Immergo Labs Case Study

Immergo Labs

Redesigning for Recovery: Enhancing Usability for Veterans and Therapists Exploring VR Physical Therapy

summary

I was tasked with redesigning Immergo's marketing site to better communicate value to veterans and physical therapists interested in VR-based therapy. I led the visual redesign, rewrote and restructured content, and built 40+ reusable React components to establish a scalable, accessible design system. The revamped site improved clarity and appeal for key audiences, streamlined navigation, and supported faster development through consistent UI patterns.

role

UX/UI Designer and Researcher

timeline

Fall ‘23 to Spring ‘24

skills

Systems Design, IxD, Wireframing, User Research, UX Writing

tools

Figma, VS Code, HTML, React JS, Tailwind CSS

My pt journey

P.T. aka Pain and Torture

Crouched on my bedroom floor with makeshift pillow props, my COVID-era physical therapy sessions became rituals of frustration rather than recovery—until I discovered Ben Patrick on YouTube, an exercise coach out of Miami that taught me to truly understand my body's mechanics and adapt exercises to my limited circumstances.

Immergo and pt constraints

While transformative, P.T. is often ineffective, time-consuming, and frustrating for most patients.

Immergo Labs embodies Ben's philosophy, using VR technology to transform physical therapy from an isolating struggle into an engaging journey where patients become active participants in their own recovery.

How might we expose the true value in physical therapy?

Looking at my primary care provider's website, I found physical therapy relegated to a single, uninspiring page—no multimedia, just dry text framing it as pain management. Real therapy success requires excitement and empowerment, teaching patients why each movement matters rather than treating them as passive recipients of care.

Problem space

Practitioners and patients curious about VR therapy need confidence in its benefits.

Furthermore, because Immergo was in the pursuit of a VA (Veterans' Affairs) grant, they also wanted the website to speak to the hopes and fears veterans might have in interacting with VR therapy, while showcasing the company's innovative approach to physical therapy.

The original site's structural problems created critical pain points that hampered user experience and conversion rates.
- Inconsistent visual language between the VR platform and web interfaces
- Information overload that overwhelmed potential users
- Fragmented user journeys to critical features like waitlist signup and AutoDoc
- Lack of clear hierarchy in presenting complex technological concepts to healthcare professionals and patients

Solution

Optimizing the discovery of Immergo’s offerings through strategic pathways and user-centered design

The redesign tackled key business challenges by integrating the AutoDoc tool into the main site, optimizing the waitlist signup process, building trust through strategic testimonials, and a new design system that aligned with Immergo’s VR and AutoDoc platforms. We created distinct pathways for both physical therapists and patients, backing up Immergo's innovation with social proof and compelling visuals of their VR platform in action.

001

AutoDoc: Designing for accessibility and understanding

Information regarding AutoDoc , a key offering, was isolated on a separate page, creating friction in the user journey and reducing visibility within Immergo's ecosystem. Furthermore, the FAQ and feature explanations focused on benefits over technical details to avoid user confusion.

002

Optimizing waitlist conversions to decrease cognitive overload

The placement of waitlist sign-up opportunities, while abundant, suffered from poor contextual integration and visual hierarchy, often getting lost among competing elements rather than standing out at meaningful decision points.

003

Implementing testimonials to build trust and integrity

The website lacked trust signals like testimonials and visual demonstrations. While primarily targeting therapists, it neglected patient needs, creating an imbalanced experience that failed to address all stakeholder requirements.

004

Building a cohesive and modern design system

The website's design was inconsistent with Immergo's VR platform and AutoDoc tool, creating a fragmented brand experience. I improved this by redesigning the Research page, which was originally just a list of hyperlinks, with article components that matched the Blog's style. This added depth and created a more cohesive, memorable user experience.

*Before redesign

*After redesign

The Blog page was well-designed but incomplete. Stakeholders wanted it to be more engaging due to low traffic. I added newsletter CTAs, a landing section featuring highlighted articles, and basic functionality (sorting, filtering)—which, though not crucial for fewer than 20 articles, enhanced user freedom.

design process: Discover

Gathering Insights

To kickstart the design process, I analyzed how telehealth companies present their offerings to diverse audiences and utilize various design elements in their marketing approaches. I then conducted a heuristic analysis of Immergo's current website, using Jakob Nielsen's 10 Usability Heuristics. Finally, I conducted some interviews of Immergo's greatest stakeholders to figure out who the website's main user segments were.

competitive analysis

To kickstart the design process, I analyzed how telehealth companies present their offerings to diverse audiences and utilize various design elements in their marketing approaches.

Heuristic evaluation

Out of Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics, I found the original Immergo Website to be most deficient in its Aesthetic & Minimalist Design, and Consistency & Standards (i.e. in-button text, CTAs, use of color, etc.). I also tried to engage the rest of the 10 Heuristics through my designs, whether that meant improving the Visibility of System Status when opening up an Immergo research paper or signing up for the platform waitlist , or making the overall website safer to explore.

user interviews

After analyzing the website and identifying redesign opportunities, I interviewed Immergo's chief consulting physical therapist to assess its effectiveness and understand what would motivate therapists and patients to try Immergo's products. Based on this interview and leadership discussions, I developed user segments to guide my redesign.

The All-In-One

Physical Therapist & Small Business Owner

They run a hybrid clinic/gym with in-house therapists, balancing patient outcomes with efficiency and profitability. Tech-savvy but cautious, they prioritize ROI due to challenges like patient non-adherence and poor tech integration.

