Redesigning Pill Club’s Dashboard to Scale Self-Service and Reduce Support

I led the redesign of Pill Club’s patient dashboard to reduce support volume and improve patient experience as the company scaled rapidly. I redesigned the dashboard to emphasize clarity, self-service, and mobile usability. Within the first week of launch, dashboard engagement increased 4×. This case study highlights how I applied user-centered design principles to address patient and operational needs.

Team

Product Designer (me)
Copywriter
UX Researcher
Backend Engineer
Frontend Engineer

Role

Product Designer

Responsibilities

User Research
Visual Design
Product Design
Information Architecture

process

Double Diamond Framework:
Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver

Company background

Pill Club is an online birth control subscription service that delivers prescriptions and refills straight to patients, along with delightful bonus items.

Mission
Make getting on birth control simple, affordable, and delightful.

Users
Primarily women in their 20s–30s in most U.S. states

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Challenge

As Pill Club scaled, the dashboard failed to keep up.

The outdated dashboard created significant friction for patients trying to perform basic tasks. This resulted in a high volume of support tickets, delays in prescription processing, frustrated users, and operational bottlenecks.

discover the problem

To uncover pain points and opportunities, I used multiple research methods. This comprehensive approach revealed critical insights that guided our redesign strategy.

Usability Testing

Dashboard Issues Left Patients Reliant on Support

I collaborated with a UX researcher to run usability tests and identify key friction points in the dashboard.

  • Unused Dashboard: “I never use the dashboard”—patients said it lacked essential details.

  • Delivery Tracking Issues: Users couldn’t estimate arrival dates or track shipments.

  • Misleading UI: Pencil edit icons appeared throughout the dashboard, but most fields weren’t actually editable.

  • Poor Information Architecture: Key information, such as delivery status, was buried in a page order reflecting the signup flow rather than user priorities.

  • Limited Self-Service: Patients were unable to adjust prescriptions or delivery preferences without contacting support.

patient survey

Low Dashboard Engagement Due to Missing Critical Features

I surveyed users to understand their dashboard usage and identify their essential needs.

The findings showed we needed to increase the dashboard’s value and visibility to boost engagement. These insights directly shaped our strategy, helping us prioritize features that users genuinely cared about.

department interviews

Dashboard Issues Caused Major Operational Delays

I interviewed teams across the company to understand internal pain points and align the dashboard redesign with business and user needs.

Across all departments, a consistent theme emerged: teams wanted to preserve human-centered care while automating routine tasks. The dashboard did the opposite—it pulled clinical staff away from where they were needed most.

Cancellation Survey

Poor Service Experience Drove 21% of Cancellations

To understand how dashboard issues affected retention, I examined cancellation data.

21% of users canceled due to poor service:

  • 53% were upset by long response times

  • 25% felt confused by unclear communication

  • 21% were frustrated by shipment delays

Improving dashboard usability wasn’t just a UX priority—it was vital for retaining customers and ensuring sustainable growth.

Competitive Analysis

Competitors Offered Superior Self-Service and Tracking Features

I analyzed direct and indirect competitors to identify industry standards and differentiation opportunities.

Key features competitors offered included:

  • Real-time shipment tracking

  • Easy prescription management

  • Automation that reduced support dependency

I also found an opportunity to stand out by offering personalized follow-up care and proactive communication.

User personas

Tailoring the Dashboard Experience for Two Distinct Mindsets

User personas, created by a UX researcher, informed our design decisions:

Need TLCers (1/3)
New to birth control, seeking education and reassurance

Struggle is Realers (2/3)
Experienced users who wanted autonomy and efficiency

User

define the problem

Framing the Core Challenges for Patients and Internal Teams

Our findings revealed two core problems: patients lacked clarity and control, while internal teams were overwhelmed by avoidable support volume. These insights formed the foundation for our key problem statements:

How might we reduce friction in the dashboard for users managing their birth control?

Business

How might we streamline the dashboard to empower support teams and reduce manual work?

develop The Solution

With a clear understanding of user needs and business goals, I redesigned the dashboard to address content clarity, intuitive interactions, and visual accessibility.

design principles

To guide decision-making across the redesign, I established five core design principles.

  • Clarity First
    Prioritize direct, jargon-free language and clear visual structure

  • Empower Self-Service
    Reduce support reliance by giving users autonomy

  • Progressive Disclosure
    Show information only when it’s needed to prevent overload

  • Proactive Design
    Anticipate needs and offer relevant info at the right time

  • Mobile-First
    Optimize for one-handed use and thumb-friendly layouts

info Architecture

Structuring the Dashboard Around User Priorities

The original dashboard was structured around internal systems, which made it hard for users to find what they needed. I reorganized the layout around how users naturally think and navigate their care.

Before finalizing the layout, I conducted a closed card sorting test, confirming that users grouped features in ways aligned with my proposed structure.

