Health & Heaven

Designing for Trust in Medical Tourism


From generative research to a shipped trust-first website (FAQ + Patient Guide + content system)

Executive Summary

Context: An early-stage medical-tourism brand in Turkey with no UX practice, no clear positioning, and no roadmap needed a trust-first plan.

Gaps: unknown user needs across segments, scattered decisions, a weak value proposition, and manual processes. I built Health & Heaven end-to-end—research, archetypes, market positioning, brand, IA, and design direction. Through 14 in-depth interviews and AI-assisted synthesis, I defined five behavioral archetypes (Appearance-Conscious Professional, Budget-Conscious Seeker, Health-Seeking Retiree, Specialized Treatment Seeker, Cosmetic Tourism Enthusiast), mapped the full journey (pre-travel → treatment → recovery), benchmarked services and pricing vs. the US, and translated insights into an agile, phased, trust-led roadmap focused on surfacing motivations/risks/decision criteria, positioning credibly, and aligning offering, content, and ops.

Role: UX Researcher & Strategist (solo)

Scope: Research → Strategy → Brand → IA → Web direction

Methods: IDIs (n=14), archetypes (not personas), journey mapping, pricing scan, MoSCoW, Eisenhower, agile sprints

Tools: Notion, Figma, Google Suite, AI (analysis/benchmarking support)

Research Questions

01

How to position services & pricing vs. the US?

02

What convinces or scares international patients?

03

What are actionable behavioral segmentation?

04

What tone, typography, and evidence communicate trust without over-promising?

My Approach

Discovery: 14 semi-structured interviews (young professionals, retirees, wellness entrepreneurs, first-timers); desk/regulatory and competitor scan to surface top questions and red flags.

Modeling: Audience snapshots & JTBD; a trust-first content model (Guide, FAQ, proof/credential modules, policies); site IA from scratch.

Prototype & Build: Low-fi → hi-fi wires; plain-language copy tests on a clickable prototype; shipped MVP (FAQ, Patient Journey Guide/Timeline, proof/policy blocks, tone & type, IA & key pages).

Method note: AI-assisted clustering helped group interview transcripts and spot themes; humans handled coding, conflict resolution, and final synthesis.

Why archetypes (not personas)? I use practice-based archetypes tied to behaviors, constraints, and channel realities—avoiding fictional profiles and keeping decisions grounded.

I think Design is not started from the schools and institutes.Design even is not part of human's life. It is the life itself and design thinking is the art of living.


I decided to become a UX designer before knowing it as its common definition.


I ground my decisions in the empirical data collected and I embrace improvisational techniques for maintaining resilience and adaptability. I encouraged myself the cultivation of critical thinking habits and practices.

Design Starts from exploring and exploring starts from observing

I think Design is not started from the schools and institutes.Design even is not part of human's life. It is the life itself and design thinking is the art of living.


I decided to become a UX designer before knowing it as its common definition.


I ground my decisions in the empirical data collected and I embrace improvisational techniques for maintaining resilience and adaptability. I encouraged myself the cultivation of critical thinking habits and practices.

Five Archetypes

  • Appearance Conscious Professional

  • Budget Conscious Seeker

  • Health Seeking Retiree

  • Specialized Treatment Seeker

  • Cosmetic Tourism Enthusiast

For each archetype, I produced two practical outputs and a light journey view for each:


  • Client Needs : Showing the jobs, risks, and trust signals this archetype looks for (plain language, no fiction).
  • H&H Actions : Determining what we changed or shipped for them: content/modules, placement, tone, and any ops hooks.
  • Composite Journey: As a concise path from awareness → decision → follow-up, highlighting hesitation points and where our modules appear.

This structure kept research close to decisions: every “need” maps to a specific action (e.g., a credential card, a cost-range table, or a policy preview), and every action is anchored to a journey moment we can measure.

  • Client Needs


  • HnH Actions


From Insight to Action
I translated research into a phased plan the team could ship against. Three lenses kept us honest: Agile sprints for delivery pace, MoSCoW for “what matters now,” and an Eisenhower matrix for urgency vs. importance—each item traced back to an archetype need and a journey moment.

MoSCoW

Must / Should / Could / Won’t


I ranked initiatives by impact on trust and delivery effort, mapping each item to an archetype and a journey moment.


  • Must: partnership proposals, VIP package + confidentiality, transparent education for Budget-Conscious; credential/proof blocks for Specialized Treatment.
  • Should: collaboration roadmap, testimonials/info packs.
  • Could: joint marketing, events/video.
  • Won’t (now): rebuild pricing; redesign feedback.

Eisenhower Matrix

Urgent × Important

I sequenced work by impact on trust and time sensitivity.

  • Do First (Important & Urgent): partnership proposals, VIP packages + confidentiality, educational materials.
  • Schedule (Important, Not Urgent): long-term collaboration plans, testimonials/info packs.
  • Delegate (Urgent, Less Important): virtual tours, VIP welcome gifts.
  • Eliminate: rewriting finalized templates; redesigning the feedback process.

