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Case Study — LastMinute

When a nurse calls out at 2 AM, someone has to fill that shift.

I redesigned a healthcare scheduling system — dashboard, schedule, templates, manager mobile — for a product that existed but wasn't keeping up. Two interfaces, one system: managers on desktop, nurses on mobile.

Role
Product Designer
Timeline
May – Nov 2025
Team
3 designers + engineering
Platform
Web + iOS
LastMinute Dashboard
0.1
Context

The product existed. The experience didn't.

LastMinute had been shipping for years, but the interface grew piecemeal — bolted-on features, patched workflows, no consistency. I joined a team of three designers plus engineering to reimagine it. I owned the manager core (dashboard, schedule, templates, manager mobile) and drove the IA and cross-surface patterns the whole team built on.

2 Interfaces
Manager desktop + nurse mobile
Different screen sizes, different problems, one system
3 Designers
Collaborative design team
I owned the core manager experience; we shared the system
7 Months
May – November 2025
Discovery through dev handoff
0.2
Two Users, Two Problems

Two users, two design problems

Same system, completely different needs. This tension shaped every decision.

Manager

Desktop — density and control

Schedule grid, request queue, coverage gaps, staff availability, templates, admin. One glance should answer: "Are we covered?"

Nurse

Mobile — speed and clarity

Daily schedule, shift notifications, pick-up opportunities. Thumb-reachable, single column, 15 seconds of attention between patient rounds.

1.0
Process

Discovery first. Figma second.

I led discovery and information architecture — mapping user flows, defining subsystems, establishing design patterns. Then we split: I took the manager core, teammates took admin, requests, and nurse mobile. Weekly crits kept it all aligned.

01

Discovery

Interviewed charge nurses and hospital managers about real workflows — how shifts get filled, where the friction lives.

02

System Mapping

Mapped every critical path in FigJam: shift assignment, coverage request, PTO, shift swap, marketplace. These flows became the shared blueprint.

03

Architecture

Defined the IA and design patterns: dashboard → schedule → templates → requests → admin. Shared components and conventions the whole team used.

04

Iteration

Four versions: v2.0 → branding → v2.1 → v2.2. Weekly crits across all three designers. I facilitated cross-surface alignment at every stage.

FigJam board showing current vs proposed user flows for scheduling and coverage requests
1.1
Iteration

Templates and schedules are the same problem

The biggest design challenge was the connection between templates and the schedule. Hospitals already had staffing data in spreadsheets — I designed a flow where managers import their Excel, generate a reusable template, apply it to any week, then add custom shifts on top. Templates are the base layer; customizations sit above without breaking the blueprint.

01Create Template
Create new template screen
02Template Overview
Template section after creation
03Apply to Schedule
Schedule overview with applied template
04Add Custom Shift
Add new customized shift on top of template
v2.0

Templates and schedules felt disconnected

Managers created templates in one place and applied them somewhere else. They'd build templates but forget to apply them, or edit the schedule directly and lose template changes.

v2.1

Connected, but custom shifts were invisible

I added apply-to-schedule directly in the template flow. But the schedule didn't distinguish template shifts from custom additions — managers couldn't tell what would change on a template update.

v2.2

Visual layering solved it

Template shifts and custom shifts became distinct visual layers. Updating a template propagates without touching customizations. Weekly crits pushed me to add import error handling and a "start from last week" shortcut.

2.0
Manager Experience

The charge nurse's command center

My primary ownership. I redesigned the dashboard, scheduling grid, template system, and manager mobile app — the surfaces managers live in.

My work

Dashboard

Redesigned around "action items" instead of the old "current state" view. Pending approvals, unfilled shifts, coverage warnings — one glance answers: are we covered?

My work

Scheduling Grid

Two views: by area (ICU, Pediatrics, ER) and by staff. Create regular and customized shifts, edit published shifts, manage overfilled positions. Constraints baked in.

My work

Template System

Configure once, apply to any week. Roles, times, staff counts. I designed the creation flow, apply-to-schedule interaction, and empty-state onboarding.

app.lastminute.health/dashboard
LastMinute Manager Dashboard — action items, pending approvals, schedule snapshot, analytics
My work

Manager Mobile

Companion app: today's schedule, on-call staff with advanced filters, shift details, push notifications on lock screen. A quick-check tool for the hallway.

Team

Admin + Settings

Departments, roles, user groups, shift times. Another designer owned these; I set the IA and patterns they built on.

Team

Request System

PTO requests, coverage requests, shift marketplace. A teammate designed the flows; I defined the system model (draft → send → accept/decline).

Manager mobile — daily schedule with shift status
Daily Schedule
Manager mobile — on-call staff list with filters
On-call Staff
Manager mobile — shift details with staff assignments
Shift Details
3.0
Nurse Experience

Mobile-first. Designed for thumbs.

A teammate owned the nurse app. I built the system architecture it plugs into — notification taxonomy, shift status model, data flows. When a nurse accepts a shift on mobile, the manager's grid updates instantly. That connection was my responsibility.

Team

Daily Schedule

Today's shifts, times, location, staffing level. Tap for full details. Swipe for other days.

Team

Notifications

All / Updates / Actions. Call-outs, shift offers, swap requests. One tap to accept or decline. Push on the lock screen for urgent items.

Team

Shift Call-out + Availability

Urgent coverage: big accept/decline. Availability calendar: mark which days you can work. PTO: pick dates, submit, get notified.

Nurse mobile app — shift preferences, calendar, schedule views, and open shift details
4.0
Design Evolution

Each version killed something that wasn't working

V 2.0 Aug 2025

Foundation

I built the dashboard and scheduling grid; a teammate built the nurse app. Core loop worked, but the mental model was wrong — managers treated scheduling as a task, not a strategy. That insight reshaped my dashboard in v2.1.

Dashboard Schedule Nurse Mobile
Branding Q3 2025

Visual identity

I led branding end-to-end. Explored many logo directions, landed on a purple-dominant palette with a bar-chart icon. Built the design system all three designers used.

Logo Color Typography Components
V 2.1 Oct 2025

Expanded scope

I redesigned the dashboard around action items. A teammate built the Shift Marketplace flows against the system model I defined. Templates, admin, and the request system all came together in this round. Weekly crits kept surfaces aligned.

Dashboard v2 Marketplace Templates Admin
V 2.2 Nov 2025

Refinement + handoff

All three designers converged. I led the consistency pass — ensuring admin, requests, and nurse app followed the patterns from the manager core. Comprehensive dev handoff across every surface.

Edge Cases Consistency Dev Handoff
5.0
Impact

What we shipped

Three designers, seven months, one cohesive product. I owned the manager core and the system architecture everyone designed against.

Web + iOS
Full platform redesign
Manager dashboard, nurse mobile, manager mobile companion
4 versions
Iterated from v2.0 to v2.2
Each version validated or overturned assumptions
Award
Submitted for design recognition
PDF, video, and presentation materials prepared
6.0
Reflection

What I'll carry forward

Systems thinking scales a small team

Three designers covered a massive surface because the architecture was shared. User flows, component patterns, and naming conventions upfront meant everyone could work independently while staying cohesive.

Map flows before screens

FigJam caught more problems than any wireframe review. Understanding the system before designing the screens made every iteration faster.

Two views beat one flexible view

The schedule grid worked once we stopped trying to make one layout answer every question. "By area" and "by staff" each did one job well — clearer than a single view with ten filters.

Redesign > greenfield

Users had muscle memory. Every improvement had to justify the disruption — especially where getting it wrong means an understaffed ward.

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© 2026 Han Meng — Product Designer