⚠️ Website Frustrations:

- Lack of direct answers about integration, cost, and patient adoption.
- Hard-to-find testimonials from other PTs validating its effectiveness.

💼 Needs from the Website:

- Scan key offerings fast without digging through excessive details.
- See ROI and patient benefits clearly outlined.

💡 What Works for THEM:

- Real PT testimonials and case studies.
- Straightforward breakdown of business and patient benefits.

Tired young woman using laptop in office touching head feeling headache

The Busy Patient

Marketing Executive

A newly promoted, travel-heavy parent with chronic shoulder pain struggles with therapy consistency. Tech-savvy but simplicity-driven, they prefer intuitive rehab solutions and rely on reviews before adoption.

⚠️ Website Frustrations:

- Lack of patient-centered language or relatable stories.
- Difficulty finding real user testimonials.

💼 Needs from the Website:

- Understand how Immergo VR fits into her rehab without technical jargon.
- Find patient success stories and ease-of-use assurances.

💡 What Works for THEM:

- Simple, welcoming design that is easy to navigate.
- Clear, relatable patient testimonials on ease and effectiveness.

The Rural Veteran

Former U.S. Army Specialist, Currently on Medical Leave

Injuries limit mobility and rehab access due to distance from the VA. Moderately tech-literate, they prefer visual tools and need remote rehab to stay connected with providers while reducing travel for a smoother return to work.

⚠️ Website Frustrations:

- Walls of text instead of visual demonstrations.
- Overly complex explanations of how the tech works.

💼 Needs from the Website:

- Watch real-world examples and videos of the Immergo VR platform in action.
- Know how it connects him to a therapist without extra hassle.

💡 What Works for THEM:

- Short, direct messaging explaining Immergo VR’s impact.
- Video walkthroughs instead of lengthy descriptions.

design process: Define

Building Empathy

Discovering the different pain points was crucial in building empathy for both of the user groups our website was aimed at serving.

Unfortunately, I was not able to interview any older adults and veterans, but taking my heuristic evaluation into consideration, I set out with the task of wireframing and developing an outline for the information architecture of the website that was straightforward and took into consideration potential sentiments of anxiety around VR technology, as well as lower rates of technical knowledge and expertise.

wireframing

During my initial approach to the Immergo website redesign, I focused primarily on visual improvements. This is evident in my Lo-Fi designs shown below, where the emphasis was on clean layouts and visual hierarchy rather than trust-building elements. The Lo-Fi wireframes prioritized information architecture and aesthetic improvements, but lacked dedicated sections for testimonials or comprehensive FAQs that would later become crucial.

However, when Immergo pivoted toward pursuing VA grant funding, I recognized the need to transform our strategy. This stakeholder shift directly prompted me to leverage critical trust-building elements like testimonial sections or FAQs.

design process: develop & deliver

Designing for User Trust and Transparency

The project's goal evolved from simple beautification to establishing Immergo as a trustworthy, empathetic company serving both physical therapists and their patients—many of whom might not be tech-savvy. Our challenge became making complex technical information accessible while creating an intuitive experience for diverse users.

This strategic pivot was the catalyst that led me to incorporate trust-building components and design for accessibility and inclusion, ensuring the website could build credibility with healthcare professionals while remaining approachable for potential patients interacting with Immergo's VR system.

hi-fidelity prototyping and motion design

The redesign delivered streamlined user journeys for key actions like waitlist signups and accessing their AutoDoc SOAP note tool, while a refreshed blog section better showcased their industry expertise. My design approach balanced aesthetics with accessibility, creating an experience that felt simultaneously surreal yet simple through minimal interactions and thoughtfully applied animations as shown below.

A significant constraint was Immergo's limited multimedia assets—as a startup, they lacked the rich content typically used to establish legitimacy online. With minimal images, videos, and marketing materials available, I leveraged fundamental web design principles and subtle motion design as alternative methods to convey professionalism. This strategic use of design elements compensated for content limitations while maintaining an approachable interface.

design system

I created the Immergo Web Design system to follow the principles below to help guide me in my redesign:
- flexibility (so it can be used across the marketing site, web platform, and Autodoc)
- simple to use (& easy to implement)
- highly polished and modern

Since my co-intern, Alyssa, was working on desigining the web platform for accessing Autodoc and other Immergo products, she used many of the basic design system components in her designs (i.e. buttons, colors, logos). We worked together to define the updated color palette and typeface library.

Additionally, I had the need for website-specific components that could not be applied elsewhere in the Immergo Web ecosystem (i.e. article components, navigation bars, etc.)

Lessons learned

📝 Question assumptions early.

Blindly designing features without questioning their purpose leads to wasted effort. When I discovered the existing login functionality served no real purpose for a marketing website, it taught me to question every feature's value – even those that already exist.

During my first weeks, I spent considerable time designing user profile sections until a simple question about its purpose revealed it was outside our scope. This experience taught me that asking "why" early saves extensive redesign work later.

🎯 Simplicity serves all users.

Initially designing for tech-savvy users, I had to pivot when learning our primary audience included veterans and seniors. What seemed like a constraint became an opportunity to sharpen my UX writing.

I learned to strip away technical jargon and complex interactions, focusing instead on clear, accessible language and straightforward navigation patterns. This shift not only served our primary users better but improved the experience for everyone.