Pharmaceutical Database

A SaaS application designed to facilitate the work of patent lawyers and non-profit advocates working in the pharmaceutical industry.

I was responsible for the redesign of the existing product. We started with a discovery phase including user interviews and finished with prototype testing and hand-off to development.

My Role

Company

Timeline

User Research

Ideation

Product Thinking

UX/UI Design

Usability Testing

Development Handoff

Goji Labs

(Client Confidential)

13 Weeks

Tools Used

Figma

The Client and Current Product

The client is a non-profit organization that advocates for access to healthcare in low and middle-income countries. Their work involves making patent info on pharmaceutical products available to lawyers, advocates, and non-profits through a free-to-access database that provides insight into the intellectual property status of specific patents.

They decided to undertake a redesign of the user-facing database to bring the UI up to current standards and improve its usability.

They wanted:

A review of the surveys they did of their clients to better understand their needs.
A clearer version the table used to display database entries to users.
An enhanced search function that allowed for advanced search parameters

The Original Product

After Redesign

Discovery: Audit and Strategy Alignment

We conducted a detailed UX audit to pinpoint and address universal surface-level design issues across all products.

Categorized issues by severity, with the most critical being the key patent information placed below the fold in the table.
Uncovered a severe problem in information architecture, leading users to resort to client calls for necessary information.

We also defined a product strategy through client meetings, establishing a North Star, goals, and KPI benchmarks.

A clear product strategy aids in aligning design solutions with organizational success metrics.
Prioritized features based on the strategy, offering a starting point for brainstorming and suggesting innovative features to the client.

Looking for Unspoken User Needs Through Interviews

In the initial discovery, client-shared survey metrics lacked insights into user frustrations and workflows.
Delved deeper through interviews, revealing a profound appreciation for the existing minimalistic design.
Identified specific user desires, including:
- Users seeking improved table presentation for enhanced data clarity.
- Need for search bar enhancements to streamline search processes; the current one lacked features like suggested results.
- Users not utilizing the current reporting tool, finding it irrelevant to their work and lacking views necessary for their specific use case.e.

Crafting an Optimal User Interface Through Low-Fidelity Prototyping, and Testing:

We embarked on a phased low-fidelity prototyping journey for optimal UI:

Initiated with quick, rudimentary Figjam sketches, using simple boxes for layout testing and concept elimination.
Iteratively refined the layout, fine-tuning information and functionality above the fold on the database website.
Culminated in a polished low-fidelity mockup with interactive elements for a superior user experience and detailed enough for user testing.

Rethinking Data Presentation for Enhanced Value

The original database provided table and map views; the map was outdated and limited.

Users expressed a preference for detailed reports.
Initial testing revealed user confusion with complex data visualizations, prompting design reconsideration.
Redesigned report with a focus on user-friendly elements:
- Complex donut chart for detailed regional patent breakdown.
- Timeline for a snapshot of a medication's patent history.
- Incorporated a dynamic timeline for tracking patent updates over time, enhancing report richness.
Modernized UI for a refined, condensed look, providing space for more information on the page.