Patient Experience Design Services
We partner with hospitals and health systems to redesign the patient experience - using human-centred design, co-design with patients and staff, and evidence-based methods that deliver measurable, lasting improvement.
Watch overview End-to-end design for every step of the patient journey
From the first phone call to discharge and follow-up, we identify the moments that matter most and design experiences that are easier to navigate, more compassionate, and more equitable - grounded in real healthcare operations and the voices of patients, families, caregivers, staff, and community.
Patient Journey Mapping & Moments That Matter
End-to-end mapping across clinical and non-clinical settings - including transitions and coordination points - to pinpoint the moments that most shape experience.
Voice-of-Patient, Family & Caregiver Research
Interviews, shadowing, surveys, and review of your existing experience data to turn lived experience into clear, prioritized, actionable insight.
Mixed-Method Community Engagement at Scale
High-touch and lighter-touch methods - 1:1 interviews, co-design, interactive installations, digital story-sharing - reaching hundreds to 1,000+ voices, with participation and representativeness dashboards and interim "what we're hearing" briefs.
Co-Design & Participatory Workshops
Structured sessions that put patients, families, caregivers, staff, and community members at the same table to design solutions together - with them, not for them.
Qualitative Synthesis, Validation & Prioritization
Rigorous synthesis and sensemaking with stakeholders to theme the moments that matter and prioritize opportunities by impact, feasibility, and readiness.
Service Blueprinting & Process Redesign
Detailed blueprints that align front-stage experience with back-stage processes, roles, and systems - so improvements are operationally realistic.
Experience Principles, Standards & Governance Framework
A repeatable, organization-wide framework: experience principles, service standards, roles and accountability, measures, and governance pathways to embed people-centred care.
Experience Strategy & Multi-Year Roadmap
A prioritized, actionable 3-year roadmap with sequencing, dependencies, early-win opportunities, and success metrics to guide future improvement.
Wayfinding & Healing Environment Design
Physical-space, signage, and wayfinding strategy that reduces stress and makes care environments calmer, clearer, and more welcoming.
Digital & Communication Experience Design
Designing patient communications, intake, portals, and digital touchpoints so information is clear, accessible, and consistent at every step.
Accessibility & Inclusive Experience Design
AODA-aligned experiences for all abilities, ages, and languages - accessible formats, barrier-free venues, accommodations, and inclusive facilitation.
Experience Measurement & Improvement Frameworks
Metrics, dashboards, and improvement cycles that track patient experience over time and demonstrate return on your investment.
A proven, human-centred design methodology
We deliver patient experience design through a transparent, collaborative, evidence-based process - so your teams can act with confidence and improvements actually stick.
Discover
We start from your existing data - survey results, complaints and compliments, and expert input - to form clear hypotheses, so engagement is focused on the moments most likely to matter across clinical and non-clinical settings.
Engage
Patients, families, clinicians, and operational teams co-design solutions together in facilitated workshops, ensuring buy-in from the start.
Synthesize & Prioritize
We synthesize and validate findings with stakeholders, theme the moments that matter, and prioritize opportunities by impact, feasibility, and readiness.
Prototype
We rapidly prototype experience concepts - communications, pathways, spaces, and touchpoints - and test them with real users before scaling.
Implement
Practical roll-out plans, service blueprints, and change support that embed new experiences into day-to-day operations and staff workflows.
Measure
Experience metrics and feedback loops that monitor impact, demonstrate value to stakeholders, and drive continuous improvement.
Every solution is built to be operationally realistic, sustainable, and aligned with your priorities - so it lives on long after the engagement ends, instead of sitting in a report.
Clear, governance-ready deliverables
Every engagement produces concrete, decision-ready outputs your leadership and governance teams can act on - not a slide deck that gathers dust.
Project Charter & Engagement Design
Objectives, scope, KPIs, risks, governance, and a detailed work plan.
Engagement Toolkit & Participation Dashboards
Discussion guides and prompts, plus participation and representativeness tracking by segment and method.
Interim "What We're Hearing" Briefs
Regular updates on emerging themes throughout fieldwork.
Thematic Insights Report
Validated moments that matter, pain points, and enablers.
Journey Maps & Service Blueprints
Across clinical and non-clinical settings and transition points.
Prioritized Opportunity Areas
Ranked by impact, feasibility, and readiness, with clear rationale.
Personalized Experiences Framework
Principles, service standards, roles, measures, and governance.
3-Year Roadmap & Final Report
Sequencing, early wins, success metrics, and recommendations.
Experiences designed around real people
Great patient experience must reflect the diversity of the communities a hospital serves. We embed equity, accessibility, and cultural safety into every design decision - designing with patients, families, and frontline staff, not just for them.
Patient & Family Voices at the Centre
Lived experience drives every decision. Patients and families are partners in the design process, not just subjects of research.
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Reconciliation
We design for the full diversity of your community - including underserved groups - grounded in anti-racism, anti-oppression, and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
Accessibility for All Abilities (AODA)
AODA-compliant engagement - accessible formats, barrier-free venues, accommodations, and inclusive, plain-language facilitation for all abilities.
Staff Experience Drives Patient Experience
Frontline teams shape every interaction. We design with staff to reduce friction and burnout - because supported staff deliver better care.
Data Ethics, Privacy & Consent
Informed consent, privacy, and secure handling of personal and health information - aligned with PHIPA and FIPPA - at every step of engagement and synthesis.
Methodological Rigour & Transparency
Recognized service-design and qualitative research practices, with transparent synthesis and sensemaking that leadership can trust for decision-making.
Measurable impact for patients and your bottom line
Patient experience design is not a "nice to have." Done well, it moves the metrics hospital leaders are accountable for - satisfaction, safety, flow, and staff retention.
Higher Patient Satisfaction
Improvements that show up in patient experience surveys - strengthening reputation, accreditation, and public trust.
Fewer Complaints & Less Friction
Redesigned journeys reduce confusion, missed appointments, and avoidable complaints - freeing staff time and improving flow.
Improved Access & Flow
Clearer pathways help patients navigate care, show up prepared, and follow through - improving outcomes and efficiency.
Stronger Staff Retention
Designing better experiences for staff as well as patients reduces frustration and burnout - supporting recruitment and retention.
A Canadian healthcare experience-design partner
Universal Health Hub is led by clinicians and operators with deep experience inside Canada's healthcare system - so we understand both the design craft and the realities of delivering care.
Healthcare Insiders, Not Outsiders
We've worked inside hospitals and care teams. We understand clinical workflow, constraints, and the pressures frontline staff face every day.
Human-Centred Design Expertise
Rigorous service-design and co-design methods adapted specifically for complex, high-stakes healthcare environments.
Equity-Informed & Canada-Wide
Equity, accessibility, and cultural safety are built into every engagement - delivered for hospitals and health systems across Canada.
Measurable, Implementable Results
We focus on changes you can actually adopt and measure - not theoretical best-practice without a path to implementation.
Designed for the organizations that deliver care
From a single department to a multi-site health system, our patient experience design engagements scale to your scope, setting, and complexity.
What hospital leaders ask us first
What is patient experience design?
How is this different from a patient satisfaction survey?
Do you work with hospitals across Canada?
How do you measure the impact of the work?
Can you engage large, diverse communities at scale?
Who owns the deliverables, and how do you handle data and privacy?
How do we get started?
Redesign the experience your patients deserve
Contact Universal Health Hub to discuss patient experience design, journey mapping, or co-design support tailored to your organization. We'll come back with a scoped proposal within a week.
