Ontario Health Clarifier
You’re In. Now What?
A mobile web experience that helps less-urgent ER patients understand their wait, communicate their concerns and feel prepared
Open Prototype
Overview
Problem
Final Design
Research
Solution
User Testing
Team
Independent
My Role
Researcher
Product Designer
Timeline
Sept 2025 - April 2026
Platform
Web
TL;DR
Problem: Lower-urgency ER patients in Ontario wait the longest, with no idea when they’ll be seen nor how to manage the wait in an overstimulating environment
Solution: I built no-download mobile site concept, accessible from a QR slip at registration, with an estimated wait, a stage tracker, tips and a tool for describing symptoms to staff.
Result: Participants found it easy to navigate the web experience and use its features , but all of them missed the expandable stage tracker, even with a chevron added. Next steps involve adding a strong visual cue for the stage tracker and a simple in-app tutorial.
PROBLEM BACKGROUND
Canadian Healthcare’s Method to the Madness (The CTAS System)
Canadian Emergency Departments prioritize cases using a standardized five-level triage (patient-sorting) scale called the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS).
The scale categorizes patients based on the severity of their condition and the required speed of medical assessment.
Sicker, more acute patients are rightly seen first, so the experience of everyone else is often overlooked.
CTAS IV
Could elevate to life threatening
Condition 1, Condition 2
CTAS IV
Could elevate to life threatening
Condition 1, Condition 2
CTAS IV
Could elevate to life threatening
Condition 1, Condition 2
CTAS IV
Could elevate to life threatening
Condition 1, Condition 2
CTAS IV
Could elevate to life threatening
Condition 1, Condition 2
The Strain on Canada’s Healthcare system is quite multi-faceted
My initial aim was to research the causes behind long wait times and create a design intervention to speed up the time between walking in to the initial assessment by the physician.
However, wait times are caused by systemic issues that have been long ignored such as limited staff, limited beds for patients and [insert more]
The strain in EDs is exacerbated by the other avenues of the healthcare system being underfunded as well:
Ontario patients wait about
2 hours
on average to see a physician
(Health Quality Ontario)
Limited Access to Family Doctors
Without adequate medical intervention, patients’ symptoms worsen until it becomes an unavoidable emergency.
Limited Access to Family Doctors
Without adequate medical intervention, patients’ symptoms worsen until it becomes an unavoidable emergency.
Limited Access to Family Doctors
Without adequate medical intervention, patients’ symptoms worsen until it becomes an unavoidable emergency.
I realized this strain is systemic, requiring greater funding, staffing and smart policies
Design on its own can't add staff or beds, so I scoped the project to what design can influence:
WHICH PROBLEM
Communication, updates, awareness of best practices, and reducing anxiety and overstimulation.
Communication
Lack of updates about wait time, current stage
Communication
Lack of updates about wait time, current stage
Communication
Lack of updates about wait time, current stage
WHO
Communication, updates, awareness of best practices, and reducing anxiety and overstimulation.
CTAS I
CTAS II
CTAS III
CTAS IV
CTAS V
Seen immediately
Target Audience
MOMENT OF DESIGN INTERVENTION
Focused on one of the points of longest waits, where patients are in pain and likely waiting in an overstimulating room with other patients
Arrival
Walk-In
Registration
ID & Info
Triage
CTAS Assigned
Waiting
Point of Frustration
Assessment
Physician check
Design Intervention
FINAL DESIGN
Welcome to Ontario Health Clarifier
Ontario Health Clarifier is your web-based companion and guide throughout your experience at partnered emergency rooms in Ontario
Know what’s going on in the Emergency Room
Know what’s going on in the Emergency Room
See your personalized wait time, real-time ER status updates and which stage you are at in the urgent care process
Finding
No updates on when care will come
Unsure of what to tell the physician? Log your symptoms
Log symptoms directly in our Symptom Coordinator, so you can relay it clearly to staff at a time when everything feels overstimulating. Fill out the prompts to create a clear, easy to understand summary to show staff / reference while talking to them.
Finding
Difficulty communicating clearly when stressed and in pain
Have questions you would like answered?
Discover reasons behind wait times, what you are permitted and prohibited to do in the ER and learn about available amenities, comforts and support resources through the FAQs page.
Finding
Gaps in awareness/knowledge of ED: Processes, acuity-based triage, amenities
Anxious and unsure of what to do in the ER?
Learn about best practices to reduce pain, anxiety, frustration and make your wait more tolerable.
Finding
Anxiety and uncertainty experienced by young adults in the ER
FINAL DESIGN
FINAL DESIGN