Clinician Dashboard for VR Therapy

Designing a system to help therapists manage, monitor, and learn from VR-based behavioral therapy sessions.

Role: UX Research & Design

Duration: 3 weeks

Overview

BehaviorMe is a startup building immersive VR therapy simulations for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and developmental disabilities. Their product gives behavioral therapists a new way to teach life skills through interactive VR experiences.

In 2018, I partnered with BehaviorMe through a collaboration between Boomtown Accelerator and General Assembly. At the time, they had a working VR simulation but no dashboard for clinicians. Over three weeks, our team designed and tested a clinician dashboard prototype that became the foundation of BehaviorMe’s platform and was featured in their Boomtown Accelerator Demo Day.

Client

BehaviorMe

Team

2 Designers, Product Manager, Clinical Advisor

Tools

Sketch, InVision, Trello, Zoom

The Challenge

Therapists needed a reliable, intuitive interface to support real-time care and long-term progress tracking. Their core pain points included:

Lack of control

No interface existed to customize stimuli or guide patients through tailored VR exercises.

Lack of control

No interface existed to customize stimuli or guide patients through tailored VR exercises.

Lack of control

No interface existed to customize stimuli or guide patients through tailored VR exercises.

Data overload

Metrics were collected but not easily understood by parents, supervisors, or insurance providers.

Data overload

Metrics were collected but not easily understood by parents, supervisors, or insurance providers.

Data overload

Metrics were collected but not easily understood by parents, supervisors, or insurance providers.

Time-consuming documentation

Clinicians relied heavily on manual notes that were difficult to organize or revisit later.

Time-consuming documentation

Clinicians relied heavily on manual notes that were difficult to organize or revisit later.

Time-consuming documentation

Clinicians relied heavily on manual notes that were difficult to organize or revisit later.

Privacy compliance

Designs needed to account for HIPAA requirements while supporting real-time collaboration.

Privacy compliance

Designs needed to account for HIPAA requirements while supporting real-time collaboration.

Privacy compliance

Designs needed to account for HIPAA requirements while supporting real-time collaboration.

Research & Discovery

Because HIPAA prevented us from observing real sessions, we interviewed clinicians and ran roleplay workshops simulating therapy scenarios.

Personas

Dr. Sarah Chen

Clinical Psychologist

Responsible for reviewing session data, modifying plans, and supporting the therapy team

Dr. Sarah Chen

Clinical Psychologist

Responsible for reviewing session data, modifying plans, and supporting the therapy team

Dr. Sarah Chen

Clinical Psychologist

Responsible for reviewing session data, modifying plans, and supporting the therapy team

Marucs Rodriguez

Behavioral Therapist

Focused on delivering therapy and making quick, in-the-moment decisions

Marucs Rodriguez

Behavioral Therapist

Focused on delivering therapy and making quick, in-the-moment decisions

Marucs Rodriguez

Behavioral Therapist

Focused on delivering therapy and making quick, in-the-moment decisions

Workflow

Before Session

"I don't always have time to prep."

Quick recap of progress
Centralized notes & scheduling

During Session

"If someone were to walk in on a session it should seem like play."

Minimal clicks
Real-time monitoring
Ability to tag moments without breaking flow

After Session

"It's a struggle to give parents data that they can make sense of."

Session replay with time-stamped notes
Customizable reports for parents, supervisors, and insurers

Before Session

"I don't always have time to prep."

Quick recap of progress
Centralized notes & scheduling

During Session

"If someone were to walk in on a session it should seem like play."

Minimal clicks
Real-time monitoring
Ability to tag moments without breaking flow

After Session

"It's a struggle to give parents data that they can make sense of."

Session replay with time-stamped notes
Customizable reports for parents, supervisors, and insurers

Before Session

"I don't always have time to prep."

Quick recap of progress
Centralized notes & scheduling

During Session

"If someone were to walk in on a session it should seem like play."

Minimal clicks
Real-time monitoring
Ability to tag moments without breaking flow

After Session

"It's a struggle to give parents data that they can make sense of."

Session replay with time-stamped notes
Customizable reports for parents, supervisors, and insurers

Key Insights

Fast-paced setting

Therapists needed a quick way to prep sessions and access critical data in under five minutes.

Fast-paced setting

Therapists needed a quick way to prep sessions and access critical data in under five minutes.

Fast-paced setting

Therapists needed a quick way to prep sessions and access critical data in under five minutes.

Real-time visibility

Clinicians required live monitoring and controls to keep patients safe and engaged.

Real-time visibility

Clinicians required live monitoring and controls to keep patients safe and engaged.

