Vault Health Life Science
End-to-end design for an
innovative decentralized clinical trial web application.
End-to-end design
ux
ui
0-1 design system
Summary
Project Overview
With the goal of becoming a key player in decentralized clinical trials, we developed a user-friendly platform focused on participant convenience and compliance.
The product addressed industry needs for accessibility, higher recruitment, and retention rates in trials, ultimately securing a major business partnership with an industry leader and was acquired by Science 37.
The web platform was praised for being modern, intuitive, and easy to use.
My Role
As the Lead Product Designer, I worked with 4 Product Managers, 1 UX researcher, and 14 Engineer Teams (120 engineers).
Deliverables
Information architecture
Wireframes
High-fidelity mockups and prototypes
User interface design
Design iterations
Design system
highlights
End-to-end design
Led the complete product design process, from ideation to production, aligning the product with evolving industry trends.
0-1 design system
Created a 0-1 design system, improving efficiency and consistency across 14 engineering teams.
Business winning prototype
The high-fidelity interactive prototypes for an MVP helped secure a critical business partnership.
Final prototypes
Prototype of 3 essential functions: scheduling, protocol, and diagnostic.
Challenges
1. Regulatory demands and complexity
The clinical trial industry has high regulatory demands and complexity, especially around patient recruitment and retention. The platform must comply with these regulations while remaining intuitive and user-friendly.
2. Industry shift
The pandemic accelerated a shift in clinical trials, making remote participation essential. Our challenge was to create a platform that supported this new decentralized model, allowing participants to engage in trials from their homes.
3. Legacy systems
The existing process involved multiple applications and tools, which were fragmented and difficult to manage. Our platform needed to simplify the complexity of managing multiple clinical roles and protocols.
User research insights
Through extensive research and interviews with clinical teams, we identified three primary user groups:
1. Clinical Project Managers (CPMs)
Oversee trials, ensuring smooth processes and deadlines. The previous reliance on multiple tools created inefficiencies.
2. Clinical Research Coordinators (CRCs)
Manage participant interactions, scheduling, and logistics. They struggled with tracking and manual data input.
3. Providers
Nurse practitioners performing in-home visits faced challenges with slow, outdated EHR systems.
Setting product vision & goals
To leverage our company’s existing internal EHR system, we decided to focus on building a user-friendly clinical trial platform for Project Managers and Coordinators.
We developed an MVP product vision that emphasized ease of use, flexibility, and safety. Based on the workflows of Project Managers and Coordinators, we prioritized three core features: scheduling, diagnostic fulfillment, and protocol.
Testing product-market fit
After defining the product goal, we had the opportunity to pitch our idea to an industry leader for a potential partnership within just two weeks.
Given the tight timeline, our team spent three days brainstorming the core functionalities for each product area. We explored multiple wireframe options and distilled them into 5-6 key screens for each area, ensuring we could deliver a clear and compelling product story.
Selected team's outputs of information architecture and wireframes
Leveraging a new design system
With the initial concepts set, I faced three challenges:
1. Product Managers were unfamiliar with design patterns, requiring wireframe adjustments.
2. I was a one-woman design team with only a week to deliver three high-fidelity prototypes.
3. We had a newly developed design system, yet to be tested.
I implemented the new design system, iterating it as needed to meet product requirements. This approach allowed me to refine the wireframes, streamline the high-fi design process, and deliver the prototypes within the deadline.
Selected components from Vault design system
Balancing familiarity with innovation
Among the three core features, the most complex area was scheduling. Coordinators needed to book multiple appointments over a long period, sometimes spanning years, while adhering to strict time windows (e.g., -1/+2 days) to avoid deviations. For some lab visits, equipment needed to be shipped to participants beforehand.
the original protocol table coordinators used to schedule appointments
To address this, we designed the “Schedule of Activities” — an interactive UI that transformed traditional protocol tables into a dynamic scheduler. This tool allowed coordinators to create a schedule at the start of a trial, which the system then auto-populated for each participant based on their first visit.
Schedule of activities prototype
Key benefits of the design
1. Reduced Manual Work: Coordinators could store the entire protocol upfront, eliminating the need to memorize different versions.
2. Increased Safety: Automated scheduling reduced the risk of human error and protocol deviations.
3. Enhanced Efficiency: Coordinators had a clear overview of appointments and received reminders to ship equipment on time.
Key wins
participants page before
participants page after
Users loved the product
Our clinical team responded positively to the final design, with most understanding the product immediately. Some noted it felt familiar, like traditional clinical trial management tools, but appreciated the more modern, intuitive interface.
Learnings
Transparency builds trust
By making the design process open and involving stakeholders early, I fostered trust and alignment across teams, ensuring everyone understood the rationale behind design decisions.
The power of demonstration
Instead of just advocating for UX, I demonstrated its value through research and design outputs, which directly led to the hiring of a dedicated UX researcher.
Embracing iteration
Balancing the need for high-quality design with business priorities taught me the importance of iteration over perfection. The focus was on delivering a product that met user and business needs efficiently.
