Smile Doctors logo with a stylized star and multi-colored shapes inside a red circle.

Smile Doctors


Smile Doctors, a national orthodontics brand, needed a seamless way to book new patient appointments. We extended their existing brand identity into a clean, user-friendly scheduling app—streamlining UX while reinforcing trust and approachability.

Deliverables

▸ Discovery

▸ UI/UX Design

▸ Cohesive Brand Presence

▸ Custom UI Kit / Library

A circular icon with a red border and black background, containing five colorful, irregularly shaped pieces resembling rocks or tiles in white, pink, orange, and red.

Built Around Patients. Backed by Brand.

A Streamlined Experience Rooted in Trust

Smile Doctors, a national orthodontics brand, needed more than just a booking tool—they needed a digital experience that matched their high-touch care. We extended their visual identity into a clean, intuitive scheduling platform, removing friction for new patients and reinforcing confidence in every click.

From typography to layout, each choice was made to support clarity and approachability.

A hand holding a smartphone displaying a map and details of Smile Doctors Orthodontics in Bloomington, Indiana, with a 'Book Appointment' button.

Mobile View

Laptop computer on an orange textured chair displaying an appointment booking webpage for a dental office.

Desktop View

See How We Got Here

Colorful, irregularly shaped stones within a red circular border.

A Patient Experience That Feels as Friendly as the Brand

Bringing function and friendliness together, we designed a seamless booking journey that reflects the trust, clarity, and care at the core of Smile Doctors.

01.

Discover

With no digital scheduling system in place, we analyzed patient pain points and studied best-in-class appointment flows from other industries to identify what a great booking experience could look like.

02.

Define

We aligned with stakeholders to define success: a simple, user-first path to book an appointment that built trust from the first click.

03.

Develop

We crafted intuitive flows, wireframes, and a clean UI system—turning a previously offline process into a streamlined, digital experience.

04.

Deliver

We launched a flexible, scalable UI kit and final designs that made scheduling effortless—giving patients more access, and the brand more impact.

Into The Work

Dental examination room with dental chair, equipment, and cabinets

01 — The Problem

Why It Mattered

There was no digital way to book—only phone calls during business hours. That gap created real friction.

  • Inconvenient: No booking after hours.

  • Restrictive: No channel to surface or promote additional services.

  • Limiting: Missed chances to convert leads into patients.

Smile Doctors needed a smarter, simpler way to connect with customers.

02 — The Strategy

Discovery & Research

We dug into real customer feedback to spot friction points, collaborated with stakeholders for key insights, and mapped user personas to their booking journeys. We pulled inspiration from top scheduling apps to streamline the experience—without losing what made Smile Doctors distinct.

Customer Insights

We listened—and the pain points were clear. Customers felt rushed, frustrated, and boxed into phone bookings. They wanted more control, flexibility, and a calmer experience. These insights shaped a flow that meets users on their terms: at their pace, with clarity up front.

Four colorful speech bubbles with quotes about making appointments by phone, discussing frustrations and preferences for online booking.

User Personas

We crafted personas to reflect the real people using the product—each with their own rhythms, needs, and constraints. Sarah needed a tool that could simplify the chaos of family scheduling. Jordan needed speed and flexibility to fit healthcare into a packed college schedule. These profiles helped us design with empathy, ensuring the experience worked for both ends of the spectrum.

Infographic profile of Sarah Thompson, a 38-year-old stay-at-home mom, with a photo of a smiling woman with glasses. It details her demographics, goals, pain points, behavior, and needs related to managing her children's appointments.
Profile overview of Jordan Miller, a 21-year-old full-time college student living near a Smile Doctors clinic, with demographics, goals, pain points, behavior, and needs listed on a red background. Includes a photo of a young man with brown hair, smiling, wearing a black hoodie.
An infographic with an orange background and premium profile photos of a woman with glasses and a man with short hair and a hoodie, showing a summary of shared needs related to a booking platform, including mobile design, reminders, notifications, and appointment availability.

Task + User Flows

We partnered with stakeholders and product owners to map out core user flows—shaped by business goals and grounded in real customer feedback. Each step was intentionally designed to reduce friction and keep users moving with clarity. Insights from our competitive analysis helped refine the flow, ensuring it felt intuitive, efficient, and aligned with how people actually book appointments in the real world.

Flowchart illustrating an appointment scheduling process: Starting from 'Smile Doctors Homepage,' then 'Select Doctors Office,' 'Select Day and Time of Appointment,' 'Enter Patient Details,' 'Enter Responsible Party Details,' 'Confirm Appointment Details,' 'Schedule Appointment,' and concluding with 'Success/Failure Confirmation.'
Flowchart diagram for booking a medical appointment, including steps for selecting a doctor, choosing appointment times, and confirming details, with decision points and options for virtual or in-person visits.

