to build out and test initially.
Usability Testing
I conducted usability testing sessions with five of the original survey participants. After each task, I gathered feedback on ease of use and overall impressions. The results were promising—a 100% task completion rate and an NPS of 86.
However, feedback revealed two features that I added to the prototype:
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Workflows for scheduling a feedback deadline on a post
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Related to the above, the ability to set notifications informing users on a board that a post is about to expire/its deadline is approaching
Reflection + next steps
Reflecting on this project, I gained valuable insights into designing for complex feedback systems and the importance of balancing feature richness with usability. Moving forward, the next steps involve further testing with a broader audience, iterating based on feedback, and preparing for development handoff to ensure a smooth transition from design to implementation.