End-to-End Product Design
UX Strategy + Vision
User Research & Synthesis
Stakeholder Alignment
WCAG 2.0 Compliance
Bilingual UX
Personas + User Journeys
Team Management + Leadership
ROLE
UX Lead, Sensis
Jun 2015 → May 2021
Launch
Aug 2017 + Ongoing
KEY METRICS
3 full website redesigns
Self-serve tools reducing customer service calls
Patient confidence in services provided by AltaMed
Built trust and increased consumption of curated bilingual content.
WCAG Compliant
Context
The Largest Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Southern California
By 2015, altamed.org was desktop-only, navigation mirrored internal department structure, and Spanish content was not strong enough to build trust with a predominantly Spanish-speaking patient base.
MY ROLE
Five Years. Two Phases.
Lead UX across the full engagement, from initial discovery through the 2017 launch and into research-driven iteration through 2021.
PHASE 1 RECAP · 2017 LAUNCH
01
Mobile-First Delivery
The first mobile-responsive version of altamed.org, built for patients who access healthcare from their phones.
02
Universal accessibility
First WCAG 2.0-compliant version, ensuring a consistent experience regardless of ability.
03
Intuitive navigation
Clinical terminology replaced with patient-facing language. Spanish introduced as original copy developed with native-language specialists, not auto-translated from English.
04
Simplified language direction
Errors surface at the field level, not at submission.
CHALLENGES · PHASE 2
Returning to What We Built
A post-launch audit and early feedback surfaced four gaps between what we shipped and what patients actually needed.
Research
AltaMed research participants
46 interviews. Two languages. Three patient worlds.
Six months after launch, I led 46 structured interviews across three distinct patient groups, the first time altamed.org decisions would be grounded in real behavior, not assumption.
Each group identified inlcuded English speaking participants and participants with Spanish speaking only and/or Spanish as their preferred language.
Interview discussion guide used during research and segment user flows.
Personas + insights
01
Gen X + millennials
Low tolerance for friction. Expects efficiency at every step. Frustrated by complex booking and long wait times. Wants to feel like an individual, not a number.
02
Dedicated caregivers
Overwhelmed managing family healthcare alongside their own. Unaware of the full range of services available. Values compassion and scheduling flexibility above all.
03
Spanish-preferred patients
Trust built through quality content, not automated tools. Seeks cultural cues that prove AltaMed understands their community. Language preference directly affects willingness to engage.
AltaMed personas.
Experience strategy
Research translated into direction
Each pillar traces back to a specific finding from the 46 interviews.
01
Authentic linguistic inclusion
Directed content development with native-language copywriting specialists, using research findings from Spanish-preferred patient interviews as the brief. The result was Spanish content that read as original, not adapted.
02
Research-driven architecture
Sitemap and navigation rebuilt around how patients search, not how AltaMed is organized internally.
03
Proactive language guidance
Sitemap and navigation rebuilt around how patients search, not how AltaMed is organized internally.
04
Frictionless care access
Find a Doctor refined for mobile, essential actions within the viewport, decision fatigue reduced.
Information architecture
Sitemap + navigation
Navigation was the first place patients encountered the site and the first place they gave up. I rebuilt the sitemap and filter taxonomy around how patients search, not how AltaMed is organized.
Panels display three layers of the mobile navigation.
Annotated sitemaps: Phase 1 and Phase 2 sitemaps with annotation.
Design decisions
Homepage overhaul
Passive to purposeful
Patients arrived with specific intent: find a doctor, find a location, understand a service. I replaced the hero carousel with task-prioritized modules, fewer clicks, faster access to care.
Final mobile and desktop homepages.
Find a Doctor flow chart and Find a Doctor. Final Mobile (3 states). Filter state + results state. 2-up format tells the full flow.
Find a doctor tool
Reducing decision fatigue at the highest-intent moment
The most critical conversion path on the site, and the most cluttered. I consolidated filters, tightened labels, and moved "no preference" to the top of each filter to cut steps at the moment of highest intent.
Spanish site optimization
Trust is not just translation
Spanish-preferred patients needed cultural signals, not just translated words. I directed content development with native-language copywriting specialists, using interview findings as the brief. A proactive language toggle was added on arrival, small in footprint, significant in trust.
NOTE: I did not write copy on this engagement. A designated copywriter developed all content. I provided research-grounded direction and ensured all content decisions aligned with findings from Spanish-preferred patient interviews.
Altamed site screens with Spanish content including language toggle appearing upon first visit.
Impact
What we delivered
01
46 User Interviews
Across 3 patient groups
02
3 Validated Personas
Research-grounded, team-aligned
03
WCAG 2.0 Compliance Achieved
First for altamed.org
04
EN + ES Bilingual Parity
Native-specialist content directed against research findings
05
2 Annotated Sitemaps
Phase 1 + Phase 2.A
06
Mobile-First Responsive Build
First for altamed.org
Organizational context
Post-launch research confirmed reduced reliance on the patient services line and higher trust from Spanish-preferred users. The following organizational figures represent AltaMed's broader 2019–2021 outcomes.
The website was one part of a multi-initiative access strategy.
01
+76% Medical Visits
505K → 891K · 2019–2021
02
-29% ER Utilization
2,764 → 3,545 members
03
+28% PACE Membership
Medi-Cal population per 1,000
Source: altamedfoundation.org
Context: Multiple clinical, operational, and expansion initiatives were underway concurrently. AltaMed has not publicly isolated the website's contribution to these outcomes. Source: California Health Facilities Financing Authority.
Reflection
What I took forward
Other projects
