Company: HeliosX * Role: Senior product designer * Product: E-commerce
MedExpress’s online pharmacy model simplifies access to licensed treatments. The core process hinges on a smooth, reassuring online journey from the moment a user lands on the consultation form through to completing checkout and receiving their medication. However, analytics revealed two key issues: a notable abandonment point during the consultation flow where users hesitated or dropped off, and friction at the final checkout step.
I began by diving into user analytics, session recordings, and segmentation to identify behavioural patterns in the consultation and checkout flows. It became clear that motivation waned when users encountered long or clinically dense screens without supportive context, and that the checkout experience lacked psychological reassurance around safety, trust and clarity of value.
Consultation Experience Optimisation
The consultation is the defining gateway of the MedExpress journey — it’s where users decide whether to trust a digital health service and take the first step toward treatment. Supported by researchers, I ran qualitative interview sessions with users who initiated but did not complete the consultation, uncovering concerns about clinical questions and perceived risk. Moreover, while operating within the growth squad, I led multiple projects aimed at testing the value of new initiatives aimed at building trust and clarity. I redesigned the consultation workflow by:
Chunking the questionnaire into bite-sized steps with progress indicators to reduce cognitive load and signal completion momentum.
Rewriting question copy in a patient-centred tone, making medical questions feel less intimidating and more conversational.
Adding contextual help and real-time feedback so users understand why a clinical question matters and what the next step will be after each response.
Visual reassurance through UI elements that reflect clinical credibility (e.g. regulation badges, licensed prescriber assurances) embedded near sensitive questions.
These changes collectively improved not just completion rates, but also motivation — users felt informed and supported at each step. This uplift translated into a measurable improvement in conversion metrics and ultimately added £580K in annualised CP by reducing drop-offs at this pivotal stage. Moreover, while operating within the growth squad, I led multiple projects aimed at testing the value of new initiatives aimed at building trust and clarity.
Checkout Experience Redesign
On the checkout side, A/B testing showed users responded positively to simpler cart summaries and transparency about delivery options. Integrating these insights, I crafted a strategy centred on clarity, empathy and confidence, meaningfully reducing friction and increasing willingness to complete. My goals were to simplify decision points, increase trust signals, and reduce anxiety around payment — especially for first-time pharmacy customers. I redesigned the cart and payment interface by:
Streamlining the layout to foreground order summary and treatment details, reducing clutter and cognitive effort.
Highlighting delivery options and timing upfront, using plain language and assurances (e.g. discreet packaging, trusted carriers) to build confidence ahead of payment.
Introducing trust cues such as secure payment badges, clinical regulation statements and concise refund/return policies at key moments.
Optimising form fields for fewer taps on mobile and removing unnecessary friction (e.g. auto-fill for address, clear error states).
These changes contributed to a 2.2% increase in checkout conversion rate (CVR) — a meaningful uplift in a high-traffic, revenue-critical part of the journey.
Impact & reflection
The combined design improvements had a meaningful impact across key business and UX metrics. Moreover, feedback from customer support and user surveys indicated improved perceptions of clarity and ease of use. Collectively, these outcomes helped MedExpress increase digital revenue, reduce abandonment, and strengthen the overall user experience at two of the most critical points in the online healthcare journey.
Working on MedExpress’s checkout and growth vertical reinforced the importance of empathy in digital health design — especially in balancing regulatory complexity with user comfort and motivation. My approach of incremental, evidence-led UX improvements showed that even small changes to language, layout and reassurance can unlock measurable business value.
This experience deepened my expertise in designing growth-oriented experiences with real impact on conversion and customer value, which I now bring to every product challenge.
