Designing reporting into the image review workflow

Radiologists do not review images and write reports as two unrelated tasks.

The report is the outcome of the interpretation.

I designed the reporting experience as an extension of image review rather than a separate document editor.

[ image — Split view ] Viewer + reporting panel side-by-side. Anatomy can be redacted.

The problem

Radiologists needed to move between structural imaging, functional networks, tracts, measurements, annotations, notes and final report content.

When these activities were separated, users had to remember findings, recreate context and move repeatedly between the image and the report. This increased cognitive load and made it easier to lose the evidence behind a statement.

Key decisions

Keep the image available while writing

The radiologist needed to retain visual context while documenting a finding. Reporting was therefore designed to coexist with review rather than replace the viewer.

Separate working notes from the signed report

Not every observation made during review belongs in the final clinical document. The workflow distinguished between temporary interpretation notes and formal report content.

Allow findings to retain context

Annotations, measurements and bookmarked views could help the radiologist return to the image location that supported a statement. This made documentation more traceable and reduced the need to search for the same finding again.

Make report states explicit

Draft, preliminary and final states carry different clinical meanings. The interface needed to make the current state and available actions unambiguous, especially when more than one role could access the case.

Design the handoff

The final report was not only for the reporting radiologist. It needed to help the neurosurgeon understand the functional context that could affect planning, without requiring them to reproduce the radiologist’s full review process.

What changed

Reporting became part of a continuous clinical workflow:

inspect → mark → interpret → communicate

The product supported not only seeing the result, but making the interpretation usable by the next clinician.