Project specs
The Jackson Laboratory – Resource Portal
Role
Timeline
UX Designer
Worked with: design manager, marketing & tech specialists
Summer of 2023, I was a UX Designer (intern) at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) – a biotech company that produce genomic solutions.
I redesigned the resource page, building on the JAX design system, to streamline the content research experience for 10,000+ monthly visitors. I also created a new taxonomy through Uberflip (marketing tool) and organized 280+ tags. I collaborated closely with medical specialists, designers, marketing managers and iterated on 20+ user interviews.
During this internship, I presented often – on accessibility, design processes, and our final solution.
Jan - Aug 2023
Tasks
Tools
UX design
Competitive audit
User research
Usability testing
Presenting
Figma
Uberflip
Excel
Microsoft Suite
Who’s JAX?
The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) is a biomedical research organization that discover precise genomic solutions for disease and improve human health.
Their research focuses on cancer, immunology, neurodegenerative diseases and other medical topics.
Impact: JAX entails 26 Nobel prizes, 3000+ employees, and $580+ million in total operational revenue.
My designs at JAX help researchers, scholars, doctors, and medical professionals find necessary resources to help them develop healthcare solutions.
Context
1 - Keep it simple
Imagine being an oncologist, on a time crunch, desperately scouring through pages to find relevant white papers.
Content must be easily searchable. I cleaned up the nav bar, condensed 12 drop-down menu items with a filter design, and emphasized the search functionality. With a renewed taxonomy, the navigation process became intuitive.
2 - Accessibility
JAX users range widely in terms of perceptual abilities. With a pitch desk, I advocated for accessibility to the design team. Our solution passes WCAG standards and includes clean hierarchies.
3 - Design system
To ensure that designs can be scaled, I adapted to the JAX design system. We reviewed, discussed, and improved the system during weekly stand-ups.
Not only did a design system ensure accurate branding, it also passes vision accessibility standards, rendering a delightful visual experience.
Testimonials
POV: working with Phoebe
Design Manager
Niki Lesniak
Phoebe determined who she needed to talk to in order to get the job done, both internally and externally. She solved problems with minimal oversight and designed a solution that fit within our already established design system.
Marketing Tool Manager
Jotti Gosal
Thank you for being on top of everything! The Uberflip learning curve can be steep, but great job taking it on and improving the JAX resource page user experience. (Jotti was the Customer Success Manager
@ Uberflip)
Testing
With the results of 3 usability testing surveys from internal staff members and external partners (Uberflip specialist), I was able to iterate designs to include features that both assist business goals and was viable under technical constraints. Below are 3 of the 21 questions within the survey.
User flow
"How intuitive is it to navigate this site?"
Branding
"Please describe the aesthetics with 3 adjectives."
CTA
"How clear is the message of the CTA?"
Results
Fast research.
Informed users.
100%
Users reported content page easy to read
This was a result of employing hierarchy principles, using whitespace to reduce cognitive load, and understanding user behaviors (scholars are skimmers!)
Navigating unclear plans
Obstacle
There is a communication gap between different JAX teams. Content, marketing, design, and development teams all have their own sets of projects. The resource page just so happen to encompass all of them. And no one knew how to improve it.
To overcome this "unclear problem situation" I coordinated cross-functional meetings, clarified my plan with Niki (manager), and explained to colleagues about my design decisions. Throughout, I maintained clear, effective, and open communication.
Stay curious
Reflection
Strategic thinking
The problem isn't always defined. I tackled ambiguity with research, design frameworks, and a calm mindset.
Adapt to systems
A company's branding is often rooted in a design system. I quickly familiarized myself with JAX hex codes, typography, and styles to create a tailored design solution.
Absorb like a sponge
Learning new terminology and tools (Uberflip) was an exciting part of the journey. Immersing myself in medical knowledge also helped me empathize with JAX users.
What has worked?
Competitive audit
5 detailed competitive audits were conducted. Through this, we gathered insights regarding card styles, content hierarchy,
I reported insights during our weekly stand-ups. During these meetings, we also critique each other's designs and provide feedback. With these audits, I was able to explore creative solutions while still adhering to the JAX design system.
Introducing – an intuitive research experience
Design solution
Nothing is organized
Problem
Messy content hub
Customers are unable to navigate the page and quickly find the resources they need.
Inefficient taxonomy
JAX employees have trouble adding, filtering, and managing content due to an outdated tagging system.
Poor branding
Bothersome UX flows. The interface does not align with the JAX design system.
"We've been talking about this issue for the past 2 years. Everything is messy."
– Kevin, Strategic Content Manager at JAX
Improve search experience
Goal
Visitors deserve to find what they need. Employees deserve to easily add, arrange, and manage content.
Help users find content
Implement logical taxonomy
Align to design system
Actionable steps
Strategy
We have limited resources and unlimited goals. Let's find a balance between business objectives and customer problems. The design strategy is to create functional UX with the insights from concrete data, making sure components match JAX branding.
The Double Diamond design framework helps me break down this initially ambiguous project into concrete goals and actions.
Discover: gather resources and generate actionable insights
Define: clarify pain points and objectives
Develop: craft wireframes and curate designs
Deliver: UXR tests, iterations, implement
Defining problem from vague situation
During my first 1:1 with the JAX design manager, she opened resources.jax.org and said: "please help us fix this."
Oh boy. Where shall we start?
On a search to clarify the problem, understand the current tools and systems within JAX, and learn, learn, learn, I proceeded with the following actions. By the end of week 2, I identified pain points of JAX users and immediately started to shape the design strategy.
Conducted 10 user research interviews
Played around with Uberflip (marketing tool)
Spoke with marketing, design, management, & development
Research
