Designing Customizable Dashboard Tabs for LKArchive

At ELLKAY I led the redesign of their flagship LKArchive medical records software, including a new dashboard page which featured customizable tabs for additional problem tracking.

This project aimed to empower physicians by allowing them to track specific patient metrics—such as those relevant to chronic conditions like diabetes or cancer—that were not available on the default dashboard. This case study details the design process, tools, research, and measurable outcomes of this project.

Problem Statement

Physicians using LKArchive needed quick access to specific patient metrics that were critical for monitoring chronic conditions but were not included in the default dashboard layout. The lack of personalization led to time-intensive workarounds, reducing efficiency and increasing frustration.

The goal was to create a customizable dashboard that:

1. Enables physicians to prioritize and monitor patient metrics relevant to their specialty or patient population.
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2. Reduces time spent navigating to essential data.

3. Improves user satisfaction and clinical workflows by providing a more personalized interface.

Timeline

Kickoff: September 2021 | Launch: March 2022

Research & Discovery

Stakeholder Interviews

I conducted interviews with internal stakeholders, including product managers, clinical consultants, and technical leads, to understand:

- Pain points with the current dashboard for clinical users.

- Commonly requested metrics by physicians.

- Business goals for improving physician engagement and retention.

User Research

To gather insights from end users, I:

- Interviewed physicians specializing in chronic disease management (e.g., endocrinologists and oncologists) to understand their needs and workflows.

- Conducted task analysis sessions to observe how users navigated the current software design to access critical data.

- Reviewed usage data from the existing interface and default dashboard testing to identify frequently accessed and missing metrics.

Key findings included:

- Endocrinologists wanted to track metrics like HbA1c levels, blood sugar trends, and medication adherence for diabetes patients.

- Oncologists needed quick views of tumor markers, imaging results, and treatment timelines.

- All users expressed interest in the new functionality, but not in spending a lot of time customizing tabs.

Competitive Analysis

I examined dashboards in other healthcare platforms, focusing on tools that offered user customization of certain elements. Insights from this analysis informed the creation of an intuitive customization model.

LKArchive as it looked prior to the redesign, with no dashboard:

The new default dashboard, with room for four custom tabs:

Persona Creation

Based on the findings from user research, I developed a persona to guide the design process:

Name: Dr. Sarah Patel
Specialty: Endocrinology
Goals:

Quickly access key patient metrics such as HbA1c levels and medication adherence.
Spend minimal time setting up and navigating the dashboard.
Uninterested in learning new software/workflows

Pain Points:

Current dashboards require too many clicks to access critical data.
Default dashboards often include irrelevant information for her practice.
Limited time available to customize tools due to a demanding patient schedule.

This persona influenced the prioritization of features such as dropdown selectors for quick metric selection and automated layout updates to reduce setup time.I examined dashboards in other healthcare platforms, focusing on tools that offered metric customization for specific medical specialties. Insights from this analysis informed the creation of an intuitive and scalable customization model.

Design Process

Ideation and Sketching

Based on the research findings, I brainstormed and sketched ideas for:

- Simple and intuitive ways for physicians to select key metrics.

- Flows that reduced time spent on customization while maintaining usability.

- Layouts that automatically adapt to selected metrics.

Wireframing

Using Figma, I created low-fidelity wireframes to:

- Visualize how a multi-choice selector could be used to choose metrics.

- Illustrate how the layout would update automatically based on selected metrics.

- Define default configurations for specialties like endocrinology and oncology.

Prototyping

I developed an interactive prototype in Figma to:

- Simulate variations of searching, filtering, and selecting patient metrics from a modal pop-up.

- Get real world feedback on the layout and scale of the new dashboards.

- Measure the speed and intuitiveness of new tasks and interactions.

Usability Testing

To validate the design, I conducted usability testing sessions with physicians:

Participants were tasked with creating a dashboard to track specific metrics for a hypothetical patient using the modal selector.
Feedback revealed challenges with understanding metric categories, filtering, and activation, which informed further improvements.

Iterations Included:

Refining modal layout/organization and adding search functionality.
Ensuring automatic layout adjustments were seamless and intuitive.
Including pre-configured templates for specific specialties to further reduce setup times.

Implementation Collaboration

Collaboration with Developers

I worked closely with the development team during both design and implementation, using Slack and Jira for communication and task tracking. Weekly design reviews and feedback loops ensured the final product aligned with user needs and product specifications.

Design Handoff

I prepared detailed design specifications using Figma Dev Mode, including:

- Pixel-perfect layouts.

- Interaction patterns for metric selection and dashboard updates.

- Accessibility guidelines to ensure compliance with WCAG standards.

Challenges & Lessons

Challenges Overcome

Balancing simplicity with functionality

While physicians requested a high degree of customization, there was a risk of overwhelming them with too many options.

Settling on a simple modal selector and automated layout updates struck the right balance between flexibility and ease of use.

Resistance from stakeholders

There was initial resistance to including the customizable dashboard at all, as stakeholders were concerned that it would require significant engineering resources and result in fewer metrics on the default dashboard.

I addressed this by demonstrating how the customizable dashboard would not only differentiate us from competitors but also streamline workflows for physicians, ultimately improving user satisfaction.

By showing that the dropdown selector approach minimized engineering effort while delivering significant user benefits, I secured stakeholder buy-in.

Technical constraints

Engineers initially flagged challenges in implementing automatic layout adjustments for dynamically selected metrics.

I collaborated with the development team to prioritize key features, limit user customization options, and determine core functionality required for launch.

Lessons Learned

User-centered prioritization

Iterative feedback from physicians ensured that the final design addressed their most critical needs without overcomplicating the interface.

Proactive stakeholder communications

Sharing research insights and involving stakeholders in early design discussions helped mitigate resistance and align goals.

Cross-functional collaboration

Close coordination with engineers allowed us to creatively solve technical challenges while maintaining the design intent.

Results & Impact

Launch

The customizable dashboard launched successfully and delivered measurable improvements:

- 50% increase in user satisfaction scores for physicians managing chronic conditions.

- 40% reduction in time spent navigating to key patient metrics.

- 80% adoption rate of the customizable dashboards among current LKArchive customers within three months of launch.

- Physicians praised the simplicity of the dropdown selector and the automatic layout adjustments for minimizing time spent on customization.

How We Measured Impact

To measure impact, we:

1. Collected usage data to track metric selection and dashboard usage patterns.

2. Conducted follow-up surveys with physicians to assess satisfaction and workflow improvements.

Reflection & Learnings

This project emphasized the importance of:

- Simplified customization: Offering a streamlined approach to personalization ensured higher adoption and satisfaction rates.

- Data-driven design: Using analytics and feedback to guide decisions led to a more impactful feature.

- Collaborative iteration: Regular input from end users and cross-functional teams was critical to delivering a successful product.

The customizable dashboard for LKArchive became a cornerstone feature, competitive differentiator, and one of my proudest achievements as a product designer in healthcare tech.