One structure, every module
Every module shares the same template and breadcrumbs, so you always know where you are and how to get back.
- Role
- Product designer, one of two
- Platform
- Desktop and mobile
- Team
- 3 PMs, engineers, governance leads
- Timeline
- 14 months, shipped
- Client
- Global pharma enterprise, via TCS
- Contribution
- Research, information architecture, design system, mobile
Before a clinical trial collects its first patient record, someone has to decide exactly what it will collect: every form, every question, every code. At a global pharmaceutical company, that work happens in this metadata repository, which had grown module by module into 20+ modules and 360+ screens, each built its own way. Over 14 months, I co-led its redesign with one other designer, not to add features, but to make it one calm, consistent tool on desktop and on a phone. Today, creating a record takes 33% less time, and the platform has been recognised with two India Pharma Awards.
Areas of focus
Beyond the screens themselves, my part was shaping the redesign end to end, from understanding how people actually worked to making sure 20+ modules held together as one product. The module-level design I shared with the other designer.
- Listening firstI started with the people who use the tool every day, interviewing 20 to 25 of them to understand how their work really flows.
- Setting the directionWith the PMs, I helped decide what the redesign should fix first, and what the tool should stop trying to do.
- Holding it togetherI shaped the structure and the design system side by side, so every module follows the same logic and is built from the same parts.
- Bringing everyone alongI worked closely with engineers and governance leads, and tested the designs with users twice before they went into build.
Problem
When I spoke with the people who use the repository, their work came down to five things: creating, editing, copying, filtering and searching records. The old tool made each of them harder than it needed to be, and the same four problems came up again and again.
- A new tool in every moduleButtons, type, colour and layout changed from one module to the next, so people had to relearn the interface each time they moved.
- Easy to get lostPages sat deep inside other pages, with no breadcrumbs and no clear way back. People found their way around from memory.
- Starting from scratch, every timeMost new records were near-copies of ones that already existed, yet each was typed out again, page by page.
- A desktop squeezed onto a phoneMobile was the desktop shrunk down, so a quick approval away from a desk meant pinching and zooming through a dense page.
Solution
Rather than adding more to a tool that already did too much, we focused on creating a system that simplified all of its data. We addressed each problem in turn, and together those fixes turned 20+ modules into a single, steady product.
Review on the go
On a phone, people review, approve and assign in a few taps. Creating stays on desktop.
Start from a copy
Instead of a blank form, a new record begins from an earlier one, so people only change what’s different.
Built from one system
Every screen is drawn from the same tokens and components, so the product looks and behaves the same everywhere.
A shared language for every module
I built the foundations and components that all 20+ modules are drawn from, from colour tokens to form patterns.
A clear way around
Every module now follows the same template, with breadcrumbs and a persistent header. Whether someone is in Source Collection, ADaM or SDTM, the page works the way they expect.
Starting from what already exists
Most new records started as copies, so I made copying the main way to begin. People choose an earlier record, change what’s different, and the form checks anything that must stay unique. Form creation time dropped by 33%, from 12 minutes to 8.
AE3001_LV1
A phone app that does less, intentionally
Rather than squeezing everything into the mobile version and making it feel more complicated, we focused on time-sensitive tasks such as reviewing, approving and assigning.
The same page, then and now
The library people opened every day, before and after the redesign. Drag to compare.
BEFOREAFTER
Impact
Fourteen months later, a tool that once felt different in every corner works as one product, and the difference shows up in people’s everyday work.
Reduced form creation time by 33%, from 12 minutes to 8, giving people back the time they used to spend retyping
20+ modules and 360+ screens now work as one consistent platform, built from a single design system
Two India Pharma Awards recognised the redesigned platform for the client
Two TCS Excellence Awards recognised my part in it, across product strategy, information architecture and the design system
Next time I’d roll it out module by module. Changing 20+ modules in a single release asked a lot of people who had used the old tool for years, and a gentler rollout would have let them learn as they went.
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