Aspen app — design review & process
The Aspen app built out around the approved v13 direction (per our 7/12 call), the full design evolution to date, the source-of-truth references, the Figma feedback, and the DO / DO NOT principles that guide every decision.
The app, built out
The 7/12 call
Design evolution
Decisions reconciled
Feedback qualities
Source references
Figma feedback
DO / DO NOT
The app, built out — one system around the approved v13
Every screen built from the July-9 approved home. Simple and literal, authentically Aspen, native iOS with depth (not a website), and the nav named for what it does. Tap any screen for full size.
Splash
Wordmark + “The Aspen Group” with the real five-brand family logos.
Home
The approved v13 — next visit + one treatment dial. Literal nav below.
Book
Job 1 — book a visit. Office, day & time, one confirm.
My Plan
Job 2 — your treatment plan, step by step. (Answers “where’s my plan?”)
Messages
Job 3 — talk to your care team.
Check-in
Arrive and check in for your visit.
Profile
Insurance, payment, family members, documents.
Reminder
The appointment reminder — the moment that helps avoid a no-show.
Built to the call: one v13 design system across every screen · literal nav (Home · Book · My Plan · Messages · Profile — no more “Care/Learn”) · real AspenDental wordmark throughout · plain, literal copy · space used with depth (shadows/bevels), app-not-website. Synthetic demo data — no patient information.
The 7/12 call — direction, now built
The direction from our call, and how the build above answers each point.
Build around the approved v13 — nothing new
Done: the whole system is built from the July-9 home you approved.
“Burger King, not McDonald’s” — simple, not over-engineered
Done: one focused job per screen, lean and literal — but premium and 2026, an app not a website.
Literal, older-patient nav (no confusing buttons)
Done: the tabs now say exactly what they do — My Plan for your treatment plan, Book to book, Messages for your care team. No “Care” or “Learn.”
Use the space with depth — feels like an app
Done: no dead space; cards, shadows and bevels give it real app depth.
Just the four jobs for now
Done: treatment plan, booking, communications, and content — the “on-my-way / no-show” idea is parked for a later phase, as we agreed.
Design evolution — every version, to date
Each round below (Aspen Dental home screen), in order, with the date, who reviewed it, and how it scored against the DO / DO NOT principles. Each round also produced matching launch, care, booking, check-in, and reminder screens.
Reviewers across TeamTAG over the rounds: Rafeh Masood and the TAG design team (design direction & sign-off) · Dustin DuBois (design audit) · Angeli Arndt (Figma tokens) · Sara Rossio (portal references) · Erin Karr & Jenna Blanton (ClearChoice) · Nathan Schwederske (Aspen brand system).
Design decisions we reconciled
A handful of choices took a few passes to settle. Here’s where each one landed — the principles that now guide the build.
Palette
Pearly-white, always. The warmth comes from the light, airy composition — not from cream or tan. Clean pearly-white with brand navy.
Progress
One confident, simple dial. A plain count with a clear denominator (“2 of 4”) — present and reassuring, never an over-engineered multi-segment ring.
Simplicity with craft
Simple is not bland. We hold restraint and one-story-per-screen, but keep premium depth and a confident focal moment on every screen.
Imagery
A location facade as a full-bleed background where imagery is wanted — never a small tile, and never stock people photography.
Warmth & voice
Human through tone, not gimmicks. Warmth comes from a genuinely warm but plain voice, greeting, and composition — not from cute copy or people photos.
The qualities the feedback established — and how this design meets them
The through-lines across every round, and how the current screens reflect each.
Authentically Aspen. Real AspenDental wordmark, the real Northstar-A, brand navy — never a generic template.
Simple & elegant. One story per screen, generous space. Home is a single next-visit card.
A native app, not a website. Real iOS status bar, tab bar, and Apple Liquid Glass — tight app spacing, not web gutters.
Plain, authentic voice. Every line says exactly what it is — no cute or AI-flavored copy.
Restraint. Deep navy used sparingly; exactly one bright accent per screen (the dial).
Built for our patients. Big, legible type, high contrast, large tap targets — without ever going bland.
Real craft. Real fonts (Figtree + Work Sans, no serif), real depth, premium finish.
Purposeful. The reminder exists to help avoid no-shows; every element earns its place.
Source references we aligned to
The brand and experience references TeamTAG provided. Links open the original; several sit in TAG-owned Figma / SharePoint and need TeamTAG access.
Brand & visual identity
Figma
Aspen Dental Brand Book (Shareable-WIP) · TAG Figma (access-gated)
Nathan Schwederske (Aspen Dental) · Jun 8
Core Aspen brand guidelines — fonts (Figtree + Work Sans), colors, logo usage.