Real-time visibility

Clinicians required live monitoring and controls to keep patients safe and engaged.

Data must be meaningful

Parents, supervisors, and insurers all needed reports translated into clear, actionable insights.

Data must be meaningful

Parents, supervisors, and insurers all needed reports translated into clear, actionable insights.

Data must be meaningful

Parents, supervisors, and insurers all needed reports translated into clear, actionable insights.

Behind the Scenes

A look into the process - stakeholder interviews, research workshops, and demo day.

A student with autism at Celebrate the Children tries out VR.
Working side-by-side with my teammate to ideate, prioritize, and refine concepts during our UX sprint.
Simulating a therapy scenario during a roleplay workshop to observe clinician workflows, note-taking habits, and real-time decision-making.
Team win: capturing valuable user insights and keeping the energy high.
Working side-by-side with my teammate to ideate, prioritize, and refine concepts during our UX sprint.

A student with autism at Celebrate the Children tries out VR.
Working side-by-side with my teammate to ideate, prioritize, and refine concepts during our UX sprint.
Simulating a therapy scenario during a roleplay workshop to observe clinician workflows, note-taking habits, and real-time decision-making.
Team win: capturing valuable user insights and keeping the energy high.
Working side-by-side with my teammate to ideate, prioritize, and refine concepts during our UX sprint.

A student with autism at Celebrate the Children tries out VR.
Working side-by-side with my teammate to ideate, prioritize, and refine concepts during our UX sprint.
Simulating a therapy scenario during a roleplay workshop to observe clinician workflows, note-taking habits, and real-time decision-making.
Team win: capturing valuable user insights and keeping the energy high.
Working side-by-side with my teammate to ideate, prioritize, and refine concepts during our UX sprint.

Design Strategy

We focused on five MVP screens that mapped directly to workflow needs:

Dashboard Overview – Multi-patient view with progress bars and flags.
Patient Profile – HIPAA-compliant history and quick notes.
Conditions Screen – Customize VR stimuli with minimal clicks.
Live View – Real-time monitoring, note-taking, safety controls.
Replay Screen – Session playback with jump-to-note navigation.

Early wireflows for MVP screens

Early wireflows for MVP screens

Early wireflows for MVP screens

Key Features

Mapping workflow insights directly to specific feature implementations.

Stage

Opportunities

Features

Before

Quick recap, central access

Dashboard with patent alerts

During

Fewer clicks, safe interventions

Live View with real-time controls, note flagging

After

Easy review, clear reporting

Replay screen, download/send reports

Usability Testing

We ran moderated usability tests with task-based scenarios. Feedback led to several refinements:

Clickable Progress Bars – Made interactive to reduce friction between overview and detail.
Coach Marks – Added for ambiguous terms on the Conditions screen.
Simplified Flagging System – Reduced cognitive load and focused only on essential notes.

Dashboard: At-a-glance multi-patient progress tracking.
Patient Profile: Streamlined notes + HIPAA-safe data views.
Conditions: Customizable VR stimuli, fewer clicks.
Live View: Real-time progress + note-taking without disrupting play.

Dashboard: At-a-glance multi-patient progress tracking.
Patient Profile: Streamlined notes + HIPAA-safe data views.
Conditions: Customizable VR stimuli, fewer clicks.
Live View: Real-time progress + note-taking without disrupting play.

Impact & Reflection

Demo Day

Prototype featured in investor pitches

Demo Day

Prototype featured in investor pitches

Demo Day

Prototype featured in investor pitches

$30K

Funding secured from Accellerator

$30K

Funding secured from Accellerator

$30K

Funding secured from Accellerator

Clinical study

Pilot study with clinicians showed improved user satisfaction

Clinical study

Pilot study with clinicians showed improved user satisfaction

Clinical study

Pilot study with clinicians showed improved user satisfaction

This project reinforced the importance of designing for multiple stakeholders (clinicians, supervisors, parents, and insurance) while balancing privacy, clarity, and usability.

Key lessons I carried forward:

Workflow-first design: Mapping clinician pain points directly to MVP features ensured adoption.
Accessible data storytelling: Reports must be tailored to parents and insurers, not just specialists.
Design ethics: HIPAA compliance wasn’t a constraint—it became a design principle that shaped decisions.

"Kristen understands the value of and the nuances needed to deliver a User Experience in some of the most resource intensive environments (education & therapy). Kristen has great follow-up questions that dig at the real reason for designing thoughtful UX."

— Andy Chavez, BehaviorMe Co-Founder & CEO