Life Sciences Docs Platform
A global life sciences company had a legacy documentation tool that people had quietly stopped using. Twelve days from kickoff workshop to interactive prototype — mostly because the answer wasn't more features. It was letting people find the latest version of a document without scrolling.
My Role
// What I personally ownedUX designer. I ran the research, facilitated the kickoff workshop, built the Figma component library, and worked directly with the product owner and lead developer through delivery.
The Problem
// Why this needed to existMultiple teams across the company used the documentation tool to pull technical and regulatory documents — or tried to. Interviews came back with the same story from everyone: search barely worked, everything showed up in one long grid, and there was no way to tell which version of a document was current.
Compliance and product teams were trying to use the same surface for different jobs, so the interface kept growing sideways — more filters bolted on, no way to actually navigate. The timeline was fixed: twelve days to an interactive prototype, one month to MVP.
Workshop to prototype
Sole designer
Components adopted in future MVPs
Key Design Decisions
// What I tried, what I changed, whySearch-first information architecture
Flat grid of 30+ items with no filtering, no versioning, and no indication of document relevance. Users had stopped consulting it entirely.
Rebuilt the search flow with filters (language, date, document type) and tag-based navigation. 'Latest Document' prominently surfaced with version label.
Why: Almost nobody opens a documentation tool to browse. They open it to find one specific thing, usually the latest version in their language. The interface needed to be tuned for that, not for browsing.
Version grouping to replace flat grid
No version history — updates meant scrolling through duplicates. Impossible to identify the 'right' document quickly.
Grouped documents by version/date. 'Latest' prominently surfaced with previous versions clearly separated and collapsed. Tab-based navigation per document category.
Why: Every interview came back to the same pain: which version is current? Grouping by document and surfacing the latest version at the top removed the single most common way people got it wrong.
Reusable component library
No design system. Each internal tool built from scratch with inconsistent patterns.
Created a reusable Figma component library scoped to this project. Components were adopted in subsequent internal tools, increasing speed and consistency.
Why: Twelve days doesn't leave room to custom-design every component. Starting with a small reusable library kept us fast — and it ended up getting picked up for two later internal tools.
Outcomes & Validation
// What I can point to- Document retrieval stopped being the part of the job people dreaded
- Search picked up filters and tagging that actually matched the real use cases
- The component library was reused on two other internal tools afterwards
- Compliance and product teams ended up working off the same interface again
Screenshots and client name are withheld under NDA. Visuals available upon request during interview process.