01
Hire for learning range
Balance design craft with curiosity for clinical workflows and patient safety.
← Alipta BallavLeadership
05
Cerner Corporation · Bangalore · 2017–2022
Building a Design Practice from 2 to 21
Building Cerner’s first India design capability while proving that the team could own complex clinical product outcomes.
Business goal
Establish a scalable India design capability
My role
Sr. Manager, User Experience
Design shift
Support function → strategic partner
Evidence
2 → 21 · L1 → L3 · 4.2 → 8.3
01 · Business problem
India had engineering scale, but no established design capability.
Clinical product work depended on U.S. teams. Bangalore needed trusted design leadership, domain depth and a repeatable way to deliver safety-critical experiences.
02 · Design challenge
Build credibility while building the organization.
Headcount alone would not create maturity. The team had to learn healthcare, ship measurable outcomes and become part of product decisions.
Goal
Scale India design capability
Friction
No team · domain gap · low trust
Design
Hire · immerse · ship · systemize
Outcome
Strategic product ownership
03 · Key decisions
Grow capability through shipped proof.
02
Build domain immersion
Train the team in healthcare standards, clinical context and accessibility.
03
Earn trust through outcomes
Use major product deliveries and system contributions to expand the team’s mandate.
04 · Product evidence
The practice proved itself in shipped clinical workflows.
Two healthcare products moved from dense legacy interactions to clearer, clinically grounded experiences.
PowerChart Maternity
Software Usability Score: 4.2 → 8.3
Dosage Calculator
A clearer, patient-aware dosing workflow
05 · Outcome and evidence
A team became a recognized product capability.
Evidence
2 → 21
Designers hired and grown
Evidence
L1 → L3
UX maturity attained in four years
Evidence
4.2 → 8.3
Software Usability Score
Evidence
2
Major healthcare products shipped
06 · Leadership takeaway
Maturity is a system, not a headcount metric.
“The real shift was moving UX from a service function to a strategic partner embedded in product decisions.”