Homecoming
Rethink and redesign existing onboarding process for the Homecoming app, helping clients to reach their 'a-ha!' moment during their first interaction with the platform.
Overview
Led the design of a web version for the Client Portal, previously only accessible on our mobile app. The main objective was to enhance user experience and accessibility for non-mobile users. Collaborated closely with the engineering team to ensure efficiency. The goal was to leverage existing elements and identify quick, high-value features that wouldn't significantly increase the scope.
App fatigue. Clients hesitant to download new app for short-term use.
Outdated Methods. Prior to Homecoming, practitioners relied on email with multiple attachments, leading to confusion, HIPAA compliance issues, and missed communications, despite their familiarity with desktop interfaces
Better user experience. Web interface enhances readability and response time for follow-ups and communication.
Desktop preference. Especially among older clients less comfortable with mobile apps.
Current Pain Points
Our clients are therapy practitioners who utilize Homecoming to manage their practice and support clients throughout their transformational journey. Within Homecoming, they share resources, documents, forms, facilitate communication between sessions, and onboard new clients. Our web version provides basic chat and email functionsonly, while the full range of capabilities is exclusive to our mobile app. During interviews, I discovered significant pain points when the client portal was only on mobile.
Client portal (current version) - Chat
Client portal (current version) - Mail
Sprint Goals
Enhanced Accessibility. Create a refined replica of the mobile Client Portal, optimized for users who prefer accessing it from desktop devices.
Improved Collaboration. Incorporate essential features in the web version for seamless collaboration and better client engagement.
Enhanced Accessibility. Create a refined replica of the mobile Client Portal, optimized for users who prefer accessing it from desktop devices.
Improved Collaboration. Incorporate essential features in the web version for seamless collaboration and better client engagement.
Efficient Solutions. Introduce quick, high-value solutions to address long-standing issues, prioritizing smaller scope for developers.
Product review. Implement incremental improvements wherever feasible to enhance user experience and functionality.
Efficient Solutions. Introduce quick, high-value solutions to address long-standing issues, prioritizing smaller scope for developers.
Product review. Implement incremental improvements wherever feasible to enhance user experience and functionality.
Design Sprint
Mobile Screens Review
To start, my main goal was to bring our mobile client portal to the web. I began by carefully examining all mobile screens, identifying key functions, and deciding which screens were essential. This helped streamline the scope for my development team.
User Stories
I collaborated with my product manager on Product Board to review client feedback and requests. Combining these insights with my notes on the existing mobile screens, I crafted multiple user stories.
Home Screen
The home screen offers clients a snapshot of details they need to best prepare for the next session: their upcoming bookings, new Mail, and 'My Plan' - the to-dos waiting for them.
As a client I want to see the latest activity on my home screen, so I wouldn’t miss any latest shares/updates from my practitioner
As a client, I need my upcoming session reminder displayed prominently on the home screen, ensuring I'm prepared and don't miss it
As a client I want to have a clear to do list of outstanding activities, so I wouldn’t forget
As a client, I want to book sessions directly from my account without needing to contact my practitioner or search for external booking links
As a client, I want to view all my upcoming sessions in one place so that I can keep track of my appointments and ensure I don’t miss any therapy calls
As a client, I want to easily view all my past sessions to track my progress and know how many I've completed
As a client, I want to quickly cancel or reschedule sessions to accommodate sudden changes in my schedule
As a client, I want visual indicators on my session appointments, to help me quickly distinguish imminent sessions from others and ensure I don't miss them
As a client, I want a centralized library of resources shared by my practitioner to avoid searching for the file I need through mail
As a client, I need to sort through the library effectively, enabling me to quickly locate the specific resource I need
Sessions
In our first release, we decided to leave out the 'Sessions' tab. To work around this, I came up with a solution: we show only the two most recent sessions upfront, but users can access their complete session history in a dropdown menu. I also moved the 'Book a session' button to the home screen, which really got our users more engaged. And in response to user requests, I added a sessions counter, so clients can easily track their progress and see their history with their practitioner.
Mail serves as a follow-up container where practitioners combines a message, voice note, and various attachments like files, tasks, and resources with their clients. My goal was to provide clients with a preview of their practitioner's Mail, allowing them to engage and understand the contents even before opening it. To speed up the first release, I created two Mail card designs, allowing my dev team to work on a more complex version for the second iteration.
My Plan
In 'My Plan', clients find a to-do list with actions to complete or resources to explore. I introduced a popup module allowing clients to view and interact with an action/resource they clicked on. Here they can also mark actions as complete, removing them from their to-do list and notifying their practitioner of the completion.
