Redesigning Data Collection for Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Caregivers for a Clinical Study. 64% Faster. 0 Emotional Cost.
Company
University of Miami (UX Lab)
Timeline
2023
—
2024
Role
Lead UX Designer, UX Researcher
Full Case Study
Project overview
The Stripes project began as a critical intervention for the University of Miami UX Lab and its research partners. Our mission was to rebuild the platform used by caregivers collecting sensitive data for the high-stakes Blue Dye Test (BDT).
My role immediately became one of Project Leadership, managing the delicate collaboration required to align the clinical team's need for accuracy with the caregiver's urgent need for efficiency. Alongside my core team → two designers, a UX copy expert, and our supervising Professor, we faced an alarming initial finding: the existing system was failing due to severe cognitive overload and emotional friction. Our users were family members under stress; the clinical jargon and overwhelming protocol lists felt hostile.
Our core mandate was clear: Compassion must drive clinical efficiency.
Challenges
Our year-long journey was defined by strategic pivots where UX solutions met PM execution discipline.
The Pivot on Gender Neutrality (Stakeholder Negotiation & Ethical Design): The researchers demanded strict anatomical detail for pain logging, but we lacked an ethically inclusive visual. This was a true conflict. I led the negotiation and execution of a solution: I used ChatGPT and Photoshop to rapidly prototype a custom, gender-neutral torso. This resourceful design compromise was then accurately mapped to the 9-section clinical abdominal grid, successfully mitigating a major ethical and data integrity risk.
The Battle Against Cognitive Overload (Process Optimization): We recognized that telling a stressed caregiver to "read the manual" was an execution failure. We didn't just redesign; we optimized the entire data entry process into compartmentalized, low-commitment steps. By using visual navigation breadcrumbs and chunking the overwhelming rules, our disciplined execution focused entirely on minimizing the single greatest pain point: information anxiety.
Building for Resilience (Mitigating Operational Risk): I proactively managed real-world risks by ensuring the platform would never fail the user. We implemented an offline-first strategy to guarantee data capture despite poor home Wi-Fi. Furthermore, to eliminate input doubt, we leveraged the user's iPhone mental model for the critical transit timer and integrated haptic feedback for instant, reliable confirmation of data points.
Results
Our commitment to ethical execution yielded powerful, quantifiable results. We transformed the stressful logging experience by replacing clinical jargon with soft, empathetic copy (like "tummy") and converting complex data scales (like the Bristol Stool Scale) into quick, non-verbal smiley-emoji selectors.
The final validation confirmed the success of our integrated UX and PM approach:
Metric | Previous Platform (Avg.) | Stripes (Avg.) | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
Average Task Completion Time (Logging Full Entry) | 145 seconds | 52 seconds | 64% Reduction |
By managing stakeholder expectations, optimizing the end-to-end process, and focusing on robust risk mitigation, we didn't just redesign an app, we delivered a 64% reduction in time-on-task, giving precious minutes back to caregivers and ensuring the integrity of vital clinical research.
Full Case Study
