McKesson — Revolutionizing Pharmacy Access: Health Mart's Innovative Portal Design
For McKesson — #9 on the Fortune list — Ryan designed the Health Mart portal system: a flexible website platform for independent pharmacies, a specialized marketing site, and an admin tool that lets third-party pharmacies build and manage their own sites across desktop and mobile.
Role: Principal UX Designer
Overview
McKesson, a Fortune 500 company, is renowned for offering healthcare-related products and services, including white-label pharmacy services via the Health Mart brand. Ryan developed a user-centric UX design for Health Mart, creating a flexible website portal for independent pharmacies and a specialized marketing site for McKesson, each with mobile versions. Additionally, he designed a tool with an admin UI that enables third-party independent pharmacies to easily create and manage their own websites. This tool supports both desktop and mobile web versions, allowing for an optimized experience across devices.
Challenges
Given McKesson's stature as the #9 company on the Fortune list, the project was inherently complex, involving multiple stakeholders and necessitating numerous revisions. Effective communication was crucial, as Ryan consistently informed stakeholders about project developments. Rigorous project management was essential to uphold the timeline and budget amidst these complexities.
Role
As the principal UX designer, Ryan was responsible for the Experience Design. His collaboration with McKesson's marketing staff and various stakeholders, alongside coordination with other vendors, was pivotal in achieving the project's objectives with precision and professional insight.
User Insights
Working in the pharmacy sector posed a learning curve, but Ryan embraced the challenge. By closely collaborating with knowledgeable colleagues, particularly a marketing director, he gained valuable insights into the unique needs of pharmacies and their customers.
Key Features
The design focused on usability and ease of use, considering that the project was a B2B2C model. Detailed persona mapping was crucial, as Ryan accounted for the different needs of pharmacies (medication management and business promotion) alongside customer needs (finding the right medications at reasonable prices). Key features included:
- Marketing and promotional tools for pharmacy visibility
- Vitamin finder to help customers locate specific products
- Newsletter integration for customer engagement
- Drug search by name and physical description
- The ability for customers to manage their prescriptions and view prescription history
- About Us and specialty information for a personalized touch
- Photograph carousels to showcase the pharmacy's offerings and services
Results
The collaborative efforts led to a highly refined set of user experience specifications, including detailed wireframes that integrated into the larger design cycle involving creative, marketing, and engineering teams. Feedback from McKesson indicated that the designs were well received and met project requirements.
Key Takeaway
In facing new challenges, Ryan emphasizes defining the problem carefully and applying iterative design principles. This approach allows for innovative solutions and continual improvement from low-fidelity to high-fidelity work. Understanding how to collaborate within a diverse set of professional expertise was key to the project's success.