Pyx Health. Accessible care for the people who need it most.
About the project
Pyx Health is a healthcare platform that reduces loneliness and improves outcomes for vulnerable populations, including Medicaid and Medicare members. I joined as the embedded product designer to redesign the mobile experience, build the design system, and bring the product to WCAG 2.1 AA compliance. Over 200 screens have shipped so far.
Challenges and solutions
Problem
The existing app failed WCAG audits. Low contrast, small touch targets, and screen-reader gaps blocked enterprise health-plan contracts that require documented compliance.
Solution
I rebuilt the interface on an accessibility-first token system: AA-verified color pairs, minimum 44px touch targets, and a screen-reader-tested component library that makes compliance the default, not an afterthought.
Problem
Users span a wide range of ages, literacy levels, and devices. Flows designed for typical app users were confusing the people the product exists to help.
Solution
I simplified the information architecture around three daily jobs, rewrote flows at a plain-language reading level, and validated each release with usability sessions across the actual member population.
Problem
Design and engineering were shipping inconsistently. Every new feature reinvented patterns, which slowed releases and multiplied accessibility regressions.
Solution
I built a token-driven design system with documented usage rules and engineering handoff baked in, so new screens compose from compliant parts instead of starting from zero.
Process
01
Audit and discovery
- Full WCAG 2.1 audit of the existing app
- Stakeholder and care-team interviews
- Member usability baseline sessions
- Prioritized remediation roadmap
02
Foundations
- Accessibility-first token architecture
- AA-verified color and type scales
- Core component library in Figma
- Documentation and usage rules
03
Flow redesign
- New information architecture
- Onboarding, check-in, and care navigation flows
- Plain-language content collaboration
- Screen-reader interaction specs
04
Ship and iterate
- Weekly embedded delivery with engineering
- Design QA on every release
- Post-release usability validation
- Ongoing system maintenance
Accessibility approach
Compliance was treated as a design constraint from the first screen, not a checklist at the end. Every color pair, component state, and interaction pattern was verified against WCAG 2.1 AA before it entered the system, and screen-reader behavior was specified alongside the visuals.
Information architecture
The app was reorganized around the three things members do daily: check in, connect, and find help. Navigation depth was cut so that every core task is reachable in two taps, which mattered most for members using screen readers and switch controls.
Design system
The token-driven system covers color, type, spacing, and interaction states with accessibility rules encoded at the token level. Engineers compose new screens from compliant parts, which is why 200+ screens have shipped without accessibility regressions.
Mobile
The redesigned mobile experience holds up on the low-end Android devices most members actually use: large touch targets, generous type, offline-tolerant states, and flows that recover gracefully when a step is interrupted.
Accessibility isn't a compliance line item. It's the product working for the people it was built for.
Results
200+
Screens shipped
Production screens delivered through the embedded engagement, all built on the new system.
AA
WCAG 2.1 compliance
Full audit pass, unblocking the enterprise health-plan contracts that require it.
+18%
Task completion
Improvement in core task completion rate measured in usability sessions after the redesign.
2x
Faster feature delivery
New feature screens now compose from the design system instead of starting from scratch.
"Vitalii didn't just make the app compliant. He made it genuinely easier for our members to use, and gave our engineers a system they can build on without us."