Next Step: Outpatient Rehabilitation
NextStep provides digital recovery plans for patients discharged from inpatient care, and gives medical professionals a simple way to monitor progress remotely.
Challenge
Scattered guidance, poor visibility
Medical professionals provide patients with recovery instructions after discharge, but information is often spread across leaflets, printouts, and verbal guidance. This makes it hard for patients to remember their exercises and for clinicians to track adherence or progress.
We needed a way to make rehab plans clearer for patients while giving clinicians better visibility into recovery.
Process
From research to a tested, high-fidelity prototype
Research & Analysis
We conducted user interviews, surveys, and reviewed existing rehab materials to understand pain points for both patients and clinicians. We also analysed competitor apps and industry guidelines around outpatient care.
Information Architecture
Using the research insights, we restructured navigation around the key tasks: showing today's exercises, checking upcoming appointments, and reviewing progress. We prioritised clarity and reduced decision points on each screen.
Wireframing & Prototyping
We created low-fidelity wireframes to explore different flows, then iterated into high-fidelity prototypes in Figma. This allowed us to quickly test content hierarchy, empty states, and error handling.
Usability Testing
We ran usability tests with a diverse group of participants, including people with previous physio experience. Their feedback shaped changes to terminology, button placement, and the way progress is visualised.
Visual Design & Style Guide
We developed a calm, clinical visual language with accessible colour contrast, clear typography, and supportive illustration. A lightweight style guide ensures consistency across future screens and features.
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Prototype Walkthrough
Information Architecture
Structuring content around patient needs
Before moving into visual design, we mapped out the full information architecture to ensure navigation was intuitive for both patients and clinicians, keeping core tasks accessible within one or two taps.
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User Flows
Key journeys through the app
We mapped the primary user flows for both the patient and clinician perspectives, identifying decision points, error states, and opportunities to reduce friction in common tasks such as logging an exercise or reviewing a patient's progress.
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Sketches
Early ideation on paper
Initial sketches were used to rapidly explore layout options and interaction patterns before committing to digital wireframes. This low-fidelity stage helped the team align on structure and identify potential usability issues early.
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Design Evolution
From wireframes to high-fidelity
The design went through several iterations based on peer feedback and informal walkthroughs. Key changes included simplifying the home dashboard, improving the exercise logging flow, and introducing a progress visualisation that resonated with patients.
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Testing
Validating usability with real users
Moderated usability testing was conducted with participants representing the target patient demographic. Sessions followed a think-aloud protocol with structured tasks covering the core patient flows. Findings were analysed using a SUS questionnaire and affinity mapping of qualitative notes.
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Guerrilla Testing
Quick feedback from real-world users
Guerrilla testing was used in the early stages to gather rapid, informal feedback on wireframes and early prototypes. Participants were approached in public settings and asked to complete short tasks, providing honest, unfiltered reactions that shaped key design decisions before formal testing.
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Results
High usability and confident users
The redesigned app features a clean, clutter-free interface focused on daily exercises, appointments, and progress tracking. Participants reported feeling more confident about what to do at home, and clinicians valued the ability to quickly review patient progress between visits.