Designing the Ballad Health Mobile App

Introduction

Challenge:
Patients across Ballad Health’s multi-state system used MyChart but were frustrated by limited functionality, particularly around scheduling appointments and paying bills without logging in.

Solution:
We designed a new, streamlined Ballad Health mobile app — offering familiar MyChart functionality alongside expanded, user-centered tools for scheduling, messaging, prescription management, and billing — fully controlled and customized by Ballad Health.

Goals

  • Build a user-friendly mobile app to simplify appointment scheduling and essential healthcare interactions.

  • Expand functionality beyond MyChart limitations, adding digital tools patients needed most.

  • Personalize and streamline core actions like finding doctors, managing prescriptions, and billing.

  • Provide Ballad Health with flexibility and ownership over the digital experience to adapt to changing patient needs.

Research

Discovery Methods:

  • Extensive discovery sessions with patients and internal stakeholders.

  • Pain point analysis within the current appointment scheduling process.

  • Workflow mapping to pinpoint where users became stuck or abandoned tasks.

  • Competitive analysis, looking beyond healthcare to best-in-class apps in industries like banking (CitiBank, American Express).

Key Insights:

  • Users found the appointment process confusing, especially as guests.

  • Key features were buried, causing frustration and drop-offs.

  • Patients expected a seamless, intuitive mobile experience similar to other service industries.

  • Organization and flow structure played a massive role in perceived usability.

Design

Solution Details:

  • Created a streamlined mobile app experience that retained the familiarity of MyChart but expanded capabilities and personalization.

  • Designed the app to prioritize:

    • Requesting Appointments easily.

    • Messaging care team members directly.

    • Finding doctors within the Ballad Health system.

    • Managing appointments (past and upcoming).

    • Viewing and refilling prescriptions.

    • Paying bills efficiently without login hurdles.

  • Built a flexible framework allowing Ballad Health to add new features over time without starting over, keeping them ahead of evolving patient expectations.

Challenges

  • Balancing Familiarity and Innovation:
    We needed to enhance MyChart’s experience without making it feel unfamiliar to long-time users.

  • Breaking Up Overwhelming Flows:
    Certain flows, particularly appointment scheduling, risked overwhelming users. Through user testing, we refined these processes into smaller, more digestible steps that maintained efficiency without sacrificing clarity.

  • Cross-Industry Expectations:
    Users judged healthcare apps against the best experiences in banking, shopping, and communications — raising the bar for ease, speed, and polish beyond what typical healthcare platforms delivered.

Outcomes

  • 30% increase in revenue-driving interactions within the first year after launch.

  • 60% increase in online appointment scheduling.

  • 40% decrease in call volume to locations, freeing staff time and reducing patient frustration.

  • Ballad Health now owns a modern, scalable digital platform ready to evolve alongside user needs.

What I Learned

This project taught me how critical flow structure and perceived effort are to user engagement. Even when the number of steps remains the same, organizing them in a user-centric, intuitive way makes the experience feel smoother, faster, and more empowering. It also reinforced the importance of borrowing best practices from outside industries to meet rising user expectations, especially when designing healthcare tools that need to feel as natural as banking or shopping products.