MDS Patient Journey: Gamifying Complex Healthcare Education
Designed an interactive patient education AND healthcare professional training prototype addressing a critical gap in MDS (myelodysplastic syndromes) communication. Built a game-inspired journey map serving two audiences: helping newly diagnosed patients and families understand a complex disease, while training healthcare professionals how to communicate about MDS without dismissing patient concerns. Currently developing this into a fully interactive game using AI tools. Personal motivation: my father has MDS, and I've watched him navigate a healthcare system that often minimizes the complexity of this disease.
Role: Product Designer & Experience Designer
Tools: Gaming software, Adobe XD, Adobe InDesign, Chat GPT for copy, Leonardo AI and Adobe Firefly
Focus: Dual-audience healthcare education, patient advocacy, empathy training
The Problem
MDS affects 10,000-20,000 newly diagnosed patients each year in the United States, with 60,000-170,000 people currently living with the disease. American Cancer SocietyAJMC Despite these numbers, educational materials fail both patients AND healthcare providers. When my father was diagnosed, we discovered doctors often treat MDS dismissively—acting like a bone marrow transplant "fixes everything" when the reality is far more complicated.
The systemic disconnect:
MDS can take up to a decade to show symptoms, making early diagnosis rare
Every patient's journey is different—no "standard" treatment path exists
Bone marrow transplant is the only potentially curative option, but only about 25% of patients are under 60 and eligible PubMed
Doctors often present a transplant as a simple solution when it carries significant risks and doesn't guarantee a cure or easy road
Patients feel gaslit—symptoms dismissed, complexity downplayed, concerns minimized
HCPs lack tools showing them how their "don't worry about it" messaging harms patients
Meeting other families: I've connected with multiple MDS families who share this frustration. We all experienced the same pattern: doctors being nonchalant about a disease that fundamentally changes lives. These educational materials confuse rather than clarify, and make us feel like our concerns weren't taken seriously. This isn't just my dad's experience—it's systemic.
The opportunity: Design an interactive experience that validates patient experience while training healthcare professionals to communicate about complexity without minimizing it.
Product Vision
Dual-Education Design
Built an interactive prototype where users choose to play as either patient or doctor—serving two critical educational needs simultaneously:
Patient Mode:
Navigate your unique journey through MDS
Understand why your path differs from others
Learn about your symptoms and feel seen
Feel validated that this disease IS complex
Learn what questions to ask doctors
Doctor Mode:
Experience what patients actually face over the years
Learn what tests to run, as early detection can help the patient manage the disease over the years
Learn to acknowledge complexity instead of minimizing it
Practice empathy for decade-long patient journeys
Game-Inspired Mechanics
Drew inspiration from classic video games, Pilgrim's Progress, and Lord of the Rings—journeys where characters face different challenges and paths diverge. This metaphor perfectly captures MDS: it's not one disease, it's many possible journeys through complicated, unpredictable terrain that can last years or even a decade.
Environmental Storytelling
Designed distinct environments representing different disease states and symptoms—showing patients what to expect AND showing doctors what patients experience beyond clinical symptoms.
What I built
Interactive Journey Map with Game Mechanics
Designed the journey map using gaming software, then built a fully functional interactive prototype in Adobe XD with real gameplay elements—not just clicking through screens, but managing resources, tracking consequences, and seeing how decisions impact outcomes over time.
Visual World Creation
Leveraged AI to generate environments and characters representing different disease stages and symptoms. Used AI for copywriting assistance, but all strategic mapping, user experience flow, game mechanics design, and interaction logic came from understanding both the complexity of the disease and what families desperately need.
Dual-Mode Game Experience with Real Mechanics
Play as Patient:
Energy system: Manage your energy as it depletes from treatments and disease progression
Treatment inventory: Click on your medical bag to see accumulated procedures—every blood draw, bone marrow biopsy, and blood transfusion tracked
Physical toll visualization: Watch how the cumulative burden of years of treatment affects you
Journey decisions: Navigate choices, knowing each procedure costs energy
Play as Doctor:
Patient well-being scoring: Your performance is graded on how your patient feels
Communication consequences: Dismissive messaging lowers patient energy and your score
Treatment decisions: Balance medical necessity with the patient quality of life
Empathy mechanic: See in real-time how your choices affect patient experience
These aren't passive educational slides—this is actual gameplay showing the decade-long toll of MDS on patients and the accountability doctors should feel for patient wellbeing.
Current Status
The fully interactive Adobe XD prototype with working game mechanics is live on my portfolio—you can play as either patient or doctor and experience the actual gameplay. Now working with AI tools to expand this into a complete game with fuller mechanics, more decision points, and deeper simulation of the long-term MDS journey.
