Restora
Product Designer
Mobile App
5 weeks
2025
Supporting Patients Throughout Their Perioperative Journey
I designed an end-to-end mobile app to address an unmet user need. Drawing on my background in nutrition and healthcare, I explored perioperative care, a space where patients often receive limited guidance beyond discharge instructions and in-person physical therapy.
Over 5 weeks, I led the full design process: researching, designing, and testing a solution focused on supporting patients through recovery with clearer nutrition and movement guidance.
Outcome
Designed a prototype that reduced task completion time by 30% through personalized nutrition guidance, at-home movement support, and daily symptom tracking, empowering patients to take an active role in their surgical recovery.
Problem
How might we empower surgical patients to safely improve their strength, mobility, and recovery when they receive limited clinical support and struggle with drug-induced cognitive impairment and low appetite?
User Research
To better understand user needs and the market, I conducted 5 user interviews, completed a competitive analysis of existing recovery tools, and conducted secondary research on patient adherence and readmission rates. I utilized AI for interview transcription, assisted data synthesis, and preliminary affinity mapping to help create my persona.
Competitive analysis revealed that existing recovery apps primarily focus on exercise tracking or medication reminders, rarely integrate nutrition guidance, and rarely address the cognitive and physical limitations of post-surgical patients, creating an opportunity for a more holistic approach.
Results
IA & Sitemap
Based on research showing that post-surgery medications cause disorientation and cognitive impairment, I prioritized a simple, flat information architecture. The sitemap reflects a three-tab structure (Nutrition, Movement, Progress) that minimizes navigation depth and allows users to access core features with minimal taps, critical for users with limited energy and attention.
Wireframes
Low-fidelity sketches allowed me to rapidly explore and iterate on ideas before refining the strongest concepts into mid-fidelity wireframes in Figma for early usability testing, ultimately informing the final high-fidelity designs.
Design system
Feature #1: Nutrition Guidance
100% of users experienced decreased appetite during recovery, making it difficult to meet nutritional needs despite understanding its importance. To address this, I designed nutrition guidance organized into simple, recovery-friendly recipe categories that prioritize healing while remaining approachable.
To further reduce cognitive burden on low-energy days, I introduced a "recipe of the day" feature that offers a single, thoughtfully selected option, eliminating choice paralysis while still meeting nutritional needs.
Feature #2: At-Home Movement Support
Patients typically attend PT only once or twice a week, with little guidance on safe at-home exercises between appointments. This leaves many hesitant to move, uncertain what's safe, or afraid of slowing their recovery.
To bridge this gap, I designed guided at-home movement therapy organized into strength and mobility categories. Users can follow recovery-appropriate exercises, track daily activity, and work toward achievable goals, staying engaged and in control between professional sessions, even on low-energy days.
Feature #3: Daily Symptom Check-in
Recovery is rarely linear. Good days are often followed by harder ones. To help users maintain perspective, I designed a daily check-in that tracks mood, energy, pain, and appetite over time.
By logging symptoms daily and visualizing trends, users can recognize patterns, understand how their habits impact recovery, and reframe setbacks as part of the healing process rather than failures, supporting a more informed and positive recovery journey.
Listening, Testing, Refining
Real-World Viability
This project pushed me to think beyond individual screens and consider the broader ecosystem shaping user success. I didn't just design for immediate recovery tasks; I explored how Restora could deliver sustained value while remaining economically viable.
This meant considering multiple perspectives: How do payment models affect user access? How can a product serve both direct users and partner organizations? What business models enable long-term impact?
These aren't healthcare-specific questions. They're core to designing products that scale and create real impact. That's what draws me to design: the opportunity to solve problems at every level- user experience, business model, operational reality.
