NEJM Clinician

The Challenge

NEJM Group, one of the world’s most trusted medical publishers, recognized that a large segment of medical professionals need high-quality summary information quickly. At the same time, content consumption habits are shifting,  becoming more mobile, more personalized, and increasingly constrained by time.

NEJM Group had strong market research and a clear sense of opportunity for a new journal summary product to meet market demand, but they were starting with a blank slate from a product design perspective. Key questions included how much content to provide, the most effective formats for information, and how to help clinicians feel motivated and accomplished rather than overwhelmed.

The experience would need to support a diverse mix of content, including:

• Journal summaries
• Guideline watches
• Expert interviews
• Interactive features like Images in Medicine
• Weekly questions and knowledge checks

Finally, NEJM Group wanted to explore thoughtful quiz and gamification elements that could reinforce learning and engagement, while remaining appropriate for a professional clinical audience.

Our Approach

ZeroDegrees led a comprehensive UX design process to envision the new product.

We began by studying inspirational experiences both within medicine and beyond it to inspire the team in different options to support regular engagement, progress, and completion.

Early on, alignment around the overall conceptual model was critical. While there was agreement that the experience should follow a weekly cadence, how that week was structured was still an open question. We explored multiple low fidelity concepts for organizing content, tracking progress, and presenting different content formats.

We tested these concepts with clinicians through Concept Resonance testing, which helped clarify preferences around content layout, lightweight progress indicators, and flexibility in how content could be consumed. These insights guided which ideas moved forward into detailed design.

From there, we partnered closely with NEJM Group through a series of UX design sprints focused on core areas of the product, including content listings, archives and search, content detail views, and responsive behavior across mobile and desktop. Because this was a new product, branding was also a key focus, allowing us to explore different visual directions before aligning on an approach that felt like NEJM Group while supporting readability and clarity.

Finally, we conducted task-based usability testing on detailed designs to refine interactions, navigation, and clarity. This phase helped ensure the experience worked smoothly for real-world use.

The Results

The result is NEJM Clinician a polished, cohesive digital experience that helps clinicians stay on top of what matters most:

• Organized, Weekly Digest: Content is clearly labeled by type (summaries, guideline updates, expert interviews, and more) but clinicians can also browse across types if they prefer.
• Manageable Weekly Rhythm: A curated set of content items for the week gives users a sense of completion and momentum.
• Flexible Browsing & Search: Older content remains easily accessible via searchable lists and topic filters for those catching up or researching specific conditions.
• Progress & Engagement: Lightweight tracking elements subtly encourage users to complete weekly reading without feeling gamified or intrusive.

NEJM Clinician launched to positive internal response from the NEJM Group team and early subscribers. The product is positioned as time-saving, clinically meaningful, and trustworthy, delivering curated insights in a concise, digestible format. NEJM Clinician represents a thoughtful evolution of content delivery, one that respects how clinicians consume information today while honoring the editorial rigor of NEJM Group.