Resources
Resources is a section where clients can access all documents shared by their practitioner throughout their transformational journey. I incorporated status pills to indicate if any resources require their attention and complition, allowing them to easily sort through their entire library
Empty States
I developed empty states to represent the initial appearance of the client portal before clients engage with their practitioner.
Final Designs
Explore the prototype to experience how using Homecoming feels when collaborating with your coach. Click through the tabs to navigate and view all screens.
View final prototype
Challenges
Designing for Homecoming presented unique challenges due to its extensive functionality. Balancing screen elements without overwhelming users required multiple iterations to achieve the right balance. Additionally, aligning design proposals with the development team's capabilities while incorporating essential new features demanded close collaboration. Flexibility in approach was key, ensuring that I account for my teams capabilities as well as advocate for the client needs.
Forward Thinking
Next Steps
For my next steps, I plan to collaborate with my team to release more refined versions of our designs and conduct thorough testing of our new Client Portal with both new and existing clients.
Key Learnings
Reusing APIs. For prompt sprints, reusing existing APIs was essential. It streamlined development and ensured consistency across platforms. Before creating new designs, I frequently paused to consider if any existing elements could be repurposed.
Product board. Collaborating with the product board and having these insights readily available empowered me to persuade my development team to incorporate features they were initially uncertain about. Leveraging data helped us simplify product dilemmas and take decisive actions that resulted in a release that provided significant value to our users.
This release sparked ideas for further enhancing clients' experiences and empowering them on their journey. Firstly, I considered incorporating goal setting and tracking functionalities. This would strengthen the therapeutic alliance, a critical factor in mental health outcomes. Secondly, I envisioned introducing digital journaling and AI functionality to synthesize insights and assist clients in better preparing for their upcoming sessions.
Homecoming
Rethink and redesign existing onboarding process for the Homecoming app, helping clients to reach their 'a-ha!' moment during their first interaction with the platform.
Homecoming
Homecoming is a practice management platform designed for therapists and transformational practitioners. It enables them to track client progress, share materials and activities, provide support between sessions, and manage administrative aspects of their business.
Practice Management Platform
Current Pain Points
Our clients are therapy practitioners who utilize Homecoming to manage their practice and support clients throughout their transformational journey. Within Homecoming, they share resources, documents, forms, facilitate communication between sessions, and onboard new clients. Our web version provides basic chat and email functionsonly, while the full range of capabilities is exclusive to our mobile app. During interviews, I discovered significant pain points when the client portal was only on mobile.
App fatigue. Clients hesitant to download new app for short-term use.
Outdated Methods. Prior to Homecoming, practitioners relied on email with multiple attachments, leading to confusion, HIPAA compliance issues, and missed communications, despite their familiarity with desktop interfaces
Better user experience. Web interface enhances readability and response time for follow-ups and communication.
Desktop preference. Especially among older clients less comfortable with mobile apps.
Overview
Led the design of a web version for the Client Portal, previously only accessible on our mobile app. The main objective was to enhance user experience and accessibility for non-mobile users. Collaborated closely with the engineering team to ensure efficiency. The goal was to leverage existing elements and identify quick, high-value features that wouldn't significantly increase the scope.
Current Pain Points
Our clients are therapy practitioners who utilize Homecoming to manage their practice and support clients throughout their transformational journey. Within Homecoming, they share resources, documents, forms, facilitate communication between sessions, and onboard new clients. Our web version provides basic chat and email functionsonly, while the full range of capabilities is exclusive to our mobile app. During interviews, I discovered significant pain points when the client portal was only on mobile.
App fatigue. Clients hesitant to download new app for short-term use.
Outdated Methods. Prior to Homecoming, practitioners relied on email with multiple attachments, leading to confusion, HIPAA compliance issues, and missed communications, despite their familiarity with desktop interfaces
Better user experience. Web interface enhances readability and response time for follow-ups and communication.
Desktop preference. Especially among older clients less comfortable with mobile apps.
Client portal (current version) - Chat
Client portal (current version) - Mail
Sprint Goals
Enhanced Accessibility. Create a refined replica of the mobile Client Portal, optimized for users who prefer accessing it from desktop devices.
Improved Collaboration. Incorporate essential features in the web version for seamless collaboration and better client engagement.
Enhanced Accessibility. Create a refined replica of the mobile Client Portal, optimized for users who prefer accessing it from desktop devices.
Improved Collaboration. Incorporate essential features in the web version for seamless collaboration and better client engagement.
