Akunah
Multi-Product Healthcare Ecosystem
Senior product design partner across clinician platforms, AI tools, 3D surgical software, patient apps and brand.Overview
Role: Senior Product Designer
Timeframe: 2020–Present
Team growth: 4 → 30+
Collaboration: Founders, engineering, clinicians, physicians, data scientists
akunah.com
Since 2020 I’ve worked with Akunah as their Senior Product Designer, helping grow the company from a team of 4 to 30+ and evolving a single clinician tool into a connected ecosystem of products.
I’ve led product design across:
• Akunah Platform – clinician & organisation software for patient management and data-driven outcomes
• Akunah Insight & Arya – AI products embedded across the ecosystem
• Akunah Me – a patient app for iOS and Android
• Akunah Reflect – FDA-approved 3D surgical planning software
• Akunah Med – an education platform for clinicians
• A fully custom design system and brand that ties it all together
My role spans end-to-end product design, UX strategy, design systems and brand execution.
Akunah Platform
Core clinician and organisation software
Akunah Platform is the foundation of the ecosystem. It supports clinician and organisation workflows for managing patients, forms, scores and outcomes through structured, data-driven tools.
My role
- Led the complete UX and UI redesign of the platform
- Designed and shipped all core workflows across the product suite
- Owned platform-level systems, navigation and component patterns
- Designed for scalability as new products and AI features were introduced
Key challenges- Designing for clinicians, organisations and patients with very different needs
- Working in unexplored areas of healthcare management with few direct competitors
- Introducing new product concepts without breaking existing workflows
- Integrating AI into established experiences without alienating users
UX and system thinking- Designed a widget-based clinician dashboard for viewing patient data
- Replaced static layouts with modular components that scale with new data types
- Prioritised scannability, comparison and fast decision-making for clinicians
Outcomes
- Adopted by multiple hospitals and clinics
- Used across English and non-English speaking countries
- Established the design foundation for future products across the ecosystem
Akunah Insight and Arya
AI embedded across the ecosystem
Akunah Insight and Arya form Akunah’s AI layer. Together, they introduce conversational and assistive AI across clinician workflows, patient experiences and education, while remaining tightly integrated into the existing platform and products.
Purpose
- Enable clinicians to quickly find and understand complex patient and clinic data through conversational prompts
- Reduce cognitive load and manual effort across clinical and patient-facing workflows
- Extend AI support beyond clinicians into patient education and guidance
My role
- Designed the AI experience end-to-end across the ecosystem
- Defined how AI lives natively within Akunah Platform and related products
- Designed shared UI and interaction patterns so AI feels consistent, familiar and trustworthy
- Worked closely with engineering and data teams to align UX with technical constraints
Key challenges- Introducing AI into established clinical workflows without breaking trust or usability
- Ensuring AI felt fully integrated rather than a separate or bolted-on product
- Designing for accuracy, clarity and safety when presenting AI-generated insights
- Supporting multiple AI contexts (clinician, patient, education) with a cohesive experience
Value- Reduced time clinicians spend manually managing and educating patients
- Improved patient understanding and engagement throughout their health journey
- Enabled AI to scale across products without fragmenting the user experience
Akunah Reflect
FDA-approved 3D surgical planning software
Akunah Reflect is a 3D shoulder surgery planning tool that allows surgeons to plan procedures, select implants and export a surgical plan for use in theatre.
My role- Product designer from conception
- Worked hand-in-hand with the lead engineer
- Designed all UX, UI and interaction patterns from the ground up
Key challenges- Designing fully custom 3D tools and interactions
- First in market with no competitors and testing references
- Balancing power and precision with clarity and safety
- Meeting FDA and clinical documentation requirements
Design approach- Workshops and UX sessions with internal teams
- Built phased prototypes to test workflows and interactions
- Designed custom tools for manipulating 3D models in surgical contexts
- Created export docs that surgeons can reference and use in theatre and share with patients
Outcomes- FDA approved and recognised as a medical device
- Used in multiple countries, including non-English speaking regions
- Adopted by multiple implant partners
Akunah Me
Patient health passport app (iOS and Android)
Akunah Me is a patient-facing app designed to centralise health information, reduce reliance on paper forms and support patients throughout their recovery and long-term care.
My role- Designed the app end-to-end
- Led discovery, UX, UI and future iteration planning
- Worked closely with clinics and internal teams to validate workflows
Core flows- Patient onboarding and clinic connection
- Completing forms outside the waiting room
- Viewing plans, scores and progress
- Managing health documents
- In-app AI support through Arya
UX focus- Designed for clarity across all demographics
- Built trust through clear data security communication
- Informed by clinic testing and patient focus sessions
Outcomes- Reduced reliance on paper-based processes
- Improved form completion and intake efficiency for clinics
- Strong patient feedback around ease of use and control over their journey
Brand and Identity
Building a cohesive healthcare technology brand
When I joined Akunah, there was no established brand. I helped define and evolve a visual identity that could scale with the company and remain consistent across software, marketing and physical environments.
My contribution- Designed brand foundations and visual language
- Applied the brand across software, websites and marketing
- Created video, social and promotional assets
- Designed conference stands, banners, pamphlets and printed materials
Outcome- A cohesive brand that evolved from startup to established health tech company
- Consistent quality across digital and physical touchpoints
- Strong presence at international conferences and events
Design System and Component Library
A fully custom system for a unique ecosystem
To support Akunah’s growing product suite, I built a custom design system tailored to its specific challenges.
Custom- Unique product mix spanning clinicians, patients, AI and 3D tools
- Limited existing patterns in the healthcare and surgical planning space
- Need for long-term scalability and consistency
System highlights- Widget-based components for data-heavy dashboards
- Shared tokens for spacing, typography and colour
- Custom components for 3D interaction in Reflect
- Patterns that work across web, mobile and AI surfaces
Impact- Reduced design debt
- Improved consistency across products
- Gave engineering a flexible framework for future features
Process and Influence
Scaling product design in a growing team
As Akunah grew from 4 people to 30+, my role expanded beyond execution into shaping how products are built.
Process introduced- Product specs and requirements first
- Internal review with design and engineering
- UX flows and prototyping
- UI design and testing
- Structured handover and implementation support
Influence- Helped embed product-led thinking across teams
- Supported others in adopting consistent design workflows
- Shifted focus from “shipping fast” to “shipping intentionally”
Key wins- Building Akunah Reflect under strict regulatory constraints
- Achieving FDA approval with limited resources
- Designing across an unfamiliar industry while delivering real clinical value
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