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EndNote.

For our final project in a Specialized UX Course, my team and I designed "EndNote." - a digital therapy report writing system tailored to occupational therapists working with children diagnosed with autism.

 

After conducting 12 in-depth interviews with therapists and professionals in the field, we designed a high quality prototype which simplifies the writing process and aligns with therapists' real-world workflow. Leveraging field expertise from one team member and personal connections from another, we crafted a system that prioritizes structure and ease of use. I contributed to journey mapping and UI design.

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Overview

Timeline

4 weeks

Tools

Figma, Adobe Photoshop, Canva

Goals

Streamlining and shortening the report writing process

What's the Problem at hand?

Occupational therapists working with children on the autism spectrum write bi-yearly (sometimes tri-yeraly) reports on the 6 individual patients in their care. The therapists lack an intuitive and structured system for writing and managing treatment reports.

This leads to inconsistent documentation quality, workflow inefficiencies and emotional fatigue.

Goals & Objectives

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Improve organizational performances

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Increasing occupational therapists satisfaction

Streamlining and shortening the report writing process

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User Research & Personas

We conducted 12 in-depth interviews with therapists and professionals who work closely with children with autism. Our goal was to understand their workflow, pain points, emotional needs and how they currently interact with the digital documentation tools they use today.

Some of these interview questions were:

1) What are the difficulties you face during the report writing process?

2) Are you satisfied with the current system you use to write the reports?

3) How do you feel before and during the report writing period?

Key Insights

1.

Existing tools are poorly designed for the nuanced reporting required in therapeutic work with autistic children.

2.

The mobile display of these reports is often clunky, making the documentation process more difficult.

3.

Report writing often occurs after work hours, contributing to fatigue and burnout.

4.

The most difficult part of the report writing process is starting it.

Personas

Based off of the user research and the interviews that were conducted, we developed two personas which helped guide us through our design process:

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  • Name: Emily Cooper

  • Age: 25

  • Occupation: Newly-Trained Occupational Therapist

  • Quote: "I have trouble starting the reports. I don't want to feel like I'm starting from point zero."​

  • Name: Orly Miller

  • Age: 55

  • Occupation: Veteran Treatment Instructor

  • Quote: "The therapists have trouble adapting their observations to writing. This takes up a lot of our training time."​

User Journey Map

To better understand the emotional experience of occupational therapists while writing these reports, we mapped out a typical user journey based on insights from the 12 interviews. This helped us better empathize with their challenges and identify moments where design could offer support.

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What the graph shows: The journey begins with a sense of neutrality, but emotional stress increases quickly as therapists plan their time and begin the report. The steepest drop occurs during the initial writing stage, where they often feel overwhelmed and unsure where to begin. Positive emotion doesn’t reappear until the report is almost complete, suggesting that much of the process feels burdensome and isolating.

User & Market Research

In parallel with user interviews, we also looked at existing documentation tools used by therapists. Most relied on Microsoft Word or basic clinic-provided forms (such as טיפולוג), which were inconsistent, hard to organize, and often caused unnecessary cognitive load. This highlighted a clear gap in the market for a digital-first, structured reporting solution tailored to therapists' real needs.

Design Process

Throughout this project we focused on turning complex user needs into a simple and supportive interface. Occupational therapists who care for children with autism required sensitivity, clarity and a deep understanding of their workflow. Our process was built around these values, using insights from interviews and expert feedback to shape a solution that reduces mental load and streamlines documentation.

UX Solutions

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Topic organization via simple steps

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Hand-to-hand guidance throughout the process

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Controlled use of AI tools

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Tone Of Voice which eases the writing process

Structuring the Experience - Desktop Version

The desktop version of EndNote. was designed primarily with our first persona, Emily, in mind — a newer occupational therapist who is still getting accustomed to the documentation process. Our goal was to create a clean, intuitive interface that reduces cognitive load and guides users step-by-step through report writing. While tailored to support beginners, the design remains efficient and flexible enough for experienced therapists to use with ease.

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Patient Overview Tab

This screen was designed to give therapists quick and structured access to their current caseload.

Since the institution we designed for assigns each therapist a maximum of 6 patients, we customized the interface to reflect that structure.
While we explored alternative layouts that could support larger caseloads, we ultimately prioritized a design that felt aligned with the real working environment of our users. This allowed us to deliver a more focused and intuitive experience for the therapists within this specific setting.

