Idexx · SmartFlow
When the app fails, clinicians reach for pen & paper
I redesigned a mission-critical veterinary workflow used by 10,000+ clinics, to make it faster, safer, and worth trusting again.
Clinical UX
Interaction Design
Design Strategy
Field Research
Systems Design
Role
Software Interaction Designer II
Platform
iPad · iOS · Tablet-first clinical app
Scope
10,000+ veterinary clinics worldwide
Team
Hybrid product, Agile, Scrum
Timeline
9 months, 2024 - 2025
Idexx · SmartFlow
Software that runs the veterinary clinic
I designed for IDEXX Laboratories, the company behind the diagnostic and software tools most veterinary practices depend on daily. SmartFlow is their patient workflow platform. It runs in 10,000+ clinics, and it was not working the way clinicians needed it to.
The Problem
Paper was winning
When I visited clinics, I saw staff writing things down by hand instead of using the app. That told me everything. I traced the cause: too many ways to do the same task, no visual hierarchy, and a learning curve that made onboarding a liability.
It's just so much faster to write it down than to navigate through the system.
— Vet techs, Iceland, clinic visit 2024
Impact
What I moved
Nine months. Clinics across three continents. Here is what changed.
Support tickets
Zero
Dropped to zero for a workflow that previously generated consistent volume
Taps to complete
Fewer
Reduced clicks across all high-frequency workflows
Clinics reached
10k+
Worldwide
Adoption
Higher
Feedback on improved teachability and faster pick up time
SME sign-off
3 of 3
All clinical subject matter experts responded positively
Field Research
I needed to see it for myself
Before I touched a single screen, I visited clinics. I watched where staff hesitated and what they reached for instead of the app. What I found was not a usability complaint. It was a workaround culture.
The moment that defined the project
A patient on fluids. Notes on paper.
The clearest signal came during a Constant Rate Infusion procedure. I watched a technician calculate dosage, intake, and timing in real time. Not because she preferred paper, but because SmartFlow lacked a CRI calculator.
That sheet of paper was following the patient around the clinic. It was the real record of care.
What the research confirmed
Three failures. One root cause.
I mapped my observations against the support ticket log with three clinical SMEs. The same pattern showed up everywhere.
Too many steps, in the wrong order
High-frequency workflows like CRI tracking required clinicians to navigate multiple screens to log a single data point. In a fast-moving procedure, every extra tap is a liability.
The app made them leave the app
SmartFlow had no built-in calculator. No way to compute dosage across a timeframe. So mid-procedure, clinicians switched to a custom Excel sheet or write it down. The app was forcing a context switch at the worst possible moment.
Visual density with unclear hierarchy
The legacy interface presented everything at the same visual weight. Clinicians scanning for critical information under pressure could not find it fast. Every screen looked equally important.
Design Strategy
Team alignment
The research surfaced more problems than one sprint could fix. Without a shared framework, the team would default to opinions. I introduced RICE to shift that conversation from gut feel to trade-offs.
Framework
Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort
RICE gave every feature idea a score. I ran the team through each dimension against the problems I found in the field. The CRI calculator scored high on all four. That made the sequencing argument for me.
What it decided
Three priorities came out clearly
Build the CRI calculator into the app
The context switch to Excel or paper was the highest-friction failure I observed. Solving it inside SmartFlow removed the need to leave the app entirely.
Reduce steps on high-frequency workflows
Tasks clinicians performed dozens of times a day needed to cost fewer taps. I focused on the treatment sheet and fluid tracking flows first.
Establish a visual hierarchy that scans under pressure
Critical information needed to read as critical. I pushed for a redesign of the color and type system so the interface could communicate urgency without words.
The context switch had to go
I built the calculator into the app so clinicians never had to leave it
The CRI context switch was the highest-friction failure I found. I designed a native dosage calculator inside SmartFlow that computed rate, volume, and timing from inputs already in the patient record. No Excel. No paper. No broken context.
Then I looked at what clinicians actually do on shift
I cut the treatment sheet down to what clinicians actually needed mid-procedure
The old treatment sheet showed everything at once. I restructured it around the sequence of a real clinical moment: what a technician needs to see first, second, and only occasionally. Fewer taps. Clearer scanning. Less room for error.
The navigation reflected the database, not the clinician
I redesigned navigation around how clinicians move, not how the codebase is organized
The legacy navigation reflected the database structure, not the clinical workflow. I remapped it around the three jobs clinicians actually do on shift: monitor a patient, update a record, hand off to another team member. Each one became a clear entry point.
Color was the last thing I fixed, and the most visible
I used color as a clinical signal, not a styling choice
The old interface used color inconsistently. Everything read at the same urgency. I introduced a color system where hue communicated status: stable, flagged, critical. A clinician scanning under pressure could triage the screen without reading a word.
Closing
The stakes were higher than I expected
I went into this project thinking about workflows. I left thinking about the people inside them. Veterinarians are up to four times more likely to die by suicide than the general population. Veterinary technicians, five times. Friction compounds stress, and I was in a position to reduce it.
Better tools will not solve everything, but they can make a hard job feel a little more human.
If you or someone you know is struggling
Not One More Vet provides mental health resources and support specifically for veterinary professionals.
