UX/UI Case Study · Concept Project
PharmaDoor — Medication delivery that takes care of the refills for you
Managing prescriptions is fragmented and stressful: refills mean phone calls and pharmacy queues, doses get forgotten, and caregivers juggle everyone else’s medications. PharmaDoor is a mobile app concept that unifies prescription refills, smart reminders, pharmacist chat, and same-day delivery in one calm, accessible experience.
The problem
The pharmacy journey asks too much of people.
Three connected pain points shaped the product opportunity: effort, adherence, and shared care.
01 / effort
Refills are a chore
Patients call or visit the pharmacy; 54% of surveyed users call the process time-consuming.
02 / adherence
Doses get missed
68% forget medication at least once a month; no gentle, reliable reminder system.
03 / family care
Caregivers are invisible
47% help a parent or child manage medications, with no shared family view.
Project goals
Design for calm, clarity, and confidence.
- 01Let users refill a prescription in under 2 minutes by scanning the label barcode.
- 02Reduce missed doses with smart, snooze-friendly reminders.
- 03Give caregivers a shared family medication dashboard.
- 04Make a pharmacist reachable in one tap via live chat.
Design process
From uncertainty to a focused product direction.
A four-stage process kept each design decision traceable to research and test feedback.
Discover
Survey, interviews, competitive audit
Define
Personas, user stories, storyboard
Design
Sketches, lo-fi, hi-fi
Deliver
Prototype, usability testing, iteration
Product roadmap
Phase 1 — MVP
Barcode prescription refill, medication reminders, user accounts, order history.
Phase 2
Pharmacist live chat, family/caregiver profiles, same-day delivery tracking.
Phase 3
Insurance billing integration, auto-refill subscriptions, adherence analytics.
Phase 4
Telehealth consultations, multilingual support, wearable integrations.
User research · Survey
Medication management is a household problem.
Online survey · 214 respondents · adults 25–65 who take regular medication or care for someone who does.
Top frustrations
Illustrative survey findings prepared for this concept case study; not clinical evidence.
Personas
Two needs, one promise: medication on time.
The experience had to support confident multitaskers and users who need a more deliberate, readable flow.
Sara K., 38
The Caregiver · Tech comfort: high
- Context
- Working mother of two; manages her son’s asthma inhaler and her own thyroid medication.
- Goals
- Never run out of critical meds; one shared view for the whole family.
- Frustrations
- Pharmacy phone tag, refill paperwork.
“I need the inhaler refill handled before it becomes an emergency.”
Robert C., 67
The Independent Patient · Tech comfort: low–medium
- Context
- Retired; takes 5 daily prescriptions.
- Goals
- Large readable text, automatic refills, certainty about delivery.
- Frustrations
- Tiny app text, complicated flows.
“Just make it simple — I want my pills on time, every time.”
Competitive analysis
Delivery exists. Connected care is the gap.
Audited 4 leading pharmacy delivery services to find the gaps.
| Feature | PharmaDoor (concept) | Capsule | Alto Pharmacy | Amazon Pharmacy | PocketPills |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barcode prescription refill | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Smart medication reminders | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Live pharmacist chat | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Same-day delivery tracking | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Family / caregiver profiles | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Auto-refill subscriptions | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Insurance billing in-app | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Barcode prescription refill
Smart medication reminders
Live pharmacist chat
Same-day delivery tracking
Family / caregiver profiles
Auto-refill + insurance billing
User storyboard
A high-stakes refill, resolved before bedtime.
Sara’s story reframed the flow around reassurance, not just transaction speed.
Wireframe sketches
Start with the flow, not the finish.
Paper made it fast to test hierarchy, grouping, and a direct path from refill to delivery.
Low-fidelity wireframes
Structure before visual personality.
Grayscale wireframes to validate layout and flow before any visual design.
Home
Medication detail
Cart & checkout
Delivery tracking
High-fidelity wireframes · App mockup
A calm interface for consequential moments.
Teal creates continuity across the refill journey; generous spacing and direct language reduce cognitive load.
Home
Greeting + search keep the two core jobs (refill, browse) one tap away; the teal refill banner surfaces prescriptions due this week.
Medication details
Dosage, frequency, and prescriber info in scannable rows; Weekly/Biweekly/Monthly refill cadence selector.
Cart & checkout
Transparent pricing, saved home address, and a 3-option time-slot picker — no surprise fees.
Live delivery tracking
Map with courier route, “Arriving in 12 min” ETA pill, and one-tap pharmacist chat for last-minute questions.
Usability testing & outcomes
Fast enough to finish. Clear enough to trust.
5 moderated remote tests on the hi-fi prototype (Maze + video calls).
task success — refill completed in under 2 minutes
SUS — excellent usability rating
“I trust this app with my family’s medications” — post-test rating
Key learnings
The product became stronger when it slowed down in the right places.
- Accessibility is the feature: large text and 48px targets were the most praised details, not the visual polish.
- Caregivers think in households, not accounts — the family dashboard became the core differentiator.
- Trust beats speed in health: the pharmacist chat button outperformed every shortcut in testing.