Well: Breaking Barriers to Healthcare

Well Australia

Product Design / August 2024

Project Overview

Well is an Australian startup tackling financial barriers to healthcare. I led the design of an intuitive, user-centered experience, focusing on accessibility, clear communication, and streamlined workflows. This project combined UX design, content strategy, and systems thinking to create a solution that builds trust and simplifies how patients navigate medical expenses.

My Contributions

Conducted initial research, lead ideation workshops, crafted storytelling documents, designed application flows, created a tokenised design system, and designed a high-fidelity prototype on Figma.

Team

Osama Sarakibi

Timeline

5 months



Problem

In 2023, 2.2 million Australians did not visit a doctor because of the cost.

Why? Australia is experiencing a healthcare affordability crisis. Currently, there is an imbalance between how much medicare/private insurance covers and what doctors need to charge for their services (due to inflation, demand, etc). The result is an increased out-of-pocket expense, causing patients to either:

  1. use their savings on healthcare services, or
  2. avoid addressing their healthcare concerns.

Solution

Well is powered by Medlink, a not-for-profit organisation that accepts donations from employers, financial service providers, and healthcare service providers, to provide healthcare coverage to their employees, members, and patients.

With Well, individuals can upload their receipts from GP consultations and receive reimbursements for their out-of-pocket expenses.

Step One

Employer Donates to Medlink (Charity)

Employer receives a tax write-off that can directly benefit its employees.

Step Two

Medlink Allocates Donation to Well

Donation amount is transferred to Well, so employees can benefit from the funds.

Step Three

Well Converts Funds into Credits

Each employee is allocated a number of healthcare credits dependent on donation size and number of employees.

Step Four

Employee Spends Credits on GP Visit

Employee visits their GP, uploads their receipt to Well, and receives reimbursement.


Application Flows

Onboarding

Well’s onboarding was designed to be quick and reassuring. Users only need to enter a few key details, which are used to build their personalized dashboard. Identity verification takes place seamlessly behind the scenes, reducing friction and helping users feel supported from the start. By keeping the process minimal and transparent, the experience builds trust while getting users into the product faster.

Dashboard

The dashboard was designed to feel clear and approachable from the first visit. A short tutorial introduces users to the interface, guiding them through the key features. Once identity verification is complete, the dashboard becomes the central hub where users can see how many claims they have left, review their claim history, and submit new claims. The design emphasizes transparency and ease of use, helping users feel confident managing their reimbursements.

Claims

The claims process was designed to feel straightforward and trustworthy. Users begin by uploading a photo of their receipt, which is automatically analyzed through Well’s AI. The extracted details are then displayed for users to quickly confirm or edit before submitting. Once confirmed, the claim enters review, and users can track its approval status from their d ashboard. This flow reduces manual effort while keeping users in control of their information.


Design System

The Atomic Model

The atomic model, by Brad Frost, is a method for a consistent and flexible design system by breaking elements down into smaller, reusable pieces.

An image showing 5 elements of the Atomic Model by Brad Frost

This approach makes it easier to keep everything looking and working the same across a product, while also speeding up the process. For me, it’s a way to stay organized and efficient, especially when working with a team, as it helps us all stay on the same page while building something that can grow and adapt over time.

An image showing the Well Design System using the Atomic Model

Tokenization

I used The UI Collective's approach to implement a top-down model which stores variables through mapped, alias, and global values. The benefit of using tokens at at the design level is to promote accuracy as designs move to the development stage, and flexibility/ease if major changes are required.

An image showing the Well Design System colour tokens

Figma Variables

In Figma, tokenization makes it easy for me to showcase my designs in light and dark modes, as well as across different screen sizes.

An image showing the Well Design System using Figma variables

Iterative Design

The utilisation of a design system provides quick implementation for high-fidelity prototypes. This gave us more time to focus on niche issues such as:

  1. Iconography
  2. In the first screen, we used emojis to communicate each page in the flow. After discussing the legal implications of licensing emojis, we decided it would be more beneficial to illustrate pages with icons. In the final iteration, we noticed that the icons were not communicating as well as we hoped and decided to remove them altogether.

  3. UX Writing
  4. Over the 5 months working on Well, we received feedback on what made sense for our users to read on each page. The first example has a title, "Upload a Document", but what does that mean? The next screen becomes more specific as we update the text to "Upload your Receipt" but the sub-title still needed some additional work. In the final iteration, we kept the same title but provided additional information in our sub-title.

  5. UI Design - i.e. Buttons
  6. In the first screen, the buttons were designed to be large and friendly. In the second screen, we implemented an inactive state on our primary button, identifying the users that they could not proceed without first uploading their receipts. In the final iteration, we discussed that the original scale of the buttons was eating up too much screen. Additionally, the hierarchy between the buttons was imbalanced due to the heaviness of the charcoal.

Version one of the 'upload a receipt' desktop screen Version two of the 'upload a receipt' desktop screen Version three of the 'upload a receipt' desktop screen


Final Notes

Well was designed to make healthcare reimbursements faster, simpler, and more transparent. By streamlining onboarding, creating a clear dashboard, and automating receipt processing with AI, users can complete their claims with minimal effort and maximum confidence. This approach reduced friction, increased claim submission accuracy, and improved overall user satisfaction. The project demonstrates how thoughtful, user-centered design can drive measurable outcomes, making healthcare more accessible and efficient for everyone.