Key updates included:

  • Restructured the navigation around core user needs like Delivery, Prescription, Account, and Guides

  • Grouped related actions within each section to reduce cognitive load

  • Clarified labels and flow to help users find what they need faster

UI design

Improving Readability and Accessibility with Design Best Practices

The visual layout previously lacked hierarchy, making it hard to read and scan. I improved the UI by:

  • Left-aligning text for better legibility

  • Using a 16px minimum font size

  • Selecting off-white and dark gray colors to reduce visual fatigue

  • Applying 150–170% line height for more comfortable reading

  • Ensuring WCAG AA and AAA contrast ratios

  • Establishing a clear hierarchy using size, weight, and color

These changes made the dashboard more inclusive, especially for users with visual impairments or neurodiversity.

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mobile optimization

Making the Dashboard Effortless for 98% Mobile Users

Since 98% of our users accessed the dashboard on mobile, optimizing for touch was critical. The original design had small tap targets, cramped layouts, and forms that weren’t touch-friendly.

I applied mobile-first design patterns, including:

  • 1cm × 1cm touch targets, following accessibility guidelines

  • Edge-to-edge tap areas to reduce missed interactions

  • Thumb-friendly layouts, ensuring key actions stayed within natural reach zones

This improved usability for patients on the go, especially those checking deliveries or updating prescriptions between tasks.

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visual design

Building a Scalable Brand System That Feels Accessible and Delightful

Users described the earlier dashboard as “clinical” and uninviting. To humanize the experience and reflect our mission, I developed a scalable visual system that could be applied across digital and print.

Key updates:

  • A cohesive illustration style to reinforce brand personality

  • A unified icon library for visual consistency and task clarity

  • A warm, accessible color palette to support inclusive design

  • Consistent UI components to build familiarity and reduce friction

These visuals weren’t just decorative—they improved usability, helped users recognize patterns, and built trust by making the experience more approachable, especially for users accessing birth control for the first time.

navigation

Helping Users Quickly Find What They Need

With the new structure in place, I redesigned the navigation to better support user goals and reduce confusion.

Updates included:

  • Prioritizing items based on frequent user tasks

  • Renaming labels for accuracy and clarity

  • Adding helper text below each label to set expectations

  • Introducing icons to support quick visual recognition

These changes made the dashboard easier to navigate, especially for mobile users, and gave patients more confidence when completing high-value tasks.

Iteration Insight
To improve mobile navigation, I explored a bottom tab pattern. But due to engineering constraints, I opted for a menu layout that still aligned with mobile-first best practices and supported fast way finding.

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signup steps

Simplifying Onboarding to Provide Clarity and Boost Completion

Patients felt lost during signup, leading to confusion and drop-off. I created a step-by-step progress tracker that visually guides users through setup.

  • Introduced a visual progress tracker with checklist-style steps

  • Confirmed each step as completed in real-time

  • Personalized flows based on payment method

This helped first-time users feel more confident navigating the system and reduced drop-off during account setup.

Iteration Insight
Users were confused when onboarding and prescription status used the same layout—they couldn’t tell what required their input. I introduced a checklist-style “to-do” with checkmarks for onboarding and used a delivery-style timeline for prescription tracking to clearly separate user tasks from system updates.

signup steps

Driving Awareness and Connecting Patients to the Dashboard Early

23% of users didn’t know the dashboard existed. To build awareness, I redesigned the phone verification confirmation page to include a prominent link to the dashboard, informing users they could track their prescription status there.

  • Added a dashboard link and explanation to the post-verification screen

  • Reinforced messaging about where to track prescription status and next steps

I also partnered with the Patient Care team to update automated SMS notifications. These now include a direct dashboard link and encourage patients to check their prescription status—helping to establish the dashboard as a central part of the user experience early on.

Prescription Request Status

Bringing Transparency to the Process

Users often waited weeks without knowing the status of their prescriptions. They weren’t sure whether a human had reviewed their requests, which led to frequent support inquiries. I addressed this by:

  • Introducing real-time prescription tracking with a clear, step-by-step visual journey

  • Displaying estimated processing times at each stage to eliminate ambiguity

  • Sending proactive text and email notifications with each status update

  • Providing clear explanations and next steps throughout the process

  • Adding visual cues to confirm that a healthcare provider was reviewing the information

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prescription Management

Empowering Patients to Make Changes

Users struggled to manage their prescriptions, with no easy way to view medication details or make changes. Most updates required contacting support, leading to frustration and delays.

I designed intuitive interfaces that provided:

  • A comprehensive overview of active prescriptions

  • Easy options to pause, change, or renew medications

  • Detailed summaries of prescriptions

  • Automated renewal reminders

These updates directly responded to users’ top priorities around medication renewals and change management.

Iteration Insight
I initially explored using real photos to represent medications, but we lacked resources to photograph every item. Feedback also revealed some images—like the internal condom—were visually jarring. I shifted to a warm illustration system that was more scalable, approachable, and aligned with our brand.

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delivery

Giving Patients Full Visibility and Control Over Their Delivery Experience

Users frequently contacted support asking, “Where is my birth control?” The original dashboard provided little visibility or control. To address this, I designed a delivery section with:

  • Real-time tracking and delivery milestones

  • Options to manage addresses, add-ons, and delivery frequency

  • A detailed breakdown of package contents with explanations

  • A visual timeline showing progress across shipping milestones

  • Support for multiple addresses (e.g., students switching between home and campus)

This helped users understand exactly what was on the way and when.

