Goal
Define a system of visual indicators —status, informational, and criticality— to improve understanding and ensure consistency in medical applications used by healthcare professionals.
DS status indicators /Salut
Project information
Rol
Design System Lead
Duration
Approximately 2 months.
Design team
Design System Lead
Methodology and work process
We began by identifying the different types of indicators the system should cover: informational (contextual feedback) and criticality indicators (severity levels in clinical information). For each, we defined its semantics, associated color palette, and usage rules in different components.
The work was documented within the design system to ensure consistency across teams and to facilitate implementation by development. We also conducted validation sessions with medical stakeholders, who provided their expertise and helped us adjust the design to their real needs. Finally, usability tests were carried out with users to check the comprehension of the indicators in a real environment and verify their effectiveness.
Project challenges
Accessibility
It was essential for the indicators to be understandable even in stressful situations or with visual limitations.
We worked on contrast, visual redundancy (color + iconography), and minimum sizes to ensure readability.
Validation with doctors with established habits
Stakeholders had been using previous systems for more than 10 or 20 years, which created a strong bias toward what they already knew.
The challenge was finding a balance between introducing a more modern system and maintaining a reasonable learning curve.
Testing with real users
To validate that the indicators conveyed the correct information and reduced ambiguity, we conducted usability tests with doctors. The results allowed us to adjust colors, iconography, and nomenclature until we achieved a reliable and easily interpretable system.
Abdul Latif Jameel Finance
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