The H3 Patient Tablet
Empowering
patients to manage their own care
The Challenge
The Challenge
Transitioning from the hospital back into their homes, patients often struggle with staying on track of their medication and symptoms, general mobility, and loneliness. This creates a troubling gap: worried families, uninformed clinicians, and patients losing independence.
Our research revealed scattered pill bottles, handwritten schedules, and incomplete health records in homes —signaling a clear need for a better solution.
Read Case Study
The H3 Patient Tablet
Empowering
patients to manage their own care
The H3 Patient Tablet
The H3 Patient Tablet
The H3 Patient Tablet
provides an intuitive way for patients to manage their health, receive reminders, and stay connected to caregivers—enabling patient independence, boosting caregiver confidence, and reducing unnecessary hospital visits.
Within Gotcare’s different in-home health care enablement programs, the Patient Safety Tablet was installed in the homes of program participants, equipping them with the means to be more proactive in managing their own care and recovery.
Who are we designing for?
Patient profile
Our tablet users are typically older adults with chronic health conditions living independently, possessing limited digital experience but motivated to maintain their own autonomy.
Key Challenges
Struggling with medication adherence, inconsistent symptom tracking, and feeling disconnected from their health care providers while desiring independence without burdening their family and caregivers.
Meet Margaret.
Margaret Thompson, a 71-year-old woman living alone, has hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, and mild cognitive decline, Margaret represents thousands of patients struggling to maintain independence while managing complex health conditions.
Her adult children worried constantly, her doctors couldn't tell if she was following treatment plans, and Margaret herself felt increasingly frustrated by her diminishing sense of control over her own health.
Who are we designing for?
Patient profile
Meet our tablet users – older adults with chronic health conditions living independently, possessing limited digital experience but motivated to maintain their own autonomy.
Key Challenges
Struggling with medication adherence, inconsistent symptom tracking, and feeling disconnected from their health care providers while desiring independence without burdening their family and caregivers.
Throughout the recovery program, Margaret’s OT is able to use the Patient Monitoring Dashboard to upload educational recovery resources for her to access from the Tablet’s ‘Resources’ page.
Accessing recovery resources
Accessing recovery resources
Working with Gotcare’s in-house clinicians, Margaret and her family work together to create her custom care plan and set self-management goals.
Working with Gotcare’s in-house clinicians, Margaret and her family work together to create her custom care plan and set self-management goals.
The Patient Tablet’s virtual calling feature allows patients to connect to timely care support from the comfort of their own homes, redirecting calls that would have gone to hospitals and their emergency departments.
The Patient Tablet’s virtual calling feature allows patients to connect to timely care support from the comfort of their own homes, redirecting calls that would have gone to hospitals and their emergency departments.
When Margaret is seeking assistance in taking her medication, or when she just wants to see a familiar face, she can set up a virtual call with any one of her pre-loaded contacts.
When Margaret is seeking assistance in taking her medication, or when she just wants to see a familiar face, she can set up a virtual call with any one of her pre-loaded contacts.
Connecting to virtual support
Connecting to virtual support
In the past, Margaret would often forget to take her diabetes medication. With her scheduled reminders, she is able to regulate her daily pill intake.
In the past, Margaret would often forget to take her diabetes medication. With her scheduled reminders, she is able to regulate her daily pill intake.
Receiving helpful reminders
Receiving helpful reminders
These inputs are tracked on the Patient Monitoring Dashboard, and lower sentiments are flagged for clinicians to perform a virtual check-in if necessary.
These inputs are tracked on the Patient Monitoring Dashboard, and lower sentiments are flagged for clinicians to perform a virtual check-in if necessary.
Recognizing that preventative recovery at home can still be taxing on patients’ mental wellbeing, we built in a daily wellness survey for patients to update how they’re feeling.
Reflecting on her wellbeing
Reflecting on her wellbeing
An important aspect of Margaret’s care plan adherence is making sure her vitals are stable throughout her recovery process.
An important aspect of Margaret’s care plan adherence is making sure her vitals are stable throughout her recovery process.
Margaret can type in her vitals metrics or take a picture of the readings on her machine. These inputs are synced onto her Patient Profile on the Patient Monitoring Dashboard [case study link], allowing Gotcare’s clinicians to monitor her progress and update her care plan accordingly.
Margaret can type in her vitals metrics or take a picture of the readings on her machine. These inputs are synced onto her Patient Profile on the Patient Monitoring Dashboard [case study link], allowing Gotcare’s clinicians to monitor her progress and update her care plan accordingly.
Tracking her vital metrics
Tracking her vital metrics
Accessing recovery resources
Working with Gotcare’s in-house clinicians, Margaret and her family work together to create her custom care plan and set self-management goals.
Throughout the recovery program, Margaret’s OT is able to use the Patient Monitoring Dashboard [case study link] to upload educational recovery resources for her to access from the Tablet’s ‘Resources’ page.
When Margaret is seeking assistance in taking her medication, or when she just wants to see a familiar face, she can set up a virtual call with any one of her pre-loaded contacts.
