How designing a home screen with appointment tracking features significantly reduced cancellations

This case study explores how designing a home screen with improved visibility of high-priority features, along with clear appointment tracking and updates, helped Dezy reduce cancellations and rescheduling.

My Role

This project was completed under a tight timeline of just 3 weeks, as reducing cancellations was critical for the company. Conducted in October 2023, my responsibilities included research, interaction design, and visual design. I focused on creating a user-friendly home screen that prioritized key features and appointment tracking to help minimize cancellations and rescheduling.

The Challenge

Dezy, a dental care brand, has observed that customers frequently cancel or reschedule appointments, often at the last minute. This leads to wasted appointment preparation, inefficient use of operational costs, and negatively impacts conversion rates, as these appointments do not result in successful consultations.

Dezy had been reminding users of their upcoming appointments through calls, emails, and SMS, but these efforts did not result in significant improvements in reducing cancellations or rescheduling. Often, our dentists arrive at users' homes for scheduled at-home appointments, only to find that the user are unprepared. This leads to wasted operational costs and valuable time for the dentists.

The Solution

Since calls, emails, and SMS reminders did not yield significant improvements, we decided to leverage our other platforms: the website and the app. Although the website is our most frequently used platform, data indicates that users rarely return to the site to check their appointment schedules after booking. This led us to focus on the app, where we could send timely reminders as push notifications to keep users informed and reduce cancellations.

We decided to enhance our app, primarily used for appointment booking, by including appointment updates upfront and improving tracking features. This allowed us to send timely reminders to users about their upcoming appointments and consultations. This proactive approach resulted in fewer cancellations and rescheduling, ultimately boosting conversion rates and enhancing overall efficiency.

The Approach

I began by gathering more information about the problem and used this data to develop a solution. I maintained ongoing discussions with stakeholders to ensure alignment with our goals, which were to:

1. Remind users about their appointments.

2. Guide users through each stage of their appointment and keep them updated.

3. Increase the visibility of scheduled appointments.

4. Retain the prominence of other high-priority features within the app.

How We Will Measure Success

• Reduction in appointment cancellations

• Reduction in rescheduling of appointments

• Increase in conversion rates

• Timely actions by users regarding their appointments

Research

To better understand why users were canceling or rescheduling appointments, I conducted user surveys and user interviews with existing Dezy customers. Given the tight timeline, my research was somewhat limited. However, I had previously conducted extensive research for the Dezy website, so I leveraged those insights and learnings in the design process for the app as well.

User Interviews and Empathy Mapping

Meet Sapna Singh, a 32 year old professional working in Bengaluru. Sapna’s busy lifestyle often leaves her with little time for personal care, and her dental health is no exception. As a health-conscious individual, Sapna understands the importance of regular dental check-ups but struggles to find the time to schedule appointments and manage her oral health effectively.

User Stories

Framing user’s challenges as scenarios allowed me to break down and understand their needs more effectively.

After breaking down and understanding the problem, it was time to execute the solution. I focused primarily on designing the home screen and the appointments screen to enhance the visibility of appointment tracking and other high-priority features.

The design

While my main focus was on designing the Home Screen and Appointment Screen, it was crucial that other features retained their prominence to ensure a smooth user experience. The app must guide users effortlessly through essential tasks such as tracking appointments, connecting with a dentist, finding the right treatment, and scheduling a dental appointment. The user flow below outlines the key steps from the Home Screen to Appointment Booking, ensuring a seamless and efficient journey.

Task Flows

Task flows for booking, confirming, and rescheduling appointments helped streamline user actions and reduce friction. By guiding users through clear steps, these flows improved navigation across the app.

Wireframes

After analyzing the app's flows and structure, I transitioned to designing wireframes for further testing and refinement. Given time constraints, I streamlined the process by quickly moving past low-fidelity wireframes and focusing on developing high-fidelity versions.

Testing

Due to time constraints, I conducted informal testing with the team and friends. This allowed me to observe how they interacted with the app while completing tasks like rescheduling an appointment and taking the Smile Assessment.

Some key issues I identified were:

• Search Bar Usage: Initially, the search bar was meant for searching treatments and dentists. However, feedback from the Operations team revealed that users don’t get to choose their dentist; instead, dentists are assigned based on factors like availability and expertise. Having the search bar on the homepage, especially when popular treatments are already visible on the same fold, was not an efficient use of space. I moved the search bar to the Treatments page and utilized the homepage space for an Appointment Banner.

• Building Trust: Users wanted to see testimonials to build confidence before opting for treatments. To address this, I added testimonials to each treatment's respective page, enhancing credibility and motivating users to proceed with their appointments.

Final Design

Home Screen

The Home tab serves as the central hub where users begin their journey to better oral health. Our main focus was to ensure users are immediately informed about their upcoming appointments and any necessary actions. High-priority features like Smile Assessment and Video Consultation are also prominently displayed for easy access.

This page is designed to go beyond just scheduling and tracking appointments—it aims to create a welcoming, informative, and engaging experience. Every visit to the app encourages users to take a proactive approach to their dental care, making it an integral part of their overall health journey.

View App Prototype below:

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Results and Impact

The appointment updates and tracking feature significantly improved successful consultations and boosted conversions by reducing cancellations and rescheduling. A noticeable shift in user behavior emerged, with more users opting to reschedule appointments rather than canceling outright, as was common before. This change indicated that we were moving in the right direction, enhancing the overall user experience and engagement.