Healthnex: Designing Interoperable Systems for Dementia Care
Turning Research Into Action: Creating tools that empower caregivers and improve patient outcomes.
PROJECT CONTEXT
Caring for Alzheimer’s patients is complex. Caregivers need tools that are simple, reliable, and supportive for symptom tracking, medication management, and emergencies.
Healthnex was an internal Infosys conceptual project exploring mobile-first, caregiver-focused design and cross-surface health data communication. While not shipped, it served as a prototype for scalable, compliant solutions.
MY ROLE & TEAM
My Role
UI Designer, Researcher
Domain
Healthcare
Team
4 Junior Designers, 2 Senior Designers, 1 Design Principal
Tools
Adobe XD, Miro, Microsoft Teams, Google Suite
Timeline
8 Weeks
THE OBJECTIVE
Provide accessible tools for tracking symptoms
Simplify medication management
Enable emergency support
Deliver personalized mobile health tracking
Empower healthcare professionals
Improve patient engagement
Maintain regulatory compliance
THE CHALLENGES INVOLVED IN IMPLEMENTING HEALTHNEX
Balancing the complexity required for comprehensive healthcare solutions with the need for a simple and intuitive user interface
Interoperability with existing systems
Technical challenges
Ensuring data security and privacy
Regulatory compliance
Encouraging user engagement and adoption
User training and support
THE APPROACH
Working with a small, multi-level design team, We treated Healthnex as a connected mobile-first ecosystem, designed around a caregiver’s day. The system delivered glanceable insights, reduced stress, and prevented emergencies.
Figure shows: The Healthnex ecosystem and how it's all connected
01
Discovery: Analyzed US public health data to identify caregiver pain points and critical mobile health metrics.
02
Define: Translated research into objectives for symptom logging, medication reminders, emergency alerts, and engagement.
03
Design: Created mobile-first visual systems, reusable components, and glanceable health data visualizations for small screens.
04
Validation: Ran stakeholder walkthroughs and design critiques to refine mobile workflows and UI components.
DISCOVERY
We analyzed US public health data and mapped workflows to uncover these pain points. This research highlighted the need for an intuitive, interoperable system that consolidates critical information.
Key findings showed caregivers faced:
Fragmented information across multiple apps and providers
Manual tracking of vitals and routines
Limited real-time insights
High cognitive and emotional load
DEFINE
We framed the core problem:
Problem Statement
How might we support caregivers by consolidating vital information, simplifying tracking, and providing clarity during high-stress routines?
Defined solution goals:
Provide accessible tools for tracking symptoms
Manage medications
Provide emergency assistance
Improve patient engagement
Ensure compliance with healthcare regulations
DESIGN
Informed by the Discovery + Define stages, we translated pain points into use cases and structured design outcomes.
Case 1
Pain point
Patient Data Tracking: Monitoring the cognitive health and well-being of Alzheimer's patients is crucial but can be labor-intensive, prone to errors, and risky for patients.
Solution
Healthnex could track vital signs, medication schedules, and changes in behavior. Caregivers get real-time data to identify trends and potential issues, improving care.
Case 2
Pain point
Data Analysis and Trend Identification: There is a constant need to keep track of patient's vitals to ensure quality patient care. Neglecting to monitor these metrics can cause delayed interventions and increased health risks.
Solution
Healthnex could analyze and trend patient data over time, helping caregivers and healthcare professionals detect patterns and make informed decisions about treatment or care adjustments.
Case 3
Pain point
Manual Data Input: Caregivers should be able to input important data manually. The inability to seamlessly input vital information can hinder the accuracy of patient records, impede timely decision-making, and compromise the quality of care provided.
Solution
Healthnex could track vital signs, medication schedules, and changes in behavior. Caregivers get real-time data to identify trends and potential issues, improving care.
Case 4
Pain point
Data Analysis and Trend Identification: There is a constant need to keep track of patient's vitals to ensure quality patient care. Neglecting to monitor these metrics can cause delayed interventions and increased health risks.
Solution
Healthnex allows users to log data manually for specific dates and times.
Case 5
Pain point
Secure Data Sharing: There is a need for specific patient data sharing across the ecosystem.
Solution
Healthnex could allow caretakers to securely share patient health data with authorized healthcare professionals and support teams.
Case 6
Pain point
Appointment Reminders: Alzheimer's patients may have frequent medical appointments.
Solution
Healthnex can send appointment reminders to patients and caregivers, helping to ensure they get all essential check-ups or consultations with healthcare professionals.
Case 7
Pain point
Emergency Alerts: There may be situations that require immediate attention, such as emergencies or when the patient is experiencing distress.
Solution
Healthnex can provide a quick and easy way to send SOS alerts to caregivers or medical professionals, enabling a rapid response.
INTERNAL REVIEW
There was no testing phase, as this was an Infosys internal conceptual project.
Instead, we conducted:
Internal design critique sessions, stakeholder walkthrough
Cross-team reviews with senior designers and Design Principals
Iterative refinements on workflows, screens, and interactions
This ensured alignment across the ecosystem vision, compliance considerations, and design craft.
ITERATION
Iteration focused on:
Simplifying complex data visualizations
Streamlining caregiver navigation flows
Ensuring that every component empathized with care givers, reducing cognitive load for high-stress use.
Providing clarity and improving information accessibility
These refinements created a consistent system ready for future development phases.
CONCLUSION - WRAPPING THINGS UP
As any further revision without user testing and real-world deployment would have limited value, to recap:
Focused on designing for caregivers of Alzheimer’s and dementia patients
Researched caregiver pain points using US public health data
Defined objectives for symptom tracking, medication management, and emergency support
Developed mobile-first, cross-surface visual systems and reusable UI components
Delivered visual standards and interaction principles for clear, glanceable communication of patient vitals and medication schedules
Modeled secure data-sharing flows and SOS alert mechanisms for potential real-world adoption
Created documentation and processes for internal teams to evaluate, critique, and expand the ecosystem concept
Conducted internal walkthroughs and iterated on workflows, screen layouts, and interactions
MY LEARNINGS
This project taught me what thoughtful design can mean for people at their most vulnerable. It was an enlightening process. I learned how human-centered thinking drives design decisions, why clear information architecture is critical in high-stakes healthcare, and how conceptual prototypes can guide future innovation and stakeholder alignment, even without a live product.
Working Closely With Stakeholders
Building trust helped us align on what truly mattered and deliver solutions they could champion.
Deep Research Into Alzheimer’s Care
Understanding caregiver exhaustion, patient behavior, and healthcare gaps shaped every decision.
Human-Centered Thinking Above All
We designed with empathy first, focusing on real-world use rather than just feature checklists.
Designing for Scale
Healthnex was built to grow—new users, new devices, new integrations—without breaking its simplicity.