Designing the BetterHelp for Herbal Wellness

How I led the product design of HerbaLink — a data-informed platform that connects users with certified herbalists, tracks outcomes, and builds long-term trust.

Herbalinkpromofrontpage

🧩 The Problem

People seeking herbal remedies often face conflicting online advice and don’t know who to trust. There’s no central, verified platform to find qualified herbalists, track symptom improvement, or get tailored guidance.

Unlike therapy (where BetterHelp makes it easy to book professionals), herbal care lacked structure, credibility, and outcomes-based support.

Key gaps:

  • No way to verify herbalist credibility

  • No symptom tracking tied to outcomes

  • No personalized recommendations or guided onboarding

Whiteboarding Pain Points
Whiteboarding Pain Points

📈 Quantified Impact

HerbaLink is currently in active development.

Even at this early stage, we’ve seen strong engagement and behavior change — giving us validation and a foundation to scale from.

We launched Stage 1 with:

  • ✅ Symptom tracking and visual logging

  • ✅ Verified herbalist booking flow

  • ✅ Personalized herb recommendations

  • ✅ Community discussion board

Next phases will include:

  • 🔄 AI-driven symptom-to-herb matching

  • 📈 Long-term health tracking and data export

  • 👨‍⚕️ Expanded practitioner insights and care plans

❌ What Didn’t Work

#1: Generic Practitioner Discovery

Booking an herbalist discovery
Booking an herbalist discovery
Book Herbalist Symptom Tracker and My Profile
Book Herbalist Symptom Tracker and My Profile

Initial design had a long list of herbalists with no context. Users bounced quickly.

Fix: We added filters (e.g., Stress Relief, Digestive Health), “Verified” badges, availability, and pricing—all before login.

Mistake #2: Hidden Symptom Tracker

The tracker was buried and saw minimal use.

Fix: We promoted it to the main nav, added severity sliders, visible progress bars, and linked it to herbal suggestions. Usage tripled.

🧠 My Thought Process

Book a Consultation with no symptom tracker
Book a Consultation with no symptom tracker
My Thought Process based on research and ideation

I designed HerbaLink as a platform built on trust, not just features. By prioritizing outcomes over aesthetics and uncovering user pain points, I focused on usability, credibility, and retention. The result: simple onboarding, clear symptom tracking, and a community that builds confidence.

Tablet view of symptom tracker and video messaging with herbalist
Tablet View of Symptom Tracker and Video Messaging with Herbalist

🧪 The Final Product (So Far)

Users can:

  • Book verified herbalists by need, rating, and availability

  • Log symptoms and track progress over time

  • Get data-informed herbal suggestions

  • Join a growing community of trusted practitioners and peers

🔚 Outcome

We built a strong foundation for outcomes-driven natural care — improving discovery, trust, and wellness tracking in a space that needed structure.

HerbaLink is still growing, but early adoption proves that people want herbal care they can trust — and now, they have a place to start.