Agile Sprints

S0 - Foundations

IA, tone/typography, trust content model
 Badges: All archetypes

• Global

S1 - FAQ MVP

Top questions, plain language
 Badges: Budget-Conscious

• Pre-consult

S2 - Journey Guide / Timeline

 Safety, logistics, aftercare
 Badges:  Retiree

• Pre-travel

S4 - Cost-range & Payment

Procedure + travel + extras; payment clarity
 Badges: Budget-Conscious

• Pre-consult

S5 — Ops & Governance

Owners, ≤90-day content reviews, coordinator macros
 Badges: Ops

• All stages

Compiled from public clinic price sheets and aggregator listings (Q2–Q3 2025).

Ranges are indicative; actual costs vary by provider, case complexity, and add-ons. Used for positioning not medical/financial advice.

Market Positioning with Data

What the data says
Across procedures, compiled price scans show Turkey at roughly 40–70% lower than typical US ranges while adhering to international clinic standards. Users still hesitate on total cost and what’s included.


Positioning decision
Lead with transparency + total-journey clarity (not “cheap”): show range tables + “included/excluded” lists, and surface payment & privacy options before chat hand-off.

Information Architecture

Interviews surfaced hesitation around cost, safety/credentials, and aftercare logistics. I reorganized the site so trust-critical content appears before chat/CTAs and is easy to reach for each archetype and journey moment.


IA decisions

  • Promoted to primary nav: Guide/Timeline, FAQ, Pricing & Inclusions, Credentials & Policies.
  • Placement rules: Credential card above the fold; policy previews adjacent to CTAs; cost-range tables on all relevant treatment pages.
  • Cross-links: Each trust page links to Remote Consult for a clear next step.


Routing by need

  • Budget-Conscious Seeker → Pricing & Inclusions → FAQ → Remote Consult.
  • Specialized Treatment Seeker → Credentials & Policies → Remote Consult.
  • Health-Seeking Retiree → Guide/Timeline (travel, recovery, support) → Remote Consult.
  • Appearance-Conscious Professional / Cosmetic Tourism Enthusiast → Guide/Timeline + recovery expectations → Pricing & Inclusions.
  • Before → After (two examples)


Before: Pricing only after contact; no “what’s included.”
After: Pricing & Inclusions page in nav + included/excluded tables on treatment pages.


Before: Policies buried in footer.
After: Policy preview chips (consent, privacy, aftercare) next to CTAs on decision screens.


Outcome target: Shorter paths to reassurance content and fewer pre-consult messages on cost/safety/aftercare.

While studying sociology my desire to understand people's behavior led me to become a field researcher. Anthropology and Sociology were providing me good backgrounds in theory by I was thirsty to feel and learn. So I stepped out of my safe box.

During 1 year field research I interviewed 905 women in the general public of Turkey. I realized that a  good researcher is essential when observing and/or interacting with target audiences in their real-life environment so I know this research one of the key roles on my career. This project was designed for ministry of family and social services in Turkey.


Despite the experiences I had in serving victims of violence, especially while I was volunteering in Morcati, this research was a huge eyeopener.


Meeting victims in their homes, economic and social conditions was essential to improve empathy.

Design & Delivery

I translated research into lightweight, testable artifacts and shipped the trust surfaces first.

  • Wireframes → homepage flow tests: validated paths to Pricing & Inclusions, Guide/Timeline, Credentials before chat/CTA.
  • Componentized trust modules: credential card above the fold; policy preview chips next to CTAs; cost-range table with included/excluded list.
  • Implementation handoff: specs + content checklist (owners, ≤90-day review) to keep these modules accurate over time.


Trust & Transparency Touchpoints

  • FAQ (plain-language): answers the high-volume questions (quality of care, safety protocols, cancellations, payment, aftercare). Clear structure reduces back-and-forth before consult.
  • Patient Journey Guide / Timeline: step-by-step from consult → travel → procedure → recovery, with logistics and support. Sets expectations, lowers anxiety.


The second research 1 year was about refugees and their social and economical conditions. During this research, I interviewed more than 510 refugees in whole Turkey.



It was middle of Syria's crises. Huge number of refugees were led into Turkey and their situations were heartbreaker tragedy. Middle of the darkness I found myself practicing being rational while observing my biases. Spending time with refugees in their tents in a camp with only 50 km distance from the war zone was the hugest experience of empathy. Life was not sweet but it was the reality outside and I was in complete acceptance to soak in people's life.

In 2017, I became part of Child Foundation family to help children to remain in school. I was lucky to work for both sides of sponsors and social workers. I did sponsor research with determining research methodology including, survey development, listening sessions, interviews, and diary studies.


After analyzing the collected data, I presented my suggested strategy to the board of Child Foundation including some changes in the outreach approach. Child Foundation successfully collected more donations and gains more volunteers and sponsors in compare with past decade.