Trace
In Ireland, patients are their own healthcare record. Trace gives them somewhere to store it.
Ireland's fragmented public-private healthcare system relies entirely on the patient to verbally communicate their history. Scans can't be transferred between departments. Insurance coverage is invisible at the point of care. Family history is a guess.
How might we give patients a complete view of their own health history, across all providers, without requiring those providers to change their systems?
This project started with four real moments.
Year-long waiting list with no tracking. A scan stuck between two departments in the same hospital. A €300 appointment with incorrect family history. An insurance shortfall discovered after the fact. These aren't edge cases, they're the standard experience for a privately insured patient in Ireland.
"The person who knows the least about your health history is often the doctor sitting in front of you."
Every tool exists in isolation.
HSEapp covers the public side. Insurance apps cover claims. Evergreen Life (UK) covers NHS records. Apple Health sets the design bar globally. None of them bridge Ireland's public-private divide or make insurance coverage visible at the point of care.
"Trace is the layer that connects them."
Five constraints, not aspirations.
Trust first, security is the foundation, not a feature. Inclusive by default, designed for elderly and low digital literacy users from the start. Autonomy over anxiety , information that empowers, never frightens. Invisible effort, Trace does the filing, the patient shows up. Whole person, a full health story, not a series of clinical moments.
Calm, precise, trusted.
Brand blue (rgb(80,116,220)) against off-white. Medical without clinical. Trustworthy without corporate. Visual references: Apple Health UI, NHS Design System, Linear, Stripe Dashboard.
"The palette needs to feel safe in the hands of someone who is worried."
Direction, moodboard, and first concepts.
The personal experience gave the project a clear point of view from day one, this isn't an abstract brief, it's a problem I've lived.
Competitive analysis identified a specific gap no existing product fills: bridging Ireland's public-private divide with insurance visibility at the point of care.
User research and persona development, the people Trace is designed for, not just the system it replaces.
Information architecture for the core record view and the insurance integration that makes the difference at the appointment.