Leading Design Transformation
Developer MVP to User-Centered Platform
🩺 Clinical Trials Portal
When every SME session was like getting a PhD in “How Medicine Gets Made”
First Design Hire ● 0 to 1 Product ● B2B Web Application
The Project That Had Me Springing Out of Bed
When work doesn’t feel like work
Some projects drain your soul. Others make you genuinely excited to wake up at 6 AM because you can’t wait to learn something mind-blowing from your SME. This was definitely the latter.
Picture this: I walk into a company with a “product” that existed in the technical sense; it had buttons, screens, and didn’t immediately crash your browser. But asking “who are our users?” was met with the kind of blank stares usually reserved for calculus pop quizzes.
This wasn’t just a redesign; it was an archaeological dig to uncover who our users were, what they needed, and why clinical trials are way more fascinating than anyone gives them credit for.
The “Wait, We Don’t Know Our Users?” Moment
When assumptions meet reality
I came in expecting to polish some wireframes, reassess a few user flows, and call it a day. Instead, I discovered we had built an entire platform without really understanding who would use it. It’s like cooking dinner for guests without knowing if they’re vegetarian, allergic to peanuts, or even hungry.
Mystery Users
We knew “the process is fragmented,” but not who was doing the fragmenting.
Developer-Led MVP
Built by engineers for… other engineers? The plot was unclear.
Role-Based Chaos
Site coordinators, CROs, and sponsors all needing different things.
Budget Reality
One SME. That’s it. Make it count.
Scalability Without Systems
Future-proof everything while building everything from scratch.
My Detective Work (AKA Research Strategy)
When you have to be Sherlock Holmes with a Sketch license
With a budget that screamed “make do with what you have,” I had to get creative about uncovering our users’ actual needs.
I had to go from reality check to internet deep dive to SME gold mine to finally start design pretty fast.
Meet My SME (AKA My Daily Dose of “Whoa”)
When every meeting is a masterclass
Enter our Subject Matter Expert: a clinical trials leader (board member level) who became my personal Wikipedia for “How to Actually Save Lives Through Research.” Every session with her was like getting a crash course in medicine, regulation, and human psychology all rolled into one.
The Walking Encyclopedia
She could explain everything from FDA regulations to why site coordinators need their coffee before 9 AM (spoiler: patient safety is intense).
The Question Whisperer
I asked her everything from obvious stuff to completely wild tangents that popped into my head at 2 AM.
The Reality Checker
She didn’t just validate our designs—she helped us understand the why behind every workflow.
Her superpower: Making complex clinical workflows sound like fascinating detective stories.
Her response: “Great question!” followed by 20 minutes of insights that changed how I saw the entire industry
Her gift: Turning my design assumptions into concrete answers that helped design user-centered solutions.
Every SME session was my reason to wake up in the morning. The stuff she taught me was pure gold. I went from “clinical trials sound simple” to “wait, this is how we cure diseases?!”
Building While Designing (AKA Organized Chaos)
When you’re the architect designing during construction
As the first and only designer, I wasn’t just creating screens; I was building the foundation for everything that would come after. Think of it as designing a house while also inventing the blueprints for blueprints.
The Wireframes (Where Magic Happened)
From developer-led chaos to user-centered clarity
Here’s where all that SME wisdom and component thinking came together. These wireframes represent hundreds of questions, dozens of “aha!” moments, and one very patient SME who helped me understand why clinical trials are basically organized miracles.
Dashboard Overview:
Role-based landing with key metrics and action items.
Trial Management:
End-to-end workflow for protocol creation and monitoring
Each wireframe was validated through our SME sessions, ensuring that every screen served a real need in the clinical trials ecosystem.
The Collaboration Dream Team
When being “the only designer” doesn’t mean being alone
As the first designer, I could have gone into a cave and emerged six months later with beautiful mockups that nobody understood. Instead, I made collaboration my superpower.
Being the “only designer” taught me that great design is always a team sport; you just need to find creative ways to get everyone on the same field.
The “OMG, We Did It” Moment
When user-centered design meets real-world impact
Being the “only designer” taught me that great design is always a team sport; you just need to find creative ways to get everyone on the same field.
What This Project Taught Me
When every day brings a lightbulb moment
Being the “only designer” taught me that great design is always a team sport; you just need to find creative ways to get everyone on the same field.
If I Did This Today (AKA The AI Advantage)
When hindsight meets cutting-edge tools
Looking back with today’s AI toolkit, I could have accelerated discovery and gone even deeper with our amazing SME. Here is how I would approach this project now:
With today’s tools, I could have squeezed even more learning out of every precious SME session. But honestly? Those conversations were already pure gold.
The Real Talk
What happens when design meets life-changing work
This project taught me that the best design work happens when you’re genuinely curious about the domain you’re designing for. Every SME session was like unlocking a new level of understanding about how clinical research actually works, and why it matters so much.
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