Design System at Meditech

Within a new product, creating components to bridge the gap and afford consistency

Context

I joined Meditech at the start of a major project: a full rebuild of its Laboratory Information System. Meditech is the third-largest hospital EHR vendor, and Labs—along with Imaging—was one of the first apps to get a complete redesign from the ground up. Everything was open: code, workflows, IA, and visual design.

The company had recently launched a new design system team, but it is still being built and has very little components. This meant the Labs team had to find a solution, and create our own components while staying consistent across eight designers and multiple workflows.

Problem

  • Few components existed in the new design system

  • Eight designers were creating patterns independently

  • Inconsistencies started showing across workflows

  • Components had to be clear, usable, and accessible for clinicians

  • Needed to respect MEDITECH’s existing design system while building new patterns

My Role

  • Designed reusable UI components for the Laboratory app

  • Worked closely with the Atrium design system team

  • Made sure all designs were accessible (WCAG 2)

  • Helped the Labs team create consistent patterns across workflows

  • Designed key components like laboratory flags and pill-shaped tabs

  • Currently collaborating on a specimen card component

Labs teams would make their own design system to alleviate theirs design needs, while supporting the development of the new design system.

Because the new product needed it, we developed reusable components in order to satisfy the needs of all the teams.

These components were then adopted within the design system.

Solutions

Laboratory Flags

I designed a set of flags to indicate lab results quickly and clearly:

  • Critical Low / High

  • Abnormal Low / High

  • Abnormal

  • Delta

  • Error

Key goals:

  • Quick recognition in fast-paced clinical workflows

  • Text labels + color for accessibility

  • Reusable across result lists, worklists, and detail views

  • Clear hierarchy: critical flags stand out more

Pill-Shaped Tabs

Pill tabs organize information across lab workflows.

Design goals:

  • Hover, click, focus, active, and disabled states

  • High contrast for readability

  • Clear focus indicators for keyboard users

  • Flexible pattern so other designers could use it consistently

Team Collaboration

I also worked closely with the other Lab designers to:

  • Identify overlapping patterns

  • Consolidate solutions

  • Build shared components

  • Currently designing the specimen card component together

Pain Points

  • Very few existing components in Atrium

  • Multiple designers creating different solutions

  • Accessibility requirements for clinical use

  • Balancing speed with long-term system consistency

  • Aligning new components with legacy patterns

Designing foundational components from scratch taught me the importance of thinking system-first. Small elements like flags and tabs appear everywhere, so getting them right early matters a lot.

Working closely with the design system team and my peers also showed me how collaboration helps maintain consistency—even when building something entirely new. It’s rewarding to see small, well-designed pieces have a big impact across a complex healthcare application.