ZenXmed
Elevating Medical Decision-Making
Zenxmed, a Canadian healthcare startup, developed a mobile-first, open-access, cloud-based application designed to support physicians and patients in making informed diagnostic and treatment decisions. Founded by physicians in 2016 and headquartered in Vancouver, they operated within the healthcare technology space with a mission to empower medical professionals through tools tailored to their needs. The company’s flagship product, OpenXMed, merged physician-led innovation and user-experience design to provide a platform that simplified access to medical information, fostering collaboration.
User-Centered & Iterative Design
To bring our flagship product, OpenXMed, to life, our team implemented a structured user-centred design process that included in-depth user research, iterative design sprints, and continuous testing. Our primary goal was to understand the real-world challenges, preferences, and behaviours of physicians in order to develop a platform that seamlessly integrates with their daily workflows.
We conducted interviews and surveys with our target users—physicians, medical residents, and students—to map their journeys and identify areas where OpenXMed could provide the most support. From these insights, we formulated two main hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1: Physicians who can swiftly navigate complex clinical guidelines will have greater confidence in their decisions, reducing the need for assumptions during the point of care.
Hypothesis 2: Implementing a contributor model instead of traditional authorship will encourage physicians to engage actively, fostering a collaborative environment that prioritizes accountability and shared medical knowledge.
The Problem
Keeping Pace
Zenxmed was founded by physicians who recognized the significant challenges in the healthcare sector, including rising costs and the overwhelming amount of constantly evolving medical information. Many practicing physicians struggled to keep up with best practices, further hindered by the limited support for their needs within the industry.
The founders envisioned a resource that would streamline access to essential information, allowing healthcare practitioners to make informed decisions in real-time, right at the point of care. This led to a clear mission for Zenxmed: to develop a user-centric platform that enhances decision-making and fosters collaboration among healthcare professionals.
User Personas Above. Competitive Analysis Below.
An Intuitive Mobile Experience
Our vision for the OpenXMed app was to deliver a streamlined, decision-support tool that physicians could rely on during patient interactions. To achieve this, we implemented a decision-tree format that guides users through content based on their clinical questions and decision-making paths. This design allowed us to present extensive information without overloading users, reducing cognitive strain at critical moments.
One unique feature we developed was a collaborative commenting system that allowed users to discuss evidence within the app. This feature proved particularly beneficial for medical students, offering them a way to connect with seasoned practitioners. Feedback from user testing underscored the potential of this functionality to refine algorithms over time, as experienced physicians shared insights and anecdotal evidence. To ensure we could measure engagement, we embedded analytics to track user interactions, providing a foundation for future optimization.
Unlike traditional clinical decision-making tools, OpenXMed included a robust user profile system. Each user’s profile showcased their specialty, medical background, and areas of interest, which fostered credibility and encouraged peer-to-peer engagement. During onboarding, we balanced essential user information with privacy, transparently communicating the purpose behind each data request to reinforce trust and streamline the verification process for healthcare professionals.
Building a scalable content management system (CMS) was vital to supporting OpenXMed’s evolving library of medical algorithms and resources. Our solution involved a two-phase CMS development plan:
Phase 1: To accommodate contributors' immediate interest, we established an interim content creation process using a flow diagram tool and a consistent content structure. This enabled contributors to begin developing algorithms, with an aim to create 100 within six months.
Phase 2: Our MVP CMS allowed contributors to build algorithms visually and integrate them directly into the app. We introduced a review process with a feedback loop where contributors could leave ‘notes’ on content during editing, enhancing the platform’s quality and enabling streamlined content publication.
Developing a Scalable CMS for Medical Content
Evaluating Success
Usability: The decision-tree interface of OpenXMed provided physicians with an intuitive tool to access medical information efficiently, significantly reducing decision-making time at the point of care.
Collaboration: The shift to a contributor model promoted an environment of peer engagement, motivating users to participate actively in knowledge-sharing, which proved valuable for both experienced and aspiring medical professionals.
Scalability: Our two-phased CMS approach enabled Zenxmed to rapidly expand its content library and support ongoing contributions, establishing a strong foundation for future growth.