Laboratory Information
Management System (LIMS)
Enterprise platform for clinical laboratory information management
Key highlights of this project
Overview
Role & Duration
Data Unlimited International, Incorporation (DUII) has an
'On-premise' LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) offers its clients several products.
The aim of this project is to transition from an On-premise offering of multiple LIMS applications to a single SaaS-based web application offering that can be customized as per applicable workflows unique to each laboratory.
Product Designer
User Research, Interaction, Visual design, Prototyping & Testing, Omnichannel Product Strategy
Team
UX Designer, Product Manager, Fullstack Developer, Backend Developer, QA, Scrum Master, Engineering Architect
Client
Project Summary
Business Objective
-
Create a platform as a service for clinical laboratories to customize according to the size of the clinical laboratory.
-
Revenue generation will be based on subscriptions.
Success Criteria
-
Test prototypes with prospect laboratories before implementing the solution
-
Use services by launching services and taking feedback from customers
Use Goals
-
Unified experience of multiple desktop applications used in the laboratory
-
Pay as per usage of the application
Challenges
-
Understand the domain
-
Testing of application with stakeholders
-
Prioritisation based on stakeholder changing needs
-
Usability testing
Outcome
-
Successful beta release of the application for modules such as sample tracking, Toxicology, and Covid Testing.
Productisation Process & Collaboration Model
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Team followed productization process which involves stakeholders, product managers and engineering team
Design Process
Lean UX
The team focused on regular interactions with real customers through UX interviews and early testing. Such an approach to design increases collaboration, where everyone is considered equal with no place for Guru. This approach brings different perspectives to the table. It initiates the simultaneous processing of tasks among the other team members.
Assumptions
Detailed deliverables were not a significant part of Lean UX, as the core purpose is to improve the product. Therefore, the formal requirements in a design brief were discarded in favor of “problem statements,” which leads to assumptions that allow us to create hypothesis statements.
Hypothesis
A hypothesis was defined based on product features, their importance, and relevant personas.
MVP
The MVP was created from both brainstormed ideas and hypotheses to build a product with a minimum of all the key components.
Such an approach to MVPs brings down the cost of development and increases efficiency and user satisfaction.
The Problem
Operational cost is a barrier to the profitability of any clinical laboratory.
Laboratories with 2 to 10 users, who have limited IT expertise & infrastructure require a robust Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) to efficiently perform day-to-day operations. These laboratories uses limited workflows based on the available infrastructure and people. Such laboratories cannot effort LIMS due to the high operational cost incurred due to licenses.
Without a flexible system that will provide support to laboratory-specific workflows, It is impossible to reduce operational costs.
User Research
Stakeholder workshop
A 5-day workshop was conducted with the DUII stakeholders, product manager, and engineering architect. My research encompassed -
• Understand an overview of the laboratory ecosystem and high-level
workflow from collecting samples to dispatching test results.
• Roles and responsibilities of members at each level
• Day to day tasks that need to be accomplished
• Product roadmap
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Fig: Screenshot of product roadmap created using Miro (Digital collaboration tool) as one of the outcome of workshop
Customer satisfaction Survey
User survey was conducted for key workflows where users were facing challenges in a current desktop application. This was done using the SurveyMonkey tool.
4
Number of Workflows
4
Number of Customers
58
Total number of Users
1 to 5
Rating Scale
Subject Management
27%
Test Management
32%
Batch Management
30%
Case Management
38%
CSAT
Heading 1
* Where rating 1 & 2 is not satisfied, 3 is neutral and 4 & 5 is satisfied
Qualitative Interviews
After defining the product roadmap, modules, and related features, virtual user interviews were conducted with 22 users to understand their pain points and challenges with the current application they are using.
I need to switch between multiple desktop applications to enter sample and subject and test-related data. Need a centralized application to manage all.
Senior Lab Technician I NOAH Clinical Labs
Selection and adding tests to the work set is a critical task. There are individual as well as group tests which need to select carefully.
Lab Associate I Roache Clinical Diagnostics
Creating a work set for the test is a manual task especially same workset is used for multiple tests
Lab Associate I ACZ Labaratories
Setting up the sample plate is important where controlled samples need to include
Senior Lab Associate I ACZ Labaratories
Insights
After conducting user interviews, and analyzing the gathered data, I was able to categorize the insights into these 3 categories
Communication
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There is no centralized application for interlinking different pieces of information in the workflow.
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Manual entry or transfer of data from each system to other
Accuracy & Precision
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Patient sample and relevant data is critical for laboratory
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Accuracy and precision are required for:
- Selection of test modules and tests
- Selection of Workst (batch) for processing of the sample in the batch
- Setting up a sample in the sample plate
Effeciency
-
Efficiency or speed of processing test, work set (batch), and sample is important for operational efficiency of lab.
Workflows
Based on operational efficiency and interviews, workflows identified and validated with stakeholders. It helped to define information architecture.
Fig: Screenshot of 2 workflows related with receiving and generating sample
Information Architecture
Information Architecture helped to detail each workflow into features. After identifying these features, the product roadmap is refined with additional information coming from user interviews, insights, and workflows.
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Fig: Screenshot of Information Architecture of LIMS with Case Management detailed out using Miro (Digital collaboration tool)
Define Interactions
Initial concepts of features were created based to do early validation of concepts with users and prospect customers of the application.
Fig: Card layout for showcasing sample and its details
Concepts
I started creating low-fi concepts for primary use cases. After having a go-ahead from the product manager, developers, and stakeholders on the mockups, we began to conduct usability tests with the low-fidelity mockups. Once we had confidence in the design, we began digitalizing designs.
The Solution
Subject Management
Subject management is related to entering and managing subject-related data in the application. e.g. Name, Age of the person.
Sample Management
Reusable Assets
Considering the scope of work for the next features created a reusable asset library for consistency of experience.
Usability Testing
I tested the product at various stages of the project.
• Lo-fi prototypes were tested with the stakeholders weekly to get feedback on the product's functionality, content, and interactivity.
• Unmoderated User testing - A few dummy tasks were assigned to app users. All participants were using the app to carry out hypothetical tasks.
• Beta Testing - Before releasing the app, we tested it with one of the labs to take their go-ahead.
Seeing Results
Customer satisfaction Survey
User survey was conducted for key workflows where they were facing challenges in a current desktop application using the SurveyMonkey tool for critical workflows
4
Number of Workflows
4
Number of Customers
58
Total number of Users
1 to 5
Rating Scale
Subject Management
71%
Test Management
69%
Batch Management
83%
Case Management
78%
CSAT
* Where rating 1 & 2 is not satisfied, 3 is neutral and 4 & 5 is satisfied
Project Learnings
1. Simplicity is strength
As a designer, we are often lured by attractive, trendy, and out-of-the-box designs. But, We must always remember the ‘why’. The primary goal is to understand the user, and their problems and then come up with a design that solves them.
2. Prioritize
Create a strategic plan to launch an MVP. This helps deal with out-of-scope requests that could potentially derail the project and helps deliver a quality product on time.
3. Seek feedback early and continually.
The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism. Keeping the stakeholders/users in the loop and testing solutions in whatever form (paper, low-fi, or hi-fi) as early as possible saves an ample amount of time and rework.
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