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Account

Organizing Account Management to Match User Mental Models

The original layout was disorganized and difficult to navigate. I applied Jakob’s Law—leveraging familiar design patterns from e-commerce and subscription platforms—to redesign the section. Updates included:

  • Centralizing Profile, Address, Insurance, and Payment into one streamlined area

  • Establishing clear hierarchies and intuitive navigation

  • Standardizing editing interactions across all settings

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profile

Improving Clarity and Consistency in Account Details

The original profile section included irrelevant information and had an inconsistent editing experience. I renamed “Personal” to “Profile” to better align with user expectations and improved the layout by:

  • Clearly labeling personal details for quick scanning

  • Neatly formatting phone numbers and key fields

  • Displaying membership status for added transparency

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insurance

Simplifying Insurance Management to Build Trust and Reduce Delays

Uploading insurance info was error-prone and confusing, causing prescription delays. I redesigned this section to include:

  • Larger, clearer card previews for better visibility

  • Step-by-step upload instructions optimized for mobile

  • Camera integration to make uploading seamless on phones

  • Easy troubleshooting tips and error messaging

  • Clear privacy explanations to reassure users

These improvements helped streamline the insurance verification process and reduced support requests.

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address

Helping Mobile Users Prevent Mistakes and Missed Deliveries

Some patients moved between locations and needed to manage multiple addresses. Errors here often led to missed shipments and frustration. I addressed this by:

  • Allowing multiple saved addresses with user-defined labels (e.g., Home, Work, School)

  • Including real-time address validation to prevent input errors

  • Adding predictive text input to speed up mobile entry

  • Letting users set different delivery preferences for each address

This was especially helpful for students who frequently moved between campus and home.

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payment

Creating Intuitive, Trustworthy, and Transparent Billing Experiences

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The old payment interface relied on a third-party modal, which disrupted the brand experience. I redesigned it to:

  • Use clear, branded previews of saved cards

  • Support mobile-friendly payment flows

  • Fully integrate payment processes into the dashboard UI

  • Clearly explain how and when users would be billed

  • Reassure users with transparent payment and refund policies

These updates helped reduce drop-off at the payment step and improved overall conversion.

Guides

Integrating Educational Resources to Improve Patient Knowledge

Users often had questions about birth control options, side effects, or what to expect—but the original dashboard offered no accessible information. I added a new Guides section that included:

  • Educational health booklets embedded directly in the dashboard

  • Searchable content covering common birth control questions

This gave patients the information they needed to use their medication safely and confidently. It empowered them with health knowledge—without requiring them to leave the platform or contact support.

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follow up care

Providing Proactive Health Support to Keep Patients Confident and Healthy

Many patients were unsure how to handle side effects, leading to panic or medication abandonment. I introduced follow-up care features to provide reassurance and early support, including:

  • Scheduled check-ins after prescription changes or new medications

  • Symptom tracking tools that could alert providers to patient issues

  • A short, conversational questionnaire to gather user concerns

  • Personalized guidance based on submitted responses

These check-ins created a sense of ongoing care and allowed providers to intervene before issues escalated—especially important for first-time or anxious users.

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Deliver the Solution

Phase 1:
Foundation

Phase 2:
Guided Experience

Future Phases:
Self-Service & Visual System

Refreshed the dashboard UI and restructured content for better clarity and flow.
Outcome: Dashboard visits increased 4× in the first week, and users began using it to answer common support questions.

Launched the onboarding checklist, prescription tracking, and some delivery improvements.
Outcome: Reduced onboarding drop-off and Patient Care access to the same status to better help users.

Designed advanced features like prescription and delivery management, guides, follow-up care, and a refreshed branding including new illustrations and rebranded UI.
Status: Designs were completed beforee my departure.

Business Impact

A redesigned dashboard that improved experience, trust, and efficiency

The redesign resolved user pain points and internal bottlenecks, creating a more scalable, self-service experience. These changes sparked a virtuous cycle: better experiences → fewer tickets → faster care → higher retention.

Key outcomes included:

  • 21% fewer cancellations tied to poor communication and delays

  • 61% of patients can now renew prescriptions directly

  • Lower support volume thanks to improved tracking and editable settings

  • Stronger brand trust through a warmer, more accessible experience

  • Freed up clinical staff to focus on patients with medical needs

Learnings

Key Takeaways to Strengthen Future Design Approaches

Strategic Collaboration
Bringing healthcare, technical, and design teams together early helped streamline complex requirements and avoid misalignment.

Stakeholder Alignment
Asking targeted questions and facilitating early discussions ensured clarity and a shared product vision.

Comprehensive Research
Blending surveys, interviews, usability testing, and internal feedback produced deeper, more actionable insights.

Healthcare Design Balance
I strengthened my ability to balance intuitive UX with legal and medical constraints—especially in a regulated environment.

Project Management
I sharpened my prioritization skills by navigating a complex, multi-phase project roadmap across teams.

Technical Skill Enhancement
I advanced my system design and Figma capabilities, enabling scalable, accessible, user-centered product solutions.