Overview
Designing a clearer, more human, and responsible way to access healthcare.
(H)all is a phygital healthcare concept developed as my final thesis project for the International Master in User Experience Psychology. The project addresses the complexity people face when searching for care, booking specialists, and understanding health-related information, translating fragmented touchpoints into a clearer, more responsible and human-centered experience across the healthcare journey.
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Context
Healthcare is not only a medical experience. It is also emotional, spatial and informational.
Before becoming an interface, (H)all was developed as an investigation into the way people experience care. The project looked at the relationship between users, healthcare environments, digital tools and the emotional weight of uncertainty.
The goal was not to design another health app, but to understand where healthcare communication breaks down and how design could help people feel less lost inside complex systems.
Research & Methodology
A bottom-up process built on scientific research and real user input.
The research phase combined scientific desk research, benchmark analysis, questionnaires and interviews. This allowed the project to move from general assumptions about healthcare to more grounded insights based on real needs, behaviours and emotional friction.
The research involved three key groups: patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals. Each group helped reveal a different layer of the experience, from personal uncertainty and emotional stress to practical information needs and operational constraints.
This bottom-up approach shaped the direction of the project, ensuring that the final concept was not built around a predefined solution, but around the patterns, tensions and opportunities that emerged from research.
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User Research
Understanding healthcare through the people who experience it.
The user research included interviews with 11 people and surveys with 20 participants, focusing on how people search for health information, manage appointments, deal with uncertainty and experience the moments before, during and after care.
Patients described health information as overwhelming and fragmented. Caregivers needed more visibility and orientation. Healthcare professionals highlighted the importance of efficiency, trust and integration with existing systems.
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Key Insights
The main problem was not the lack of information, but the lack of orientation.
The research showed that healthcare users often face too many fragmented signals at once: medical language, waiting times, unclear spaces, emotional pressure and disconnected digital touchpoints.
Patients need reassurance and simple explanations. Caregivers need visibility and orientation. Healthcare professionals need systems that communicate clearly without adding extra complexity.
These insights led to a central design opportunity: creating a calmer layer between people and healthcare systems, one that helps users understand where they are, what is happening and what they can do next.
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Personas & Journey Mapping
Turning research into people, scenarios and emotional journeys.
The research insights were translated into personas and journey maps to understand how different users move across the healthcare experience: recognizing a problem, searching for information, booking care, attending a consultation and managing follow-up.
The current journey revealed a fragmented and reactive experience. The desired journey imagined a clearer and more proactive one, where users can move from uncertainty to orientation, and from isolated information to continuous support.
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Strategy
Positioning the product between digital health, prevention and holistic care.
Benchmarking, SWOT analysis and trend mapping helped define the strategic direction of (H)ALL. The opportunity was not to create another health tracker or symptom checker, but a system able to connect fragmented healthcare touchpoints into one more understandable experience.
The strategy focused on three goals: reducing anxiety and misinformation, giving users more transparency and control, and supporting continuity between emergency needs, routine care and long-term well-being.
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Product Definition
Translating research into a digital health system.
The concept evolved into a platform designed to support both reactive and proactive healthcare needs. Users can manage appointments, understand health data, access personalized insights, connect with specialists and caregivers, and receive guidance before and after medical interactions.
Core features include appointment scheduling, holistic health overview, real-time biomarker tracking, personalized health insights, AI-powered symptom analysis, caregiver connection and proactive health management.
Ethical AI
Using AI as a support layer, not as a replacement for care.
Because (H)ALL operates within the health domain, the role of AI was treated with caution. The project considered risks such as biased datasets, limited medical context, overconfidence in automated answers and the complexity of human health.
AI was explored as a way to reduce noise, filter extreme or misleading results, personalize suggestions and make health communication easier to understand. The goal was not to replace medical judgement, but to create a clearer support layer between people, information and care.
Information Architecture
Fom reactive needs to proactive care.
The information architecture explored different models before focusing on a reactive-to-proactive structure. The system first supports people when they need immediate help, then gradually guides them toward prevention, routines and long-term awareness.
This structure reflects how people often approach health: they start from a symptom, doubt or urgent need, but the experience can become an opportunity to build more continuous care habits.
Design & Art Direction
Creating a visual language for clarity, calmness and trust.
The visual direction was designed to make health feel less intimidating without becoming superficial. The interface combines clean layouts, soft visual hierarchy, accessible information density and a calm visual system that supports users during moments of uncertainty.
The art direction connects digital health, public spaces and human care, creating an experience that feels precise, contemporary and emotionally supportive.
UI & Experience Design
Designing an interface that makes complex health information easier to understand.
The interface focuses on turning complex data into clear, actionable and emotionally manageable information. Key screens include a holistic health overview, biomarker data, specialist and caregiver connection, adaptive plans and personalized guidance.
The goal was to design an experience that feels useful in urgent moments, but also meaningful for everyday prevention and long-term well-being.
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User Testing
Testing clarity, trust and usability.
The prototype was tested with 12 participants across different demographics. The sessions focused on core tasks such as booking an appointment and checking biomarker data.
The testing phase helped identify opportunities to improve how health information is visually connected, how guidance is communicated and how the interface can feel more supportive during moments of uncertainty.
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Recognition
From academic research to public recognition.
(H)all was developed as a Master’s thesis project, but its value extended beyond the academic context. The project was nominated at the UX Design Awards 2026, recognizing its approach to healthcare, accessibility and human-centered experience design.
The nomination confirmed the relevance of the project’s direction: using design not only to create interfaces, but to make complex systems more understandable, responsible and human.
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You can check (H)ALL's nominee at the 2026 UX Design Awards at this link!
Website Launch
Building a digital home for the project.
Alongside the app, (H)all includes an internal website designed to present the project, explain the concept and make the experience system easier to understand.
The website works as a storytelling and documentation layer. It connects the research, the product logic, the visual identity and the broader vision behind the project, turning (H)all into something more complete than a prototype.
This part was also important to give the project a stronger public-facing presence and prepare it for presentation, evaluation and awards submission.