The Right side of the screen has a simple navigation panel which provides access to other areas of the product, maintaining consistency across screens.

The Center of the screen showcases all six of the therapists assigned patients — the maximum allowed by the institution — with just the right amount of detail to take quick action. Starting a new report is only a click away.

The Left side of the screen presents upcoming events and reminders, helping therapists stay organized and manage their workload efficiently.

Active Reports Tab

Managing multiple reports can feel overwhelming, especially when tracking feedback and revisions. The Active Reports screen provides therapists with a structured overview of all reports currently in progress. It’s designed to help them track their documentation workload at a glance and return to any report with ease.

The Right side navigation remains unchanged, providing quick access to other parts of the product.

The Center of the screen displays a structured overview of all open reports. Each report is labeled with its current phase — whether it’s being edited, awaiting review from an instructor, ready for feedback, or confirmed. This helps therapists prioritize tasks at a glance.

The Left side of the screen continues to offer tools and reminders, reinforcing consistency across the experience.

Report Writing - Treatment Goals Tab

This part of the report emerged as the most complex and emotionally demanding part of the documentation. The following screen was designed specifically to address that pain point, offering structure, clarity, and helpful guidance to support therapists in articulating goals that are both meaningful and measurable.

The Right side of the screen provides a clear visual navigation system which helps therapists track their progress across categories — identifying which sections are incomplete, in progress, or finalized. Once earlier sections are filled out, our AI engine analyzes the content and generates tailored suggestions for the treatment goals — though therapists can still write in any order they choose.

The Center of the screen shows the treatment goals themselves. Therapists can freely craft goals, guided by structured subcategories. Here, two smart AI tools come into play: one helps turn rough bullet points into clean paragraphs, and the other refines wording for clarity and professionalism.

The Left side of the screen provides additional tools for the therapist including: Patients Info, Utilities and AI-Based Treatment Goals, all wrapped in a friendly, encouraging tone - directly addressing feedback from therapists who said that writing reports often feels isolating and overwhelming.

Structuring the Experience - Mobile Version

The mobile version was designed with our second persona, Orly, in focus — a highly experienced occupational therapist who also serves as a clinical instructor. For her, time is limited, and multitasking is constant. This version supports on-the-go access, allows for quick data entry, and makes it easy to manage both her own documentation and provide oversight for the therapists she mentors.

Home Screen

Tailored to the fast-paced routines of experienced instructors, the home page simplifies navigation with two main actions: view patients or access reports submitted by the therapists under her supervision.

 

The bottom half of the screen features an Upcoming Events panel, creating a seamless, consistent experience between desktop and mobile.

Supervised Therapists

This screen provides instructors with quick access to submitted reports from their team.

 

Whether they’re between sessions or reviewing on the move, instructors can efficiently see what’s waiting for feedback and prioritize accordingly.

Report Review & Feedback

When an instructor selects “See Report,” they’re taken to a focused reading view. The screen prioritizes the report content, mirroring the familiar desktop structure.

A dropdown menu at the bottom enables instructors to jump between categories quickly — saving time and maintaining flow

 

Comments can be added through a dedicated, easy-to-reach button — keeping the experience lightweight, non-disruptive, and perfectly suited to quick check-ins between tasks.

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Prototyping & Expert Feedback

While we didn’t conduct formal usability testing due to project constraints, we placed strong emphasis on prototyping and real-world validation through expert insights.

One of our team members, a licensed occupational therapist with field experience, offered continuous input throughout the design process. Additionally, another teammate with close ties to the profession provided valuable secondary feedback. This allowed us to design with confidence, prioritizing functionality, clarity, and the nuanced needs of therapists in the field.

 

Every decision was rooted in the reality of their daily work, ensuring that our solution felt both relevant and supportive. We were careful not to overcomplicate the UI, focusing instead on clarity and speed

Reflection

This project was both challenging and incredibly rewarding. Working within the constraints of limited testing time, we learned to lean into the strengths of research, team collaboration, and expert input. Designing for a field that relies so heavily on clarity, structure, and emotional labor gave us a deeper appreciation for thoughtful UX.

 

While we didn’t conduct full usability testing, the expert feedback we received reinforced many of our design assumptions and highlighted the power of proximity to the problem.

If we had more time, we would have loved to conduct real usability sessions and explore integrations with existing clinic systems. Still, EndNote. pushed me to grow as a researcher, communicator, and product thinker — and reminded me how impactful design can be when grounded in empathy and real user needs.

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