Case Study · WS Audiology · 2023 to 2025
Bluetooth pairing flow
UX Lead · iOS & Android · 4 iterations · 6 error states
Activate pairing mode
Overview
4
Design iterations
6
Error states designed
2
User types covered
2
Platforms shipped
What I owned
- Flow architecture
- Screen design (iOS and Android)
- Interaction specs
- Component annotations
- Engineering handoff
- Accessibility QA
Who I worked with
- Product and engineering teams
- Other designers (accessibility review and user testing)
- Audiological team (hardware behaviour and decision logic)
- Firmware engineers (error state mapping)
HAW
Hearing Aid Wearer
Context
At home, alone. Usually re-pair setup after receiving hearing aids from the clinic and a problem happened with the app and/or hardware.
Mental model
Low familiarity with Bluetooth and app-based setup. Often assumes the audiologist should have done this step.
Primary need
Reassurance at every step. Clear physical instructions. No dead ends. Recovery that doesn't require starting over.
Failure mode
Gives up and calls support, or the clinic, when the flow stops responding or shows no error context.
HCP
Hearing Care Professional
Context
In clinic, during a fitting appointment. Pairing on the patient's phone, with the patient watching.
Mental model
High technical familiarity. Knows what Bluetooth pairing is doing under the hood. Needs the UI to confirm, not explain.
Primary need
Speed and reliability. Clear error feedback so they can diagnose and recover without dropping to workarounds.
Failure mode
Develops undocumented workarounds (force-quitting, manual BT toggles) that work inconsistently and can't be taught to patients.
Findings
1 of 10
Welcome Screen
Accessibility evaluation · Previous app
Accessibility QA
Delivered
Real-device accessibility testing (VoiceOver on iOS, TalkBack on Android, both with paired hearing aids) surfaced focus-order and live-region gaps that screen review had missed. The fixes shipped in iteration 3 and the annotation approach became the team's standard for accessibility handoff. The app has not yet been released, so post-launch engagement data is not available.