CHiP

Client: SurgEase – a clinician-driven medtech company modernising colorectal diagnostics and surgical collaboration.
Product: CHiP – a platform enabling clinicians to share live surgeries, annotate in real time, and collaborate remotely.
Role: Product Designer (UI/UX & Strategy)
Goal: Expand CHiP beyond its initial peer-to-peer use into a scalable platform for broadcasting events, managing video content, and enabling advanced collaboration across desktop and mobile.

Team
2 Designers
Lead Developer

My Role
Product Designer

Duration
7 Months

A digital user interface for a healthcare application featuring a profile of Devon Lane, a clinician. The interface includes menu options labeled Scope, Patients, Clinics, Users, Reports, and Repos. The top right corner has a log-out button, and the bottom right contains a chat button with a red indicator dot.

The Challenge

CHiP originally supported small-group live calls (4–5 participants) where surgeons could watch procedures in real time, annotate directly on the video, and exchange messages. While useful for peer collaboration, the platform was limited:

  • No broadcasting capabilities for larger audiences, making it unsuitable for educational use.

  • No tools for managing or editing video recordings, leaving surgeons with hours of raw, unstructured material.

  • Limited mobile experience, with annotation and messaging workflows difficult to translate to small screens.

  • Strict privacy and authentication requirements, adding complexity to every design decision.

Our challenge was to design new features from scratch — Events, Media Manager, and Scope — while balancing usability, privacy, and the demanding context of surgical training and education.

Screenshot of a media management software dashboard with a dark blue interface, a profile picture and user name Melinda Smith on the left, and multiple video project thumbnails in the main area.
Screenshot of a medical media management software showing a surgical team performing a procedure, with notes and navigation options on screen.

My Approach

 Events (Broadcasting)

  • Designed a new feature to let surgeons broadcast surgeries or training sessions to large audiences.

  • Defined clear roles: broadcaster, viewer, and guest, each with tailored permissions.

  • Created flows for joining, following, and promoting events, ensuring live broadcasts were always visible and accessible.

Positioned Events as both a training tool and a way for surgeons to share expertise and gain visibility.

Medical team performing surgery in an operating room while viewing endoscopic images on monitors.

Scope (Collaboration Platform & Mobile)

  • Redesigned the annotation experience, streamlining tools into an intuitive overlay.

  • Designed the mobile app version, prioritising the most-used tools to fit small screens without clutter.

  • Developed a solution for chat vs. annotation on mobile: users could temporarily switch to messaging mode, then return seamlessly to Scope.

Simplified management flows for adding broadcasters, assigning viewer permissions, and recording sessions.

Media Manager (Edit)

  • Built a dedicated space for uploading and preparing videos outside of live calls.

  • Introduced simplified editing tools to split videos into chapters, add notes, and embed annotations at specific timestamps.

  • Designed interactive discussions inside videos, where users could leave text or audio feedback on key moments.

Created layouts for highlighting upcoming broadcasts so live events weren’t overshadowed by archived content.

A presentation slide deck with four slides visible. The first slide has text about a font called Cairo with sample sentences. The second slide has a functional map diagram with nodes labeled 'PC/MAC' and various functions. The third slide shows a wireframe prototype of a user interface with sections labeled Navigation, Lists, Chat, Big Title, Tabs, and Filter. The fourth slide displays a color palette with hex codes and color swatches.

Scope (Mobile & Annotation)

  • Tool overload: Desktop had many annotation tools, but these couldn’t all fit on mobile. I collaborated with engineers and stakeholders to identify the essential tools and prioritize them.

  • Messaging trade-off: On small screens, chat couldn’t coexist with annotation without clutter. I designed a flow where users switch modes between chat and annotation, avoiding UI overload.

Events

  • Scaling up: Moving from 4–5 participants to large broadcasts required redefining user roles and permissions.

Privacy: Balanced openness (guests and students joining) with strict authentication flows so only approved participants could access sensitive broadcasts.

Difficulties & Problem-Solving

Media Manager

  • Personas: Many surgeons were older and not familiar with editing tools. I simplified editing into three core actions (split, annotate, chapterize) and validated them through testing.

  • Training workflows: Medical training requires structured progress tracking. I researched how clinical feedback is given and designed flows for timestamped notes, annotations, and chapter markers to support structured learning.

  • Engagement: Designed interactive layers (comments, audio feedback, annotations) to make long surgical recordings collaborative and digestible.

  • Visibility: Solved the challenge of content hierarchy by clearly separating upcoming broadcasts from archived videos.

User interface dashboard for managing medical broadcasts, scopes, clinics, patients, and reports with a sidebar menu and event cards.
A screenshot of a video chat interface showing an ongoing video call with a close-up of the inside of a human throat or esophagus.
Screenshot of a medical video editing software interface showing a scene of surgeons in an operating room with a blue triangle annotation.
Four smartphone screens displaying different apps: a calendar app, a messaging app, a broadcast app, and a video call app, all with black or dark blue backgrounds.

Impact

Expanded CHiP from a peer-to-peer tool into a scalable platform for education, collaboration, and asynchronous training.

  • Introduced Events and Media Manager, opening the platform to new personas (students, educators, teaching hospitals).

  • Enhanced Scope with a more usable mobile experience and streamlined annotation tools.

  • Strengthened SurgEase’s position as a global medtech innovator, with features that align with their NHS adoption and FDA clearance.

Reflectiont

Designing CHiP’s new features was one of the most complex projects of my career. With no direct competitors or existing patterns to copy, I had to research, simplify, and invent workflows that balanced usability, privacy, and clinical needs.

The project taught me:

  • How to design for non-technical personas (surgeons unfamiliar with editing tools).

  • How to translate medical training workflows into structured digital experiences.

  • How to prioritize mobile-first design in contexts where space and clarity are critical.

How to think beyond design screens and contribute to the product roadmap and business growth.