Step 01
Mapping the user flow
To understand the fee calculation, we mapped the user journey to find each decision point and input field. This gave the back end what it needed to automate the calculation.
End-to-end process, from market research and an MVP to a redesign driven by usability testing. The app turns the stacked billing rules anesthesiologists deal with every day into one guided fee calculation.
- Company
- AnestPlan
- Year
- 2020
- Role
- Product Designer & UX Researcher
- Scope
- Market research, UX research, UI, UX
01 · Context
More than half of anesthesiologists can't price their own procedures with confidence.
Anesthesiology is the fifth largest medical specialty in Brazil. In our 2020 survey, with more than 550 responses, over half of these doctors said they don't understand, or only partly understand, how their procedures are priced. Out of 25,500 anesthesiologists, almost 10,000 don't know how to charge for their work.
Without that clarity, manual accounting leads to frequent miscalculations. And with heavy workloads and many patients a day, doctors need one place to manage it all.
Data from the survey
55.6%of doctors don't fully understand the billing methods
61.2%of doctors manage their cash flow personally
47.9%of doctors use spreadsheets to track it
36.6%of doctors track it manually, on paper
Pricing one procedure means stacking codes, percentages and exceptions.
The final fee depends on the procedure's duration, the patient's age, gender and weight, and on how many anesthesia codes were used. Doctors had to run these four rules by hand, for every surgery:
01
Check the codes
Each anesthesia has a classification from 0 to 8. The higher the number, the higher the fee.
02
Start from the highest one
Take 100% of the anesthesia with the highest classification, then add 50% of each other one at the same incision site, or 70% at a different site.
03
Double it in special cases
The total doubles for a child under 2.5 kg or a procedure in a private room.
04
Add 30% for complex cases
Classification 7 or 8, extracorporeal circulation, neonatal surgery, gastroplasty, surgeries over 6 hours, or emergencies at night, on Sundays and holidays.
Map the calculation, ship an MVP, then test it with doctors.
I led the work end to end, from market and user research to the final screens and the hand-off to the developer.
Step 02
Design system
After a few low-fidelity sketches, I built a style guide with icons, colors and typography so the MVP could be developed fast and stay consistent.
Step 03
First MVP
The first version used pop-ups to add, edit or remove anesthesias, which piled up as tags under the search. At the end, the app showed the suggested fee for the surgery.
Step 04
Usability testing
With the MVP in production, we ran remote, semi-structured usability tests. Five sessions were enough to reach saturation: the same patterns kept coming back.
Step 05
Affinity mapping
I grouped every observation by semantic similarity. Clear patterns and outliers showed where the product was slowing doctors down.
Key findings
Lengthy registration
Most users complained about the number of mandatory fields when registering and logging procedures. It slowed them down a lot.
Unclear text and commands
Many users were confused by unclear instructions and ambiguous interface copy.
Hidden selected anesthetics
Users often missed that their selected anesthetics showed up as tags under the search bar, which created doubt mid-task.
What shaped the solution.
Team
A very lean team: me and two developers, one front end and one back end. It was a side project for everyone, so we met outside the hours of our full-time jobs.
Budget & partners
A tight budget. The app was idealized by an anesthesiologist, together with a partnership she secured with Coopanest, the cooperative of anesthesiologists in Rio de Janeiro.
Users & domain
Most users were older doctors with very little familiarity with tech language. In healthcare, that language barrier was a constant challenge.
Three changes driven by what we saw in testing.
To fix the issues the tests surfaced, we proposed a functional and visual redesign of the registration flow.
01
Prioritizing relevant content
A toggle shows only the fields each step needs. Less clutter on screen and less to think about, so doctors focus on what matters for that procedure.
02
Reduced cognitive load in forms
The form went from 25 required fields to 8, a 68% cut. Optional info like phone or e-mail moved behind an "Add more fields" button, and tighter spacing (16px to 12px) cut down scrolling.
03
Anesthetic selection without modals
Modals interrupted a critical task with too many buttons and choices. Bottom sheets keep the context on screen, so the selection flows without abrupt breaks.
Before25 required fieldsHigh cognitive loadUnclear instructionsModals interrupting the flow
After8 required fields, 68% fewerShorter completion timeLower cognitive loadToggles and bottom sheets, no modals
A lighter flow, real traction and recognition.
68%fewer required fields in the procedure form
4.6average rating on the App Store
1,000+downloads in the first year
Recognition
- Selected for the first phase of Shell Iniciativa Jovem, recognized by UBI Global
- Chosen for the 2023 cycle of INOVATIVA, Latin America's largest startup acceleration program
- Featured at Rio Innovation Week
What the founder saidLuciana TedeschiInnovation Head and AnestPlan Founder
“He led everything from market and user research to the delivery of the final screens.”
I worked with Gabriel on developing the AnestPlan app, where he led everything from market and user research to the delivery of the final screens and coordination with the developer. It was a great experience! In addition to being very skilled technically, he is always thinking about new applications and is very dedicated. I look forward to working with him again soon!
What I take with me from this project.
01
Convince with data
Coopanest wanted as much data as possible from every doctor. I had to show that more form fields mean more time in the app: more pixels, more screen, more scrolling. Usability tests backed it up, since users kept complaining about the long registration. Advocating for user-centered design meant finding a middle ground: required fields only for what mattered, with flexible space for optional ones.
02
Think twice before a pop-up
Pop-ups aren't forbidden. But over the years they picked up a bad reputation for ads and interruptions. Swapping them for bottom sheets gave the interface more flexibility, and matches the swipe gestures people already use every day on iOS and Android, like pulling down the control center to change volume or brightness.
03
Test, even at a fast pace
With an agile pace and a small budget, usability testing is what validates the solutions. So is staying close to the developers, to compare the screens in production with what we designed in Figma.
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