How redesigned search for healthcare website increased engagement by 17 %

Making it easier for users to discover, compare and connect with the care they truly need.

Overview

Timeline

2022, 2 weeks

My Role

Worked as a UX Designer in a team of 3 designers. The timeline of this task was 2 weeks, including user research till the initial concept prototype.

Background

About Swaasa

Swaasa was launched during India’s second wave of COVID-19 in 2021 as a central hub for verified support services—including plasma donors, ambulance contacts, online consultations, testing, diagnostics, and oxygen assistance.

As the crisis eased and the need for these services declined, the platform retained its credibility for reliability and accuracy.

Over time, Swaasa evolved into a broader healthcare discovery platform, helping users search for and access nearby doctors, labs, hospitals, and pharmacies with ease.

What was the problem?

Old search experience

" Overall low adoption was limiting the website’s ability to connect users with the services they were actively searching for.

While many users began their search journey, only few could reach the service details page."

💡 This drop‑off signaled critical usability and navigation issues, making it essential to improve the experience to boost engagement and support business growth.

Goal

User Goal

Help users navigate the complex healthcare landscape and provide them with the tools and resources they need to make informed decisions about their health.

Business Goal

Get more users to buy or book services by improving service provider visibility and engagement, which will attract and onboard more providers to our platform and increase revenue.

Research & Insights

To uncover the key issues in the search experience, I reviewed real user sessions using analytics tool 'FullStory' to observe how people moved from their initial query to the service details page. This helped identify where users hesitated, abandoned the flow, or struggled with unclear results, revealing broader pain points in relevance, navigation, and overall search clarity.

What did I discover?

Swaasa user

Users frequently skipped the search bar because it blended into the layout and didn’t feel prominent or interactive.
Many users hesitated after typing a query, unsure whether the system could interpret their input.
A large portion of mobile users struggled to complete the search flow due to alignment, layout shifts, and inconsistent interactions.
Returning users often repeated the same searches because there was no memory of past activity.

Challenges

‼️ Low clarity and guidance - Lack of feedback or suggestions left users unsure about what to search.

👥 No personalization - The experience didn’t adapt to user history or intent, forcing repeat effort and reducing engagement.

👀 Disconnected experience - Users had to navigate to multiple pages, which made it a disjointed journey

How did we solve the problem?

Healthcare search made intuitive

Designing a more inviting and empathetic search area—reflective of the platform’s healthcare focus—while clearly showcasing key service categories such as doctors, hospitals, diagnostics, and pharmacies.

What other domains taught us about search

Exploring other websites’ search experiences and studying the user flows to understand what works for them or their website. We explored websites in different domains like real estate, e-commerce, and vacation rental websites.