Connecting to virtual support
The Patient Tablet’s virtual calling feature allows patients to connect to timely care support from the comfort of their own homes, redirecting calls that would have gone to hospitals and their emergency departments.
In the past, Margaret would often forget to take her diabetes medication. With her scheduled reminders, she is able to regulate her daily pill intake.
Receiving helpful reminders
These inputs are tracked on the Patient Monitoring Dashboard [case study link], and lower sentiments are flagged for clinicians to perform a virtual check-in if necessary.
Recognizing that preventative recovery at home can still be taxing on patients’ mental wellbeing, we built in a daily wellness survey for patients to update how they’re feeling.
Reflecting on her wellbeing
An important aspect of Margaret’s care plan adherence is making sure her vitals are stable throughout her recovery process.
Margaret can type in her vitals metrics or take a picture of the readings on her machine. These inputs are synced onto her Patient Profile on the Patient Monitoring Dashboard [case study link], allowing Gotcare’s clinicians to monitor her progress and update her care plan accordingly.
Tracking her vital metrics
Empathetic design for limited digital proficiency
My design approach prioritized accessibility and ease of adoption through key design decisions that transformed a potentially intimidating medical device with technological barriers into a tool providing patients with opportunities for empowerment. Here's how I built user confidence through thoughtful interaction design.
My design approach prioritized accessibility and ease of adoption through key design decisions that transformed a potentially intimidating medical device with technological barriers into a tool providing patients with opportunities for empowerment.
V1
Auditing & Reworking the Foundations
An initial UI audit of a tablet prototype from our innovation partners revealed:
Inefficient spacing in the layout
Lack of accessibility and tactile considerations, making interactions potentially difficult for elderly users
Missed opportunities for delight at key interaction points
Prev. Home screen
Prev. Video Resource screen
Prev. Events (Reminders) screen
Prev. Events (Reminders) screen
Prev. Contacts page
As a first discovery step, I created lo-fi explorations to address these issues, focusing on:
Larger touch targets to accommodate tactile limitations
Guided setup & customization for more user-friendly UX
A more inviting design approach—making the tablet feel less clinical, more intuitive
V4
Making Navigation Effortless & Approachable
After 3 rounds of feedback from clinicians and pilot users, V4 of the tablet introduced refinements that made navigation more effortless, reducing friction for users with motor or vision impairments.
A redesigned the home page to create a smoother, more welcoming experience
Larger navigation buttons for easier interaction
Optimized layout spacing to make key actions more intuitive
V5
Iterating with User Insights for a More Engaging Experience
Iterating with User Insights
Observing real patient interactions, we saw that button sizes needed to be even larger, text was still hard to read, and extra steps in navigation led to frustration.
In response, I refined:
Larger touch targets
Text legibility
Home page navigation
We also introduced progressive disclosure to roll out new features like Vitals Tracking and Wellness Check-ins without overwhelming users—ensuring the tablet supported both physical and mental well-being while remaining approachable.
Another thing we noticed was that if patients were unsure of how to navigate to a specific page or resource, they would give up, leading to gaps in following their care plans.
In our next iterations, I plan to incorporate additional features with accessibility and delight in mind, such as: text-size adjustment, audio and haptic feedback, forgiving UX, encouraging microcopy, and one-tap actions.
From Utility to Usability
&
Beyond
What made this design process unique was our commitment to real and continuous user feedback at every stage. By co-creating with patients, care providers, and management, we didn’t just build a functional tool—we transformed the experience from a basic utility into something intuitive, engaging, and even empowering.
Through iterative refinements, we saw a remarkable shift
in patient attitudes,
moving from
hesitation
curiosity
Through iterative refinements, we saw a remarkable shift
in patient attitudes,
moving from
hesitation
curiosity
Through iterative refinements, we saw a remarkable shift in patient attitudes—moving from hesitation to curiosity. Patients who were once reluctant to use the tablet began asking for features to track their own progress, engaging more intentionally with their care.
This patient self-care tablet is just one piece of the puzzle.
To see how I designed a seamless ecosystem for home care, explore the Care Provider Mobile App and Patient Monitoring Dashboard—two key solutions that connect providers and caregivers to deliver better, more personalized support.
Centralizing patient context for Care Workers providing personalized in-person care
Centralizing patient context for Care Workers providing personalized in-person care
Centralizing patient context for Care Workers providing personalized in-person care
The Care Provider App eliminates cognitive load, centralizing patient info for care providers to focus their energy on personalized connection and care.
The Care Provider App eliminates cognitive load, centralizing patient info for care providers to focus their energy on personalized connection and care.
Real-time patient insights for Clinicians providing timely assessment and virtual support
Real-time patient insights for Clinicians providing timely virtual support
Real-time patient insights for Clinicians providing timely assessment and virtual support
The Patient Monitoring Web App streamlines clinician workflows, showcasing real-time flagged patient recovery and wellness updates.
The Patient Monitoring Web App streamlines clinician workflows, showcasing real-time flagged patient recovery and wellness updates.
The H3 Patient Tablet
Empowering
patients to manage their own care