Small Moments Add Up

Traffic light on red.

Small Moments Add Up

I drafted this post in my head at a stoplight this morning. I was out running errands, including picking up a prescription. Except when I checked the app, it said information was "missing" and the Rx couldn't be filled.

On the surface, this is a minor inconvenience. But I've taken this medication for 15 years, ever since thyroid cancer in my 20s led to a complete thyroidectomy. I need synthetic thyroid hormone to live. And in those 15 years, small hiccups like this have happened countless times: pharmacy errors, insurance issues, lab work complications, reimbursement problems. When you multiply these "small" moments across a decade and a half, they're not small anymore.

While I drove home without my medication, I thought about what it would mean if we could make these experiences just a little bit easier. How many people's lives would be a bit better? How much mental energy could be redirected from managing chronic conditions to simply living?

This is one of many things that motivates my work in health UX. These small moments matter.

I also recognize my privilege in this situation: I have economic resources, health literacy, language fluency, educational background, and job flexibility that make navigating healthcare more manageable. For many people, a "minor" pharmacy issue isn't minor at all. Missing a few days of thyroid medication is relatively low-risk for me, but for other conditions and medications, delays like this can be life-threatening.

The light turned green, and I went home without my meds. But I carry these moments into my research, asking: how do we design systems that honor the lived reality of managing chronic conditions? How do we reduce the invisible labor that patients and caregivers shouldn't have to carry?