Efficient Solutions. Introduce quick, high-value solutions to address long-standing issues, prioritizing smaller scope for developers.
Product review. Implement incremental improvements wherever feasible to enhance user experience and functionality.
Efficient Solutions. Introduce quick, high-value solutions to address long-standing issues, prioritizing smaller scope for developers.
Product review. Implement incremental improvements wherever feasible to enhance user experience and functionality.
Design Sprint
Mobile Screens Review
To start, my main goal was to bring our mobile client portal to the web. I began by carefully examining all mobile screens, identifying key functions, and deciding which screens were essential. This helped streamline the scope for my development team.
Design Sprint
User Stories
I collaborated with my product manager on Product Board to review client feedback and requests. Combining these insights with my notes on the existing mobile screens, I crafted multiple user stories.
As a client I want to see the latest activity on my home screen, so I wouldn’t miss any latest shares/updates from my practitioner
As a client, I need my upcoming session reminder displayed prominently on the home screen, ensuring I'm prepared and don't miss it
As a client I want to have a clear to do list of outstanding activities, so I wouldn’t forget
As a client, I want to book sessions directly from my account without needing to contact my practitioner or search for external booking links
As a client, I want to view all my upcoming sessions in one place so that I can keep track of my appointments and ensure I don’t miss any therapy calls
As a client, I want to easily view all my past sessions to track my progress and know how many I've completed
As a client, I want to quickly cancel or reschedule sessions to accommodate sudden changes in my schedule
As a client, I want visual indicators on my session appointments, to help me quickly distinguish imminent sessions from others and ensure I don't miss them
As a client, I want a centralized library of resources shared by my practitioner to avoid searching for the file I need through mail
As a client, I need to sort through the library effectively, enabling me to quickly locate the specific resource I need
Home Screen
The home screen offers clients a snapshot of details they need to best prepare for the next session: their upcoming bookings, new Mail, and 'My Plan' - the to-dos waiting for them.
Sessions
In our first release, we decided to leave out the 'Sessions' tab. To work around this, I came up with a solution: we show only the two most recent sessions upfront, but users can access their complete session history in a dropdown menu. I also moved the 'Book a session' button to the home screen, which really got our users more engaged. And in response to user requests, I added a sessions counter, so clients can easily track their progress and see their history with their practitioner.
Mail serves as a follow-up container where practitioners combines a message, voice note, and various attachments like files, tasks, and resources with their clients. My goal was to provide clients with a preview of their practitioner's Mail, allowing them to engage and understand the contents even before opening it. To speed up the first release, I created two Mail card designs, allowing my dev team to work on a more complex version for the second iteration.
My Plan
In 'My Plan', clients find a to-do list with actions to complete or resources to explore. I introduced a popup module allowing clients to view and interact with an action/resource they clicked on. Here they can also mark actions as complete, removing them from their to-do list and notifying their practitioner of the completion.
Resources
Resources is a section where clients can access all documents shared by their practitioner throughout their transformational journey. I incorporated status pills to indicate if any resources require their attention and complition, allowing them to easily sort through their entire library
Empty States
I developed empty states to represent the initial appearance of the client portal before clients engage with their practitioner.
Final Designs
Explore the prototype to experience how using Homecoming feels when collaborating with your coach. Click through the tabs to navigate and view all screens.
View final prototype
Challenges
Designing for Homecoming presented unique challenges due to its extensive functionality. Balancing screen elements without overwhelming users required multiple iterations to achieve the right balance. Additionally, aligning design proposals with the development team's capabilities while incorporating essential new features demanded close collaboration. Flexibility in approach was key, ensuring that I account for my teams capabilities as well as advocate for the client needs.
Forward Thinking
This release sparked ideas for further enhancing clients' experiences and empowering them on their journey. Firstly, I considered incorporating goal setting and tracking functionalities. This would strengthen the therapeutic alliance, a critical factor in mental health outcomes. Secondly, I envisioned introducing digital journaling and AI functionality to synthesize insights and assist clients in better preparing for their upcoming sessions.
Next Steps
For my next steps, I plan to collaborate with my team to release more refined versions of our designs and conduct thorough testing of our new Client Portal with both new and existing clients.
Key Learnings
Reusing APIs. For prompt sprints, reusing existing APIs was essential. It streamlined development and ensured consistency across platforms. Before creating new designs, I frequently paused to consider if any existing elements could be repurposed.
Product board. Collaborating with the product board and having these insights readily available empowered me to persuade my development team to incorporate features they were initially uncertain about. Leveraging data helped us simplify product dilemmas and take decisive actions that resulted in a release that provided significant value to our users.