2019 • Ahead • Founding Product Designer

Reimagine mental health treatment for ADHD patients at Ahead

I joined Ahead as the founding product designer to reinvent the ADHD care journey with a focus on simplicity and tangible patient value.

I directed design across digital products, brand positioning, marketing assets, and in-office environments—ensuring every element aligned to support and engage patients more effectively.


  • How might we design a seamless, end‑to‑end ADHD treatment platform that delivers clarity, value, and support at every patient touchpoint?


  • Potential ADHD patients
    Current patients


  • ‍1. Streamline the ADHD treatment journey to reduce friction and improve patient adherence

    2. Enhance patient engagement through clear, approachable digital tools and communication

    3. Differentiate Ahead’s offering in the market with cohesive branding and modern UX

    4. Unify digital and physical touchpoints


  • Product Manager
    Developers
    Stakeholders (CEO)

Research

I kicked off the project by analyzing the mental health landscape and identifying strategic opportunities. Balancing patient needs with strict compliance requirements (DEA, Board of Pharmacy, Schedule II regulations) added complexity to the user journey — especially around monthly provider check-ins.

Through patient interviews, I uncovered what quality care meant to our users, helping shape a product roadmap that aligned clinical realities with a large, addressable market opportunity.

Patient’s current journey

Challenges, opportunities, and goals assessed from patient interviews

Challenges

Overwhelming forms & language

The existing intake felt overwhelming and impersonal - patients found it difficult to complete forms independently and felt a lack of transparency around what to expect in their care journey.

1.

Fragmented care and disjointed medication management

Patients frequently felt frustrated with having to repeat themselves across sessions, providers, and pharmacy touchpoints due to disjointed systems and poor handoffs.

2.

Patient drop-off risk

Lack of transparency, coupled with care that felt transactional and unempathetic, led to patients disengaging from their care journey.

3.

Skepticism towards health-tech startups vs. legacy of traditional hospitals

As a startup in a market led by established hospitals, we needed to build trust quickly. I had to craft a patient experience that conveyed legitimacy and eased hesitation, positioning our services as credible and compassionate care alternatives.

4.

Select Explorations

To reimagine the patient treatment journey, I developed a series of wireframe explorations that balanced clarity, empathy, and usability.

These iterations focused on simplifying complex workflows, enhancing transparency around next steps, and fostering seamless interactions between patients and providers to lay the foundation for a more intuitive and supportive care experience.

Quick sketches of patient intake flow

I mapped out an ideal patient journey.
Note: “Rise” was our initial startup name, later officially changed to “Ahead Health”

Patient intake flow wireframes
Note: These mocks were completed during the Sketch era (pre-Figma)

Final Intake Flow

Back-end Patient Care

I led the strategic vision for a centralized admin tool that unified patient data, insurance (via CoverMyMeds), clinical notes (via DrChrono), and pharmacy integrations—streamlining cross-functional workflows and elevating care quality.

By aligning stakeholders, product, and engineering, I designed a system that fostered truly connected care - eliminating communication gaps and reducing the burden on patients to coordinate their own treatment.

High-level touchpoint mapping to visualize both front-end and back-end of patient care journey

Service blueprint

Service blueprint with pain points identifying areas of improvement

Due to the scope of the admin tool project, I will be focusing on the prescriptions process of this internal tool. Flowchart of prescription process

Information architecture of internal tool

Admin Tool: Designs

Due to the scope of the admin tool project, I will only be presenting designs for the prescription process.

Early wireframes had a full-length dashboard view with stackable content containing various sets of patient details.

Final mock

I later adjusted to a tabbed experience based on user feedback to keep content above-the-fold and reduce cognitive overload.

Prototype for developer hand-off to convey microinteractions

Solutions

I designed a cohesive, patient-centered experience that transformed the treatment journey into one that felt intuitive, trustworthy, and emotionally supportive.

By simplifying complex interactions, unifying care and medication workflows, and embedding strategic signals of credibility, the solution not only reduced friction and dropout risk - it positioned Ahead as a viable, human-first alternative to traditional systems.

Launch / Impact

Increased patient trust and engagement

The redesigned intake flow streamlined onboarding and delivered clear, transparent guidance, which significantly enhanced patient trust and confidence of their care journey.

1.

Improved operational efficiency and patient continuity

Designing an internal tool that unified patient data across teams helped reduce handoff errors and created a connected, end-to-end experience without requiring patients to repeat or manage information themselves.

2.

Boosted credibility, increasing conversion rates by 200%

Drove strategic messaging initiatives to position the health-tech brand as a credible, patient-first alternative to traditional care - resulting in a 200% lift in conversion and a more cohesive, trust-driven experience from first touchpoint to treatment.

3.

Other work

Develop At-Bay’s first-ever cybersecurity insurance claims processing platform

Design Kikoff’s mobile app for credit-building and credit education for low-score users

Design & launch a scalable tool for monitoring and optimizing broker relationships