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VA National Scheduling Modernization

Transforming Enterprise Scheduling Through Human-Centered Research

 

Role

Lead Human-Centered Product Designer & UX Research Lead

Organization

Department of Veterans Affairs

Duration

Wave 1 & Wave 2 Research Initiative

Methods

Contextual Inquiry • Semi-Structured Interviews • Workflow Analysis • Journey Mapping • Service Blueprinting • Task Analysis • Affinity Mapping • Thematic Analysis • Stakeholder Workshops • Mixed-Methods Research

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Overview

The Department of Veterans Affairs launched Primary Care In-Clinic Scheduling View (PCICSV) to improve same-day scheduling operations across VA medical centers.

Although the application introduced significant new capabilities, adoption varied across facilities, users developed local workarounds, and product teams lacked a clear understanding of how scheduling staff actually completed their daily work.

As the Lead Human-Centered Product Designer and UX Research Lead, I led the discovery and research strategy that helped uncover the operational realities of frontline scheduling staff and translate those findings into actionable product recommendations.

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The Challenge

The team wasn't asking:

"Do users like the application?"

They were asking:

  • Why are users struggling?

  • What workflows actually exist?

  • Where are people creating workarounds?

  • How should the product evolve?

The challenge extended beyond interface design.

We needed to understand an entire scheduling ecosystem involving:

  • Medical Support Assistants

  • Lead Schedulers

  • Clinic Administrators

  • Clinical Staff

  • Operational Policies

  • Local Scheduling Procedures

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My Role

I served as the Lead Human-Centered Product Designer and UX Research Lead responsible for:

  • Defining the research strategy

  • Developing research plans

  • Designing interview guides

  • Facilitating stakeholder discovery

  • Conducting contextual interviews

  • Leading synthesis workshops

  • Creating journey maps and service blueprints

  • Identifying strategic opportunities

  • Presenting findings to executive stakeholders

  • Driving product recommendations across multiple applications

Research Approach

Rather than immediately evaluating the interface, I designed a two-wave research strategy.

 

Wave 1 Discovery

Objective:

Understand how scheduling work actually happens before evaluating solutions.

Methods included:

  • Contextual Inquiry

  • Semi-Structured Interviews

  • Workflow Observation

  • Field Observation

  • Journey Mapping

  • Service Blueprinting

We focused on understanding:

  • Daily scheduling responsibilities

  • Mental models

  • Decision-making

  • Operational constraints

  • Existing workarounds

  • Communication between roles

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Key Insights

Users don't think in features.

 

They think in patient workflows.

Many participants described their day as a continuous operational process rather than isolated software tasks.

 

Local workflows heavily influence product adoption.

Facilities often developed different scheduling practices.

Understanding those differences became critical to designing flexible solutions.

 

Training gaps were often mistaken for usability problems.

Several issues initially believed to be interface problems were actually rooted in inconsistent onboarding and workflow knowledge.

This shifted conversations from redesigning screens to improving the overall service experience.

 

Scheduling decisions depend on surrounding context.

 

Schedulers constantly balance:

  • provider availability

  • clinic policies

  • patient needs

  • operational priorities

Interfaces must support decision making not simply display information.

Impact

 

Research informed product strategy by:

  • Establishing a foundational understanding of scheduling workflows

  • Aligning stakeholders around shared user needs

  • Prioritizing future product enhancements

  • Identifying opportunities beyond interface improvements

  • Supporting evidence-based product decisions

The project also established a repeatable research framework that could be applied across additional scheduling applications within the VA ecosystem.

Reflection

 

One of the biggest lessons from this work was recognizing that improving user experience isn't always about redesigning an interface.

In complex enterprise systems, many usability challenges originate from operational processes, organizational policies, training, and communication.

Understanding the broader service ecosystem allowed our team to recommend solutions that addressed root causes rather than surface-level symptoms.

Skills Demonstrated

  • Human-Centered Design Leadership

  • UX Research Strategy

  • Contextual Inquiry

  • Semi-Structured Interviews

  • Workflow Analysis

  • Journey Mapping

  • Service Blueprinting

  • Qualitative Analysis

  • Affinity Mapping

  • Insight Synthesis

  • Product Strategy

  • Executive Presentations

  • Stakeholder Management

  • Cross-Functional Leadership

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