CareAware Connect
CareAware Connect
CareAware Connect
Design Leadership
UX Design
Product Strategy
Omnichannel Experience
Enterprise
B2B Saas
Usability Testing
Highlights & Outcomes
Highlights & Outcomes
Design
Award
UX Magazine Cross Platform
Experience Finalist (2014)
90%+
Maintained SUS scores
of 90% and above
Cross-Platform Experience
Cross-Platform Experience
Cross-Platform Experience
2014 Finalist
2014 Finalist
Cross-Platform Consistency
Cross-Platform Consistency
Delivered cohesive experiences across iOS, Android, Google Glass, and Win32/64, ensuring parity with Cerner’s desktop solutions.
Accessibility at Scale
Accessibility at Scale
Standardized UI color palettes to meet WCAG contrast standards, directly influencing Cerner’s bid with the VA.
Innovative Modalities
Innovative Modalities
Designed physical charging carts and custom notification sound design to combat alert fatigue.
Client Recognition
Client Recognition
Nash Health Care’s Emergency Department earned the Pathway Award for using innovation and technology to create a positive nurse practice environment.
The Business Challenge
The Business Challenge
Project Overview
CareAware Connect and CareAware Inpatient were mobile solutions designed to streamline nursing workflows in inpatient settings, replacing legacy Windows-based Dolphin devices. Initially planned as a direct port of existing requirements, I pivoted the strategy to align to the active MAR (Medication Administration Record) workflows in PowerChart, rather than duplicating a retiring product. This strategic shift aligned the new solution with the mental model of the product that would remain, ensuring continuity, reducing retraining, and improving adoption.
My Role as an IC
I began CareAware Connect as the sole designer, responsible for shaping the entire ecosystem — spanning native iOS and Android apps, a companion web app for Connect Messenger, Android OS–level branded customizations, and even custom ringtones designed to cut through competing device noise and combat alert fatigue. Beyond the apps themselves, I designed the connective tissue of the experience, ensuring every touchpoint worked seamlessly together in the fast-paced hospital environment. Following the initial launch, the product suite gained significant investment, and I transitioned into the Design Lead role, guiding two additional designers while scaling the vision and maintaining consistency across platforms. The impact of this work was felt not only at Cerner but also by our clients: one hospital using CareAware Connect earned the Pathway Award from the American Nurses Credentialing Center for demonstrating innovation and technology that created a positive nurse practice environment. This recognition highlighted how the suite became a benchmark for clinical communication and safety innovation at scale.
Project Overview
CareAware Connect and CareAware Inpatient were mobile solutions designed to streamline nursing workflows in inpatient settings, replacing legacy Windows-based Dolphin devices. Initially planned as a direct port of existing requirements, I pivoted the strategy to align to the active MAR (Medication Administration Record) workflows in PowerChart, rather than duplicating a retiring product. This strategic shift aligned the new solution with the mental model of the product that would remain, ensuring continuity, reducing retraining, and improving adoption.
My Role as an IC
I began CareAware Connect as the sole designer, responsible for shaping the entire ecosystem — spanning native iOS and Android apps, a companion web app for Connect Messenger, Android OS–level branded customizations, and even custom ringtones designed to cut through competing device noise and combat alert fatigue. Beyond the apps themselves, I designed the connective tissue of the experience, ensuring every touchpoint worked seamlessly together in the fast-paced hospital environment. Following the initial launch, the product suite gained significant investment, and I transitioned into the Design Lead role, guiding two additional designers while scaling the vision and maintaining consistency across platforms. The impact of this work was felt not only at Cerner but also by our clients: one hospital using CareAware Connect earned the Pathway Award from the American Nurses Credentialing Center for demonstrating innovation and technology that created a positive nurse practice environment. This recognition highlighted how the suite became a benchmark for clinical communication and safety innovation at scale.
Project Overview
CareAware Connect and CareAware Inpatient were mobile solutions designed to streamline nursing workflows in inpatient settings, replacing legacy Windows-based Dolphin devices. Initially planned as a direct port of existing requirements, I pivoted the strategy to align to the active MAR (Medication Administration Record) workflows in PowerChart, rather than duplicating a retiring product. This strategic shift aligned the new solution with the mental model of the product that would remain, ensuring continuity, reducing retraining, and improving adoption.
