Stabilizing a Healthcare Marketplace to Increase Fill Rate

Context

SwiftCare is a healthcare staffing marketplace connecting dental clinics with hygienists.

As the product evolved, the browsing experience became fragmented. Multiple entry modes, overloaded calendars, and inconsistent signals slowed decision-making, directly impacting shift applications and overall fill rate.

In a high-intent marketplace, hesitation equals lost revenue.

The founders needed clarity before introducing a proposal-based negotiation feature that would further complicate the workflow.

My Role

UX Strategy & Workflow Architect

I was brought in to:

- Diagnose structural friction in the hygienist browsing flow

- Increase applications per contract

- Improve scannability and decision speed

- Realign evolving features under a clear UX mandate

- Prepare the system for proposal-based negotiation mechanics

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This was not a redesign.
It was a systems alignment challenge.

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Core Problem

The interface required interpretation instead of enabling fast decision-making.

For a marketplace dependent on rapid shift applications, cognitive friction directly reduces conversion.

Key Structural Issues Identified

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1. Fragmented Browsing Architecture

Three separate entry modes created disorientation.

Users were unsure:

• Where to begin
• Whether they were browsing or managing
• How different views related to each other

Decision fatigue occurred before action.

2. Calendar Overload

Colour-coded legends and multiple visual signals overloaded users.

The calendar attempted to communicate:

• Availability
• Booked shifts
• Open opportunities
• State differences

This created interpretation cost.

3. Shift Cards Lacked Scannability

Shift cards displayed too much information at once.

High-priority decision variables (rate, hours) were visually diluted.

Rapid comparison behaviour, critical in marketplaces was slowed.

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4. Mandate Drift from Rapid Feature Evolution

As new features were introduced (including proposal-based negotiation), structural coherence weakened.

Without alignment, additional complexity would compound confusion.

Strategic Decisions

1. Simplified Calendar Logic

• Reduced colour and shape overload
• Introduced a single, consistent indicator system
• Clearly separated booking states from opportunity states

Outcome: Reduced cognitive load and faster visual parsing.

2. Restructured Shift Cards

• Prioritized rate and hours
• Reduced secondary information visibility
• Optimized for rapid scanning and comparison

Outcome: Improved decision speed in high-intent browsing.

3. Clarified Browsing Architecture

• Reduced entry-point confusion
• Proposed orientation-based homepage logic
• Streamlined pathway to shift discovery

Outcome: Reduced friction before application.

4. Prepared the UX for Proposal-Based Negotiation

• Defined clarity between proposal vs confirmed contract states
• Unified hygienist and clinic mental models
• Ensured negotiation mechanics would not disrupt browsing logic

Outcome: New feature integration without structural instability.

Strategic Impact

The work shifted the product conversation from:

“How do we add features?” to “How do we protect decision velocity in a high-intent marketplace?”

By reducing cognitive friction and clarifying structural states, the platform moved closer to:

• Faster shift applications
• Increased fill rate
• Sustainable feature expansion

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