Competitive Analysis

We explored how others do it. By analyzing leading scheduling platforms, we uncovered what worked (and what didn’t) across flows, layouts, and microinteractions. From clean time-slot pickers to intuitive calendar views, these insights helped us spot patterns worth keeping—and gaps we could improve on to make Smile Doctors’ experience faster, clearer, and more human.

Booking page interface with a calendar for July 2024, highlighting dates, and options to select a time for an appointment, showing selected time as 11:00 am, with available slots at 10:00 am, 1:00 pm, 2:30 pm, and 4:00 pm.
An online appointment booking page for a doctor's office shows available dates from Thursday, January 16 to Wednesday, January 22. The selected doctor is Dr. Julie Weibert with an appointment available on Friday, January 17 at 3:00 PM. The page indicates Dr. Weibert is available from that date, with one opening. The right sidebar lists other nearby office locations with contact information, including MyEyeDr. offices in Downtown, Irvington, Broad Ripple, and Eagle Creek in Indianapolis, with distances and phone numbers.

03 — UI/UX Design

Designing The User Interface

With insights locked in, we translated strategy into screens. Every element—from calendar layouts to confirmation flows—was designed to reduce friction and build trust. We leaned into clarity, simplicity, and just the right amount of delight, creating an interface that feels familiar, responsive, and easy to use—whether you're booking for one or managing care for a whole family.

Wireframing

We started with low-fidelity wireframes to sketch the foundation—quick, clean, and focused on function. These early drafts helped us visualize the booking flow and get aligned fast. We shared them with stakeholders for feedback, then iterated with purpose—refining structure, flow, and usability with every round.

Screenshot of an online patient registration form, showing fields for first and last name, date of birth, phone, email, and preferences for text reminders. The form indicates steps for office selection, date and time choice, patient form, and scheduling an appointment.
Screenshot of a website page for Smile Doctors orthodontics. It shows a map with clinic locations in Pensacola, FL and nearby towns. The map features icons marking clinics and local businesses. On the left, there are listings for orthodontic offices with addresses, phone numbers, and booking options.
Screenshot of an online map showing dental offices with booking options, including Smile Doctors Orthodontics locations in Bloomington, Piora, and others, with a sidebar listing office details and a map with icons indicating various businesses and landmarks.
Confirmation screen showing appointment scheduled for August 11, 2022 at 11:00 AM at 857 S Auto Mall Rd, Ste 5, Bloomington, Indiana. Contains details for saving time and a button for directions.

User Interface (UI) Design

Screenshot of a dental appointment booking website showing a map of the area around Bloomington, Indiana, with several orthodontic clinics marked, including Smile Doctors Orthodontics and others, along with contact details and options to book appointments.
Screenshot of a website for Smile Doctors, showing a map of a medical office location, with options to select different doctors and book appointments.
Online scheduling page for Smile Doctors orthodontics with available appointment times in August.
Online appointment confirmation page for Smile Doctors showing scheduled appointment details, including date, time, location, patient information, and a map button.

04 — The Outcome

Results and Value

The result? A clean, intuitive, mobile-first booking experience built for real life. The final design let users book appointments anytime, from anywhere, in just a few taps. A simplified 4-step process made it easy to select a service, pick a time, and confirm—all without the friction. And with a scalable foundation, Smile Doctors is set up to grow—whether that means adding promos, reminders, or new features down the line.

Identity Applied

Colorful, irregularly shaped stones inside a red circle on a black background.

05 — Project Impacts

Patient Experience Elevated

Designing the online booking system transformed Smile Doctors' digital experience—making appointment scheduling faster, simpler, and more intuitive for patients while giving internal teams the tools they need to manage visits more efficiently.

01

▸ Clearer Path to Booking

Streamlined the user journey with fewer steps, removing friction points that previously caused drop-offs during scheduling.

02

▸ Stronger First Impression

Modernized design aligned with Smile Doctors’ approachable, patient-first identity—building trust from the first click.

03

▸ Seamless Mobile Experience

Delivered a responsive interface optimized for on-the-go users, enabling smooth booking from any device.

04

▸ Simplified Decision Making

Improved appointment flow with clear service descriptions and time-slot visibility, helping patients choose with confidence.

05

▸ Increased Conversion Potential

Reduced barriers to booking, improving the likelihood of completed appointments and fewer no-shows.

06

▸ Scalable Digital System

Created a flexible structure that can grow with future service offerings, office expansions, and technology integrations.

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