Clinical reality. National scale.

A testing platform has to work where testing actually happens. Clinicians were operating under time pressure, wearing gloves, face shields, and other protective equipment. Authentication patterns that assumed a clear face or precise touch introduced friction into essential tasks.

The product challenge extended beyond one interface. Patients, testing staff, result verifiers, and enterprise administrators needed a coherent system for identity, test authenticity, results, and a secure Health Pass. Privacy, clinical requirements, English and Spanish support, and pandemic delivery constraints shaped every decision.

I joined at the initial brief, led discovery workshops with senior leadership, and created the early MVP prototype used by Abbott CEO Robert B. Ford in concept-validation discussions with the White House Administration.

I recruited and onboarded the design team, set the design direction, and led the program over 18 months. My responsibility covered the initial hands-on concept work and the structure that enabled designers, engineers, product partners, and clinicians to deliver together.

Clinical workflow observation and collaboration with clinicians surfaced the mismatch between protective equipment and assumed interaction patterns. That context informed the authentication and task flows.

Service blueprints developed with CDC clinicians connected the separate products to the testing journey. Pandemic restrictions limited conventional user testing, so internal medical staff and volunteer employees also contributed to evaluation.

The initial prototype helped align the program and brief delivery partners. Service blueprints and product flows then evolved through clinician input, design reviews, and cross-functional delivery.

The program combined a core team focused on research, strategy, and architecture with production support for interface design and the design system. This made rapid delivery compatible with shared standards and clear ownership.

NAVICA connected five products in a single service. My contribution spanned the early product concept, design direction, clinical workflow response and delivery leadership, within my wider responsibility for Abbott’s distributed design team. Abbott recognized my NAVICA contribution with its President’s Award, presented by CEO Robert B. Ford.