My Role as an IC
I began CareAware Connect as the sole designer, responsible for shaping the entire ecosystem — spanning native iOS and Android apps, a companion web app for Connect Messenger, Android OS–level branded customizations, and even custom ringtones designed to cut through competing device noise and combat alert fatigue. Beyond the apps themselves, I designed the connective tissue of the experience, ensuring every touchpoint worked seamlessly together in the fast-paced hospital environment. Following the initial launch, the product suite gained significant investment, and I transitioned into the Design Lead role, guiding two additional designers while scaling the vision and maintaining consistency across platforms. The impact of this work was felt not only at Cerner but also by our clients: one hospital using CareAware Connect earned the Pathway Award from the American Nurses Credentialing Center for demonstrating innovation and technology that created a positive nurse practice environment. This recognition highlighted how the suite became a benchmark for clinical communication and safety innovation at scale.
Product Evolution
CareAware Connect Messenger Redesign
296%
Increase in SUS Score
35%
Reduction in Time on Task
172%
Reduction in Error Rate
The Business Challenge
Native Mobile Apps
2013
Native Mobile Apps
2013
HTML Web App
2016
HTML Web App
2016
OCS Redesign
2019
OCS Redesign
2019
Project Overview — A Degraded Experience
As Cerner transitioned from native apps to responsive HTML, the user experience of CareAware Connect Messenger degraded, becoming click-heavy, error-prone, and difficult to navigate. The decline in usability and quality was even starting to impact sales. Partnering with the product team, I led the redesign to close these usability gaps and positioned Messenger as the first Cerner product to implement the new enterprise-wide visual language — setting the standard for future product transformations.
My Role as the Design Lead
As Design Lead and UX Strategist, I guided my team in rethinking workflows from the ground up, aligning them with the updated visual and interaction patterns while preserving the high-performance standards needed for clinical environments. We leveraged research insights, usability testing, and iterative prototyping to ensure the redesign addressed real-world challenges for nurses and clinical staff.
Project Overview — A Degraded Experience
As Cerner transitioned from native apps to responsive HTML, the user experience of CareAware Connect Messenger degraded, becoming click-heavy, error-prone, and difficult to navigate. The decline in usability and quality was even starting to impact sales. Partnering with the product team, I led the redesign to close these usability gaps and positioned Messenger as the first Cerner product to implement the new enterprise-wide visual language — setting the standard for future product transformations.
My Role as the Design Lead
As Design Lead and UX Strategist, I guided my team in rethinking workflows from the ground up, aligning them with the updated visual and interaction patterns while preserving the high-performance standards needed for clinical environments. We leveraged research insights, usability testing, and iterative prototyping to ensure the redesign addressed real-world challenges for nurses and clinical staff.
Project Overview — A Degraded Experience
As Cerner transitioned from native apps to responsive HTML, the user experience of CareAware Connect Messenger degraded, becoming click-heavy, error-prone, and difficult to navigate. The decline in usability and quality was even starting to impact sales. Partnering with the product team, I led the redesign to close these usability gaps and positioned Messenger as the first Cerner product to implement the new enterprise-wide visual language — setting the standard for future product transformations.
My Role as the Design Lead
As Design Lead and UX Strategist, I guided my team in rethinking workflows from the ground up, aligning them with the updated visual and interaction patterns while preserving the high-performance standards needed for clinical environments. We leveraged research insights, usability testing, and iterative prototyping to ensure the redesign addressed real-world challenges for nurses and clinical staff.
Key Usability Issues Uncovered
Key Usability Issues Uncovered
The original CareAware Connect directory architecture mirrored each hospital’s organizational structure, allowing facilities to label departments inconsistently, duplicate or share services, and create naming variations that left clinicians struggling to find contacts.
Our redesign targeted this poorest-performing feature and transformed it from a rigid, hard-to-navigate list into an adaptive, filterable directory built to handle messy data at scale with speed and clarity.
Architectural Findings for Directory Feature
© 2025 Amber Wilks
All rights reserved.
© 2025 Amber Wilks
All rights reserved.
© 2025 Amber Wilks
All rights reserved.