From Query to Clarity:
A Journey in Search System Design
Designer
Facilitator
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Designing and testing a multi-faceted search experience, transforming research into insights, low-fi prototypes, and cross-platform hi-fi designs—anchoring a successful pivot to mental health support.
Over five iterative sprints, I led the design of flows for a web-app designed for therapists to distribute and track educational content, and for patients to seamlessly engage between visits.
I was responsible for gracefully adapting all our desktop flows to mobile screens after a last minute request from our client.
What was the project?
As part of UMD’s I-Consultancy Capstone, I helped design the search experience for Guide, a platform originally focused on HR training and compliance.
What defines a search experience—from the user’s mental model to interface behavior—and what technologies enable indexing, retrieval, and ranking behind the scenes?
-My initial interpretation of the project charter
Early ideation where i'm mapping the system’s IA and identifying core technologies
One semester into the project, the company pivoted from generic corporate training to post‑session mental‑health support.
Keeping pace, I reframed the problem around clinicians and patients while preserving the original search DNA.
“We’re no longer a library of random trainings — think of us as a therapist’s after‑care toolkit.” — Tim, Founder
Challenges
Moving Target
Business model, brand language and even core values were still in flux during design.
Blank Library
Zero existing content, no information architecture, no metadata standards to guide search.
Communication Gaps
Missed client meetings created ambiguity, forcing internal re-alignment of timeline and async decisions.
Process
We adapted a sprint-inspired process to move quickly and stay aligned.
This iterative rhythm kept us focused, fast, and flexible — even as project goals shifted.
Rapid individual sketching to explore a wide range of ideas without group bias.
Each team member proposed solutions independently, which we then combined, critiqued, and prioritized through dot voting to guide our final designs.
** My initial solution sketches
We held regular client sessions to align on shifting priorities, validate design directions, and gather quick feedback through structured methods like star/veto voting.
These check-ins kept the project tightly scoped, and helped us course-correct on the fly.
** Client voting session to validate ideas
Research
We used a mix of the Lean UX Canvas, secondary research, and competitive audits to build a layered understanding of the space.
This multifaceted approach let us hit the ground running to cross-validate insights and design a solution grounded in both real needs and industry best practices.
** Lean UX Canvas
** Competitive audit
** Secondary research
** Diagram following jobs to be done
** Feature audits
Despite pushback from our client, I advocated for conducting a second round of audits and interviews with the new stakeholders after Guide pivoted from HR training to mental health.
Design review with new stakeholders
We interviewed 4 therapists, and 1 expert, pushing patient insights to testing in the interest of time.
“I prefer browsing mental health resources by category rather than keyword searching. Having predefined categories allows me to quickly find relevant materials for my patients”- (P1-35)
“It would be helpful to track whether a patient accessed or completed a resource. This would allow me to see if they engaged with the material or if I need to offer something different.” - (P1-32)
A fresh feature analysis of healthcare apps informed our filter selections, feature implementations, and IA.
Testing and Iterations
We ran multiple rounds of usability tests on each prototype iteration, using participant insights to tune our filters, result clarity, and overall search experience to user expectations.
Testing revealed gaps in funtionality, vocabulary, and affordances.
Users wanted it, but our client resisted a "dashboard." So, we reframed it as "My Guide," a centralized content tracker—suddenly, he was sold.
Initial veto from client
Feature Insights
Here's a list of features that we incorporated and insights that support them.
Therapist Flow
Patient Flow
Keyword Search
Browse
Filter & Sort
Share
View & Track
Remind
Future of Work
The team celebrating after our final handoff :)