Figma
Nathan Schwederske (Aspen Dental) · Jun 15
The Aspen 2.0 design system — color/type tokens and icon set. The build basis for the app.
PDF
ClearChoice Brand Design Guide v1
Erin Karr (TeamTAG) · Jun 8
The primary ClearChoice brand source — colors, type, logo.
PDF
ClearChoice Brand One-Pager (new Viz-ID, 0626)
Erin Karr (TeamTAG) · Jun 18
The refreshed ClearChoice visual identity “brand on a page.”
Live ref
Erin Karr (TeamTAG) · Jun 16
Interim on-brand reference (updated treatments) while the Viz-ID one-pager was finalized.
Experience & portal references
Figma
Sara Rossio (TeamTAG) · Jun 13
The on-brand 2.0 visual/interaction reference for the Aspen patient portal.
Figma
SharePoint
Patient Portal Deep Dive (deck) · TAG SharePoint
Sara Rossio (TeamTAG) · Jun 4
Aspen patient-portal strategy deck + appendix.
PDF
Aspen Portal Deep Dive (current experience)
Sara Rossio (TeamTAG) · Jun 4
The current-state portal experience, for reference.
Video
Previsit Check-in recording · TAG OneDrive
Sara Rossio (TeamTAG) · Jun 4
Screen recording of the new-patient web check-in flow.
Voice, scope & functional
PPTX
EP Self-Service Scheduling — briefing
Sara Rossio / Alex Corey (TeamTAG) · Jun 5
Patient types + self-service scheduling features (living doc) — grounds the booking flow.
Scope
“4 jobs / brand app” scope
Rafeh Masood (TeamTAG) · Jun 16
The four jobs the brand app must do — booking, treatment plan, content & comms, everything-on-the-website-in-app.
Also shared in our BB × TeamTAG Microsoft Teams channel: ongoing brand-token and feedback notes (ClearChoice tokens — Jenna Blanton; Aspen — Eric). A couple of brand assets — confirmed font files and approved photography — are being finalized together with the TeamTAG team.
Figma & design-audit feedback
Feedback TeamTAG left in Figma, and the design audit that shaped the brand-alignment direction.
“expand accent colors”
Angeli Arndt (TeamTAG) · Jun 12 · comment left directly in Figma on Aspen Dental 2.0 Alpha Tokens & Icons (resolved) — the palette needed a wider accent range beyond the core navy/blue.
“SIMPLE. STRAIGHT-FORWARD. EASY.”
Dustin DuBois (TeamTAG) · from the design audit / alignment notes — the north-star feel for the Aspen experience.
“Without seeing the AD logo, all of these look like they could be for any organization.”
Dustin DuBois (TeamTAG) · from the design audit / alignment notes — drove the emphasis on the real AspenDental wordmark and an unmistakably-Aspen identity on every screen.
Note: the fuller design audit lives in the TAG-owned Aspen Portal 2.0 Figma (access held by TeamTAG); the points above are the load-bearing ones captured in our alignment notes.
The principles we build to
Distilled from all the feedback above — the checklist behind every screen.
✓ DO
- Be authentically Aspen — real AspenDental wordmark + Northstar-A, brand navy.
- Keep it simple & elegant — one story per screen, room to breathe.
- Feel like a native iOS app — real status bar, tab bar, Apple Liquid Glass.
- Write plain, literal copy — say exactly what it is.
- Use relative days — “Tomorrow,” “Today.”
- One bright accent per screen — deep blue used sparingly.
- Big, legible type, high contrast, large tap targets — for our patients.
- Use the real fonts — Figtree + Work Sans.
- Hold the premium bar — Royal Caribbean, Hims, Ralph Lauren, Burberry.
- Enhance the approved design — never regress its craft.
- Stay focused — a few tight screens at a time.
✕ DO NOT
- No cute or AI-flavored copy — no filler.
- No website look — no web padding, gutters, or spacing.
- No serif fonts — anywhere.
- No stock people photos — a location facade if imagery is needed.
- No pills or stacked loud buttons — no button-on-button.
- No cost, price, balance, or financing — anywhere.
- No redundant or repeated content.
- No cream or tan — it’s a pearly-white brand.
- No gold or brown — that isn’t Aspen.
- No weekdays or calendar dates in app copy — relative days only.
- No over-engineered or confusing elements.
- No placeholder or fake logo — the real mark only.
Private review · TeamTAG · not indexed · synthetic demo data, no patient information.
Reviewer names are TeamTAG team members who gave input across the rounds.
Reviewer names are TeamTAG team members who gave input across the rounds.