Phase 1 | CommonPass | Winter 2020 - Spring 2022

How might we provide verifiable and untampered proof of COVID test status for travel?

CommonPass was born with the vision of people importing their test results and (later) vaccine records and keeping them securely on their phones. Ultimately, the platform assesses whether the individual’s lab test results or vaccination records come from a trusted source and if they satisfy the health screening requirements of the destination they want to travel to. If the passenger satisfies the requirements, the platform creates a “yes” or “no” certificate that they can share without sharing any personal health data.

Personal role

While the core of the UX had already been designed before I joined The Commons Project, my role(s) within the CommonPass team expanded beyond the product design.

I met with many external stakeholders to understand needs from all perspectives
Health officials from islands such as Aruba and Hawaii - to determine their needs and the needs of those traveling to these islands.
Airline digital and marketing teams, and on the ground airline agents - to understand how to best help the airline and airport experience.
Labs - to help best integrate with CommonPass for their success and consumers
And, of course, travelers - to understand current pain points of travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In order to make the customer experience as seamless as possible, I designed communications and user journey documentation (via websites, airline email, and more) targeted at the users as well as the airline screeners and other stakeholders.
As we expanded routes and service offerings, like adding vaccination records to the CommonPass experience for governments that have vaccination as an entry requirement, I designed new and updated existing user flows - communicating design concept for digital products through various artefacts such sketches, wireframes, user flows, screen designs and interactive prototypes.

Samples of user journeys and other materials avaliable upon request.

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How might we create an interoperable standard for health records?

With the upcoming vaccination schedules for most Americans, there was a need to unify a standard for vaccination credentials. The SMART Health Card Framework was created to empower individuals to access a trustworthy and verifiable copy of their vaccination records in digital or paper form using open, interoperable standards. Individuals can then use those verifiable credentials for medical purposes and to demonstrate their health status to safely return to work, school, travel, and life.

Defining SMART Health Cards

Creating something as noble as an open-source standard in an active pandemic could not be achieved alone. The Commons Project was among the Steering Group, composed of the founding members of the coalition that are actively supporting and overseeing the implementation guide development process and ensuring that members of VCI faithfully implement the standard and adhere to the guiding principles of VCI. Other members of the Steering Group currently include representatives from Mayo Clinic, MITRE Corporation, Microsoft, The Commons Project Foundation, Evernorth, CARIN Alliance, UC San Diego Health, and Apple.

Community Figma File

Personal role

My role in the creation of SMART Health Cards was designing the reference visual design files (above), and creating guidance on appropriate display, use of, and Customer Experience to access SMART® Health Cards for issuers of the cards.

Early in the creation of SMART Health Cards, I also worked directly with the digital teams of the initial issuers, states like California and Louisiana, and pharmacies such as Walmart. We collaborated to ensure that the journey for individuals to access their records was easy, and that there was enough information for individuals to understand the privacy persevering technology behind it.

Creating a Trust Network

Because the technology behind SMART Health Cards was open source, there was a need for a registry of trusted Health Data Sources and Issuers of standards-based and government-backed health certificates from around the world. The CommonTrust Network™ inclusion criteria are defined in coordination with the VCI™ Steering Committee with broad community input. The Commons Project Foundation (TCP) manages the CommonTrust Network™ and is responsible for reviewing and evaluating new participants. Network members include:

Clinical health systems or hospitals providing patient care
National or regional pharmacy chains
National or regional laboratory diagnostic providers
National or regional health insurance payors
Government or governmental agencies

national governments and state governments

Personal role

The two main roles I played in the creation and maintenance of the CommonTrust Network were both regarding adoption -

Making the sign-up process for the Network simple and efficient while still providing all relevant information. This was a project of creating the right digital funnels for each of the different member types and ensuring that individuals who were trying to access their SMART Health Card did not come through the funnel.
Helping new network members increase adoption from their end-users by advising pharmacy, state, and health network digital teams on how to best lead a user to a SMART Health Card and help the user understand its value. While the intial issuer launches were designed in collaboration, we learned what went well and what did not and I built out playbooks on how to launch with SMART Health Cards. (Available on request)

Verification

Just as there is a need to provide individuals with the Cards, there is a need from business owners, bar bouncers, anyone who chooses to verify a SMART Health Card the ability to do so. The SMART® Health Card Verifier app allows you to scan a SMART Health Card QR code to quickly verify an individual’s COVID-19 vaccination credential.

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Personal role

I designed both the experience and interface of the verifier app, and was accountable for the product marketing aspects of the App Store/Google Play Store contents. As more SMART Health Cards were issued and app downloads began to rise, I also took the feedback from reviews and used them to improve the app. As SMART Health Cards began to be issued for COVID-19 tests, I redesigned the UX to support both types of health records.

Milestones and Ecosystem Reach

In the pursuit of allowing individuals to hold their SMART Health Cards in the way they found most valuable, it was an incredible effort to have both major operating systems develop solutions to ingest the cards in their respective digital wallets.

Apple natively being able to read SMART Health Cards and gives the users options to save to their Apple Wallet and/or Apple Health app.
Android users can add their SMART Health Cards to Samsung Pay and Google Pay via CommonHealth, a service from The Commons Project.

Reach

The vast majority of the vaccinated individuals in the US – over 200 million of them through their state, pharmacy, or health provider – already have the ability right now to access their SMART Health Card. The standard has expanded globally - Japan, Aruba, and Rwanda to name a few countries.

Quietly and over some objections, a national digital vaccine card has emerged.

A National Vaccine Pass Has Quietly Rolled Out - And Red States Are Getting On Board

How might we share interoperable health records for entry based on health requirements?

CommonCheck enables governments, airlines, enterprises, and other organizations to reopen in a more secure and scalable way by offering the ability to quickly verify a wide range of digital COVID-19 health credentials.

CommonCheck reads and verifies the validity of passenger-uploaded health credentials, and matches them against the destination’s entry rules. The traveler is notified of the vaccination certificate verification results within seconds. Verification happens digitally pre-departure, offering travelers peace of mind and enabling a return to automated passenger processing.

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CommonPass checked by airline for stress-free travel

Personal role

Drove solving design problems end-to-end, from identifying user needs, generating concepts to defining and creating a product and crafting how travelers will interact with the portal.
Designed and executed a customer research stint involving interviews, demos and secondary research. The result of which was presented to our executive team and used to drive product roadmap decisions.
Contributes to new business development efforts by providing expert information in pitch efforts and client meetings.
Communicates design concept for digital products through various artefacts such sketches, wireframes, user flows, screen designs and interactive prototypes.

What is the future potential of SMART Health Cards and health data?

Though I finish out my time at The Commons Project, I only hope to see the SMART Health ecosystem and health grow with a focus on empowering individuals to use and share their data in more powerful ways, but only as they fit.