Complete Hospital Self-Check-In
Design a hospital kiosk flow that verifies the right patient, confirms only necessary visit details, and hands exceptions to staff safely.
The brief
Understand the problem
Background
Hospital check-in involves identity, appointment, contact, insurance, consent, accessibility, and sometimes urgent symptoms. A public kiosk must collect only what is appropriate while preventing someone from seeing another patient's information.
User context
Bernard arrives for an outpatient scan. He has two appointments with similar names, an updated insurance card, limited dexterity, and a cough that may require an infection-control instruction before he joins the waiting area.
Product problem
Patients need a private, accessible check-in that resolves routine updates quickly and routes clinical, identity, or payment exceptions to a person without exposing sensitive details.
Objective
Create identity confirmation, appointment selection, essential updates, and staff handoff for one hospital kiosk session.
What to design
Define the experience
Required experience
- Choose language and accessibility support before entering personal data
- Verify identity using minimal information and select the correct appointment
- Confirm contact, insurance, consent, and visit-specific questions
- Receive a discreet completion or staff-assistance handoff
Screens and states
- Welcome and access options
- Identity and appointment confirmation
- Visit readiness review
- Completion or staff handoff
Core user flow
Follow the critical path
- 01
Bernard chooses large controls and inserts his appointment code
- 02
He confirms a masked identity and selects the imaging appointment
- 03
He scans a new insurance card and answers the clinic's current symptom question
- 04
The cough response triggers private instructions and alerts a nearby staff member
- 05
The kiosk clears the session and prints only a non-sensitive queue receipt
Product rules
Requirements and constraints
Requirements
- Offer language, screen-reader, text-size, input-time, and staff-help choices at the start
- Mask identity and appointment details until sufficient verification succeeds
- Separate demographic confirmation from clinical questions and financial notices
- Explain each consent or acknowledgment before capture and provide a receipt route
- Clear on-screen, scanner, and print data after completion, timeout, or staff handoff
Constraints
- The kiosk is in a public area with people waiting nearby
- Clinical answers cannot be used to diagnose or deny emergency care
- Some insurance and appointment systems may be temporarily unavailable
Reality check
States worth considering
Finish line
What to deliver
- Four kiosk screens showing accessible check-in, a symptom-based handoff, and secure session clearing
If you want more
Optional extensions
Optional direction
Visual resources
Use these as a starting constraint if you want one. They are not part of the required solution.
Theory to review
UX principles for this brief
Use these as decision lenses, then validate the design with the people and context in the brief.
