Docly Case Study by Evgenii Astapov

Docly

About

Docly is a conceptual web service for booking medical appointments in the U.S., created as part of Major Studio I. The project was driven by a simple question: How might we create a unified, trustworthy booking experience that gives users control, clarity, and confidence. The concept prioritizes users’ understanding of where they are in the process, what information matters, and what happens next - without forcing them to jump between multiple platforms. A strong emphasis was placed on product architecture, flow, and iterative prototype testing to validate key UX decisions.

Problem Statement

Booking a medical appointment in the U.S. is a fragmented and confusing experience. Information about doctors, availability, and insurance coverage is scattered across multiple platforms.

This lack of control and transparency turns an already stressful task into a tense and time-consuming process.

As a result, users often feel uncertain, disconnected, and frustrated before they even see a doctor.

HMW question

How might we create a unified, trustworthy booking experience that gives users control, clarity, and confidence — while keeping insurance, availability, and care seamlessly connected?

Competitive Audit

To better understand the landscape of online healthcare booking, I explored how existing market leaders approach the booking process.

Key areas

01. Booking flow

How competitors navigate users from search to confirmation.

02. Architecture

How competitors structure the information like doctor details, etc.

03. UX patterns

How competitors shape user experience through forms, etc.

04. Visual language

How competitors use content and density to create trust and clarity.

Zocdoc audit

Healthgrades audit

Vitals audit

Research questions

Based on insights from the competitive audit, three research questions were formed to guide user interviews and inform design decisions throughout the project.

Question 1

Where do users experience the most friction or uncertainty in the booking process?

Question 2

What makes a booking experience feel native and clear to users?

Question 3

What role does insurance play in shaping users’ booking decisions?

Users

A total of five in-depth interviews with participants aged 25 to 54 were conducted, including both regular and occasional patients. All participants had prior experience booking medical appointments in the U.S. — through Zocdoc, insurance provider websites, etc.

Insights

Insight 1

Insurance uncertainty breaks user confidence.

Insight 2

Users prioritize control and transparency over multi-step flows.

Insight 3

Clear communication and confirmation define trust.

Insight 4

Convenience outweighs all other factors.

Full user interviews

Affinity map

Ideation

01. System map

Based on insights from user interviews and the competitive audit, the system map was build from scratch to define the full web service ecosystem.

The goal of the system map was to understand how different flows, decisions, and dependencies interact within the product, and to identify where complexity, uncertainty, or friction could be reduced through clearer structure and continuity.

System map

02. wireframing

A mid-fidelity wireframes were created to translate the defined architecture into testable screens and interactions.

The wireframes focused on validating key flows, reducing cognitive load, and maintaining continuity across the booking process before moving into detailed UI design.

Homepage

Homepage filtering example 1

Homepage filtering example 2

Verification form

Create an account

Browse page opt. 1

Browse page opt. 2

Book an appointment opt. 1

Book an appointment opt. 2

Appointment booking confirmation

user Test Findings

01. Browse Page Сards

A/B testing of doctor card layouts on the search page presented a specific challenge. This is an area where individual preferences play a major role, and during the initial round, users didn’t provide clear feedback.

However, additional scenario-based tasks revealed that displaying doctor cards in a single row along with a visible map significantly improved both the decision speed and confidence during selection.

02. Book an Appointment

A/B testing confirmed the hypothesis that a continuous, uninterrupted interaction flow leads to better process understanding and adds a sense of transparency.

Combining the booking and doctor profile pages also proved successful users noted the convenience of staying within one window, with access to both the map and quick navigation between layers.

Test approved browse page and card

Failed during A/B testing

Test approved book an appointment full flow

Brand Identity

brand message

Human Flow of Care

details

Smooth, human, and digital. The easy way to see your doctor. It is built to simplify the way your book an appointment. It thrives to make it routine.

It brings together empathy, trust, and technology into a smooth, human-centered experience that helps people book medical appointments without stress or confusion.

The brand reflects efficiency and digital clarity while also balancing the reliability of a medical service with the warmth of human interaction.