Proof-of-concept design for a global application

Client: Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine Timeline: 12 weeks Year: 2024

The Project Overview

Launching a global web app means meeting diverse users' needs while delivering a seamless, intuitive experience. Our project focused on transforming traditional product labels—previously distributed as paper documents or static PDFs—into a modern, scalable, and user-friendly digital platform.

Key challenges included:

• Accessibility: Making content easy to navigate and available across devices and regions.

• Search Functionality: Ensuring users can find specific information quickly and efficiently.

• Scalability: Designing a solution that can accommodate future global expansions and features.

The Vision

We set out to create a responsive web app platform that would:

1. Replace PDFs and physical labels with an interactive, web-based solution.

2. Ensure global accessibility with multilingual support and compliance with accessibility standards.

3. Deliver scalability for future features and regional customizations.

This platform would be the foundation for a global launch, ensuring a consistent yet adaptable experience for users in diverse markets.

Timeline

The project was completed in 12 weeks:

• Weeks 1-2: Research, stakeholder communication.

• Weeks 3-4: User flows, quick sketches.

• Weeks 5-6: Wireframes to establish features.

• Weeks 7-8: Rapid prototypes for team feedback and build demos to showcase stakeholders.

• Weeks 9-12: Design specifications, user testing, and final deliverables for developers.

The Approach

Understanding Global User Needs

We began with comprehensive user research, focusing on key questions:

• What do users in different regions expect from a product label platform?

• How can we simplify navigation for users with varying levels of digital literacy?

• What challenges arise when accessing large amounts of content in multiple languages?

Through interviews and competitive analysis, we identified universal pain points:

• Difficulty navigating static PDFs or lengthy documents.

• Frustration with inconsistent content display across devices.

• A need for robust search functionality to handle multilingual queries.

Collaborative Ideation

As the lead designer, I worked with:

• Global UX Teams to understand cultural and regional differences.

• IT Leaders and Developers to define technical constraints and opportunities.

• Stakeholders to align on business goals and prioritize MVP features.

I took on collaborative ideation, using methods like Crazy 8’s for rapid idea generation and ‘How Might We’ questions to reframe challenges into opportunities. Using FigJam and other collaborative tools, we sketched ideas, developed workflows, and created wireframes that balanced global scalability with local adaptability.

Crafting the solution

Prototype Development

We started with a minimum viable product (MVP) to validate our ideas and ensure feasibility for a global audience. The MVP included:

1. Responsive Layouts: Optimized for desktops, tablets, and mobile devices.

2. Search Features: Designed to support multilingual and region-specific queries.

3. Accessible Navigation: Built to meet WCAG standards for inclusivity.

Iterative Refinements

Through regular feedback sessions, we:

• Enhanced the search function to handle linguistic nuances.

• Adjusted layouts to ensure consistent readability across screen sizes.

• Incorporated user feedback to improve highlighting important text using color and font weight for better clarity.

  
  

Validate the experience

Usability Testing

User testing became our compass, guiding the final stages of the project. My UX manager and I planned and facilitated sessions, asking participants to complete tasks such as searching for information and navigating large datasets.

Findings:

1. Ease of Use: All participants found the platform intuitive and efficient.

2. Navigation Success: Users quickly grasped how to move through content.

3. Visual Feedback: 60% of users appreciated dynamic styling for important information, leading to a global design tweak for better readability.

   
   

The Outcome & Next Steps

In 12 weeks, the project successfully positioned the product labels on a global scale, with an MVP that impressed stakeholders and obtained funding for the next development phase.

For the end-users, the solution transformed how they interacted with product labels, offering:

• Instant Access: A web-based platform that eliminates reliance on downloads and physical documents.

• Global Accessibility: A design compliance with accessibility standards built to adapt to diverse markets and user needs.

• Future-Proofing: A scalable structure ready to grow with the platform's global ambitions.

Along with the MVP, I delivered a roadmap for future enhancements, including customization options and additional features to elevate the user experience further.

As the team moves forward, the focus would be to understand further global users by facilitating user testing sessions across regions and collecting diverse perspectives by asking participants to navigate the app and rate their experience.