Enhancing User Experience in Clinical Trial Software: Optimizing UX Processes to Drive Efficiency and Usability

About the Client

Our client is a USA-based leading imaging informatics company that specializes in comprehensive tissue-to-human imaging, analysis, and data management solutions. The company serves pharmaceutical and biotech clients across all stages of the drug development pipeline.

The client’s advanced quantitative biomarker services, cutting-edge analytics, AI-powered tools, and clinical operations are supported by two flagship software platforms: a multi-modality post-processing suite for SPECT, CT, PET, MR, optical, and autoradiography imaging data; and a web-based platform designed to store, manage, and report on multi-format medical imaging data and associated metadata.

Despite their success, ​the company faced a series of operational inefficiencies that hindered its ability to scale and innovate effectively. To overcome these obstacles, the company required a comprehensive solution that could address its operational bottlenecks and improve internal workflows, ultimately supporting faster development cycles and more reliable delivery.

The Challenges 

In the context of clinical trial software, where vast amounts of complex data are managed, well-designed UX is essential for both usability and data accuracy, reducing errors, and enhancing the overall efficiency of research workflows. 

Healthcare UX design faces numerous challenges. When we began working with the client, we identified several issues and gaps in the UX design culture and operational processes: 

Lack of a Clear Design Culture

Design culture describes a dynamic workplace environment driven by design thinking principles, where creating an exceptional user experience is always the top priority.

Our client showed a weak design culture, with limited emphasis on design thinking and user-centered practices.  

Design Consistency

The inconsistency in the design of existing features caused confusion and usability challenges, ultimately leading to a need for a comprehensive redesign to meet modern design standards and deliver a more cohesive user experience.

Information Architecture and Accessibility

The product design was not equally accessible to all members of the target audience, creating barriers for some users. Furthermore, the design lacked versatility, failing to meet the diverse needs of users across different contexts and settings

User Research and Usability Testing

The client lacked a structured UX testing framework, which hindered their ability to validate whether the design aligned with user needs or achieved key business objectives.

Continuous Improvement and Iteration

The lack of design iteration after deployment resulted in missed opportunities for user testing and contextual performance evaluation. Without ongoing feedback, the designs failed to be user-centered, often falling short of addressing user needs effectively. This stagnant approach hindered continuous improvement, leaving the product less intuitive and adaptable over time.

The Solution 

Building a Strong Design Culture

We prioritized creating a work environment grounded in design, with user experience at the forefront. To achieve this, we implemented the following strategies:

• Cross-Team Collaboration: We broke down silos by fostering collaboration across departments, ensuring that the UX development process integrated diverse perspectives and expertise.

• State-of-the-Art Tools: To streamline and empower the design process, we adopted cutting-edge tools like Figma, which promote seamless collaboration and real-time feedback among teams.

• Clear Communication: We enhanced communication through agile ceremonies and regular meetings, enabling timely feedback loops and the flexibility to adapt swiftly to changes.

This approach established a robust foundation for design excellence and continuous improvement.

Developing a Design System for Consistent User Experience

We created a scalable, reusable UI kit to standardize design elements, ensuring visual consistency across all platforms. Additionally, we spearheaded the redesign of existing features, leveraging insights from user research and testing to enhance usability and streamline workflows. This cohesive approach not only improved the user experience but also established a strong foundation for future design scalability.

Enhancing Usability and Accessibility Through Prototyping and Continuous Support

We conducted comprehensive UX audits and usability testing to identify critical pain points and implement solutions that improved the platform’s accessibility. By aligning with WCAG guidelines, we ensured the platform was inclusive and accessible to a diverse range of users.

To maintain a user-centered approach, we developed rapid prototypes and performed ongoing UX evaluations. This iterative process allowed us to adapt to evolving user feedback and business requirements, continuously refining the user experience to meet both user and organizational needs effectively.

Outcome: A Unified, User-Centric Clinical Trial Software Experience

The implementation of the proposed UX solutions resulted in a significant transformation of the clinical trial software, leading to improved user satisfaction, greater operational efficiency, and a more streamlined development process. Key outcomes include:

Establishment of a Clear Culture

By applying agile ceremonies, we were able to create a clear design culture that facilitated collaboration across all teams. This iterative process allowed us to address user needs and design challenges while keeping the development cycle aligned with user-centric goals. 

Modernization of the UX Design Process

The adoption of collaborative design tools, such as Figma, modernized the way design work was executed. These tools facilitated real-time collaboration, enabling cross-functional teams to work more efficiently and reduce bottlenecks. 

Consistency Across User Experiences

With the development of the new design system, we established a uniform visual language, interaction patterns, and UI components across the entire software suite. This consistency enhanced the user experience by reducing cognitive load and making the platform easier to navigate. Users can now expect a seamless experience across different modules of the clinical trial software, with familiar design patterns and behaviors, whether they are interacting with data management, reporting tools, or trial monitoring features.

Feature Updates & New Design Implementations

Legacy features were modernized with simplified workflows, clearer information hierarchy, and more intuitive interfaces, making them more user-friendly and accessible. New features were developed from the ground up with the user in mind, following the design system's guidelines to ensure that they were both functional and aligned with the overall user experience strategy.

Accessibility Improvements

Accessibility was a key focus throughout the redesign process. We implemented WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) to ensure that all users, regardless of ability, could navigate and interact with the software. 

Applying the Design Thinking Process

By rigorously applying the Design Thinking methodology—empathizing with users, defining problems, ideating solutions, prototyping, and testing—we ensured that every step in the process was driven by user insights. Prototyping played a central role, allowing us to quickly iterate on ideas and test them with real users. This helped refine the designs based on feedback, resulting in a user experience that truly met the needs of clinical trial professionals.

Continuous Support and Iteration

Even after the launch of the updated software, the UX team continues to support ongoing improvements. Continuous user feedback is gathered, and user experience data is analyzed to identify areas for further refinement. This commitment to iterative improvement ensures that the software remains responsive to changing user needs and emerging industry trends.

Key Impact

• The redesigned clinical trial software is now more user-friendly and consistent, empowering users to complete their tasks more efficiently. 

• The improved UX not only supports clinical trial professionals in their day-to-day work but also enhances overall productivity, leading to faster decision-making, fewer errors, and a smoother user experience across the platform. 

• The modernization of UX processes, combined with a robust design system and a focus on accessibility, has successfully transformed the software into a tool that is both highly functional and intuitive to use.