Project
PrecisePK
Role
Product Designer
Year
2023–2025
Tags
Healthcare / SaaS
Flexible protocols, one configuration experience
Flexible protocols, one configuration experience
tl;dr: Designing protocol customization for PrecisePK. As the sole designer, I turned recurring hospital customization requests into a guided configuration experience, helping pharmacists adapt the product to their institution’s dosing protocols while giving the team a reusable system to maintain.
tl;dr: Designing protocol customization for PrecisePK. As the sole designer, I turned recurring hospital customization requests into a guided configuration experience, helping pharmacists adapt the product to their institution’s dosing protocols while giving the team a reusable system to maintain.
01 / Context
One product. Different hospital protocols.
Hospital protocols vary, even for the same drug. PrecisePK’s existing settings offered limited flexibility, leaving pharmacists with workflows that did not always match their institution’s guidelines and the team with repeated customization requests. The challenge was to support those differences through one coherent product experience: flexible enough for each hospital, clear enough for pharmacists, and reusable across customers.
Hospital protocols vary, even for the same drug. PrecisePK’s existing settings offered limited flexibility, leaving pharmacists with workflows that did not always match their institution’s guidelines and the team with repeated customization requests. The challenge was to support those differences through one coherent product experience: flexible enough for each hospital, clear enough for pharmacists, and reusable across customers.
Dosing Guideline of UCSF and Stony Brook University Hospital
Previous Setting Page: rigid with limited options
02 / Research
Turning requests into a system
I reviewed customer emails and support tickets, rewrote requests as user stories, and grouped recurring needs into five problem areas. Reading dosing references and working with in-house pharmacists helped me understand the clinical logic behind them. Early wireframes became a way to check that understanding and align the team on a shared direction.
I reviewed customer emails and support tickets, rewrote requests as user stories, and grouped recurring needs into five problem areas. Reading dosing references and working with in-house pharmacists helped me understand the clinical logic behind them. Early wireframes became a way to check that understanding and align the team on a shared direction.
03 / Configuration model
A guided configuration model
The experience follows a continuous three-step flow: choose a setting, define the high-level rules, and create custom cases. This structure keeps related information in one place and gives pharmacists a clear path through a complex configuration task, without repeatedly moving between pop-up windows.
The experience follows a continuous three-step flow: choose a setting, define the high-level rules, and create custom cases. This structure keeps related information in one place and gives pharmacists a clear path through a complex configuration task, without repeatedly moving between pop-up windows.
04 / Design decisions
Three decisions that shaped the experience
The final experience grew through iterations on structure, control clarity, and configuration review. These three decisions show how I balanced flexibility with a workflow pharmacists could understand and check.
The final experience grew through iterations on structure, control clarity, and configuration review. These three decisions show how I balanced flexibility with a workflow pharmacists could understand and check.
01
Make a complex task feel sequential
I organized configuration into a continuous three-step journey instead of separating related decisions into multiple pop-up windows. The structure lets pharmacists move from a broad setting to its rules and then to specific cases, while keeping the surrounding context available.
I organized configuration into a continuous three-step journey instead of separating related decisions into multiple pop-up windows. The structure lets pharmacists move from a broad setting to its rules and then to specific cases, while keeping the surrounding context available.
02
Make customization easier to find—and its impact clear
I explored three ways to organize protocol customization with an in-house pharmacist and the tech lead. The iterations addressed overlapping settings, a buried entry point, and an unclear relationship with General Settings.
I explored three ways to organize protocol customization with an in-house pharmacist and the tech lead. The iterations addressed overlapping settings, a buried entry point, and an unclear relationship with General Settings.
Bottom entry → separate editor
03
Help pharmacists check their configuration
Later iterations addressed missing edge cases, contrast on hospital computers, and the need for a configuration summary. These refinements brought attention to what users needed to review—not just what they needed to enter—before completing the setup.
Later iterations addressed missing edge cases, contrast on hospital computers, and the need for a configuration summary. These refinements brought attention to what users needed to review—not just what they needed to enter—before completing the setup.
05 / Impact
Shipped within a platform serving 200+ hospitals
The Protocol Customization Setting brought 20+ client customization requests into a reusable product experience. It was shipped within PrecisePK, a platform used by 200+ hospitals, including UCSF and UCSD. The feature supports institution-specific configuration within the product rather than treating each request as a separate bespoke solution.
The Protocol Customization Setting brought 20+ client customization requests into a reusable product experience. It was shipped within PrecisePK, a platform used by 200+ hospitals, including UCSF and UCSD. The feature supports institution-specific configuration within the product rather than treating each request as a separate bespoke solution.
06 / Takeaways
Designing flexibility means making the rules understandable
Working closely with pharmacists helped me move beyond unfamiliar terminology and understand the decisions behind each request. The most valuable shift was from solving individual tickets to designing a shared configuration model. I learned to treat flexibility, clarity, and maintainability as connected design problems—and to use early wireframes to build understanding with the team.
Working closely with pharmacists helped me move beyond unfamiliar terminology and understand the decisions behind each request. The most valuable shift was from solving individual tickets to designing a shared configuration model. I learned to treat flexibility, clarity, and maintainability as connected design problems—and to use early wireframes to build understanding with the team.