Saarthi
Project: Internal Patient Management Tool for NGOs I Description: Saarthi is a lightweight internal platform helping NGO workers track, coordinate, and respond to hemophilia care needs in low-tech areas. I Timeline: September 2022 – March 2023 I Role: Co-Product Designer
Role
Co Product Design
timeline
September 2022 – March 2023
DESIGN CHALLENGE
CURRENTLY...
NGO workers supporting hemophilia patients in rural India juggle:
Paper-based or disconnected records
Emergency response delays
Difficulty tracking treatment adherence
The outcome? Missed infusions, poor care coordination, and risk to patient lives.
We asked:
How might we help field workers track and coordinate hemophilia care, even with limited connectivity or training?
FIELD INSIGHTS
Speaking to NGO staff, we uncovered 3 key pain points:
🔹 Not Designed for Them
Existing tools were overly complex, English-only, and built for hospitals—not grassroots work.
🔹 Disconnected Information
Infusion history, treatment centres, and patient status were scattered across WhatsApp, diaries, and memory.
🔹 No Real-Time Response
Emergencies required manual phone trees and paperwork, delaying action.
CORE MODULES
After a design jam and journey mapping session, I distilled the tool into
6 field-friendly modules:
🔹 Patient Profiles – Demographics, diagnosis, severity tag, assigned center
🔹 Infusion Log – Quick tap to log dose, factor batch, time, admin method
🔹 Emergency Assist – One-tap alert with GPS + auto-notify coordinator
🔹 Aid & Insurance – Pre-filled PM-JAY forms, Aadhar uploads, real-time status
🔹 Volunteer Log – Route planner, visit checklists, visit time
🔹 Reports – Auto-generated PDFs of treatment status and vial inventory
Purpose:
Clear categories for ease of use even on low-literacy teams
Icon + Label for faster understanding
STARTING WITH THE PATIENT SUMMARY
We designed the profile to be:
Color-coded by severity (mild/moderate/severe)
Tappable summary tiles for infusion frequency, last visit, aid status
Minimal text + icon-based cues
INFUSION TRACKING FLOW
Instead of navigating 3 pages, a volunteer can now:
Tap "Log Infusion"
Select preloaded factor brand
Auto-fill timestamp and batch ID
This reduced tracking time from ~5 mins to under 60 seconds.
EMERGENCY FLOW
When a patient bleeds internally:
Tap "Emergency Alert"
Auto-notify nearest ambulance team + staff
Pre-filled report sent via SMS + syncs online
CHALLENGES & LEARNINGS
REFLECTIONS
✎ Designing for constraint is liberating
What seemed like limitations (low-end phones, no WiFi) helped us strip things to the essential—and users loved the simplicity.
🌐 Localization isn’t just translation
Icons, field names, even button positions mattered. We tested designs in Hindi and Tamil, which brought huge usability insights.
🗣️ Advocating for design in NGOs
Working with an operations-led team meant pushing for design-led decisions. Sharing usability test recordings helped win buy-in.
Saarthi isn't just a system—it's a reliable partner in the journey of hemophilia care, bringing confidence and coordination to the people who need it most.
