Imagine a woman named Mariah. She's 58, managing type 2 diabetes, and juggling caregiving duties. She leaves a doctor's appointment with a pamphlet she can barely decipher, feeling overwhelmed. Between the demands of daily life, she has little time to navigate a healthcare system that often feels distant and complex. The information she needs is hard to access, and when it does reach her, it rarely feels like it's meant for her, leading to a deep sense of mistrust. That's why building trust is at the center of what we do at Acclinate.
When people trust the system, they lean in: they seek care sooner, share crucial details more openly, follow treatment plans, and stay engaged long-term. When that trust is broken, especially in communities scarred by historical harm and systemic bias, even the most brilliant science stalls. For these groups, skepticism isn't paranoia; it's wisdom earned through experience. Earning trust back isn't optional; it's an ethical, clinical, and operational imperative. And it’s where empathy in design becomes more than a nice idea—it becomes essential.
When people trust the system, they lean in: they seek care sooner, share crucial details more openly, follow treatment plans, and stay engaged long-term.
Designing With People, For People
When I joined Acclinate, I didn’t start by designing. I started by listening. I spent time talking with community members to understand their needs, fears, and motivations. To me, designing with empathy means involving people every step of the way—building with them, not just for them.
Those early conversations directly shaped NOWINCLUDED, our community platform. It’s a safe space for honest dialogue, where people can connect, share, and learn about their health in a way that feels approachable. We realized quickly that many members are busy caregivers or parents, often short on time. They don’t have hours to sift through dense content—they need fast, clear, actionable information.
We also learned that not everything should be solved with an app or website. Some members, especially older adults, prefer in-person events or phone conversations. That feedback helps us decide which experiences belong online and which need a more personal touch.
My Product Lead and I formalize this feedback loop through ongoing testing and focus groups. Simple insights—like realizing people didn’t understand what NOWINCLUDED actually was—led us to revamp the homepage. After the update, our bounce rate dropped 15%, and engagement quality rose noticeably. It’s proof that listening always pays off.
Balancing Data Collection and Trust
Designing for communities that have been historically over-surveyed means we need to tread carefully. As a tech-driven company, we still need data—but gathering it has to come from a place of respect.
That’s why we focus on progressive profiling: asking only what’s truly necessary upfront and waiting to collect other details until it feels natural. We also make a point to show our work—explaining why we’re asking for information, how it will be used, and how it helps personalize the user’s experience. Transparency goes a long way in turning skepticism into participation.
We think carefully about:
- What we don’t need to ask yet: We regularly brainstorm the minimum information to ask upfront. We hold off on less essential details until later, when context—like discussing overall health—makes the request clear and relevant. This dramatically improves completion rates and reduces abandonment. We focus on delivering crucial information quickly so members can see results and then feel motivated to enter more data once value and trust are gained.
- Where a “Skip for now” option should appear.
- How we can make help feel natural—through human language, clear next steps, and shorter forms.
- Using visuals of real people to showcase authentic community and humanizing the platform.
We also build trust by being transparent:
- Continuously explaining our WHY: Explaining our mission, showing how every member's participation moves us toward health equity.
- Showing how data helps personalize their experience.
- Using simple, approachable language—especially on prescreener pages—so no one feels lost.
Empathy Across Every Product: From NOWINCLUDED to eDICT
The same approach I take with NOWINCLUDED also applies to eDICT, our client-facing tool. Here, empathy looks different—it’s about helping clients see people, not just numbers.
My job is to take complex data about communities and trials and make it simple, visual, and meaningful. That might mean testing new data visualizations or redesigning dashboards until the story behind the numbers feels clear. When done right, empathy turns raw data into insight that drives smarter, more equitable decisions.
Design Thinking Is Everyone’s Job
Many of us at Acclinate are members of the communities we serve, which makes empathy the core of what we build. We aren't building for strangers; we're building for our neighbors, our families, and ourselves.
Every team contributes to that mission. Our Commercial Team brings insights from clients and the field. Our Community and Marketing Teams spend their days listening to real stories. Our Content and Graphics Team makes information feel human and approachable. And our Data Team makes sure the numbers never lose sight of the people behind them.
For me, that’s what design thinking really means—meeting people where they are, understanding their lived experience, and using empathy to guide every decision. Caring for the people we build for isn't simply a strategy at Acclinate—it’s the foundational purpose that ensures we turn empathy into equitable action every single day.
Ready to learn more about our UX design approach? Schedule a 1:1 with our team.
