Roche Diagnostics

Increasing usability of a laboratory workflow automation software

I worked for the Digital Pathology Team at Roche, where I worked on improving the usability of the Order Entry Portal in Vantage. The end result was a 30% reduction in error rate and time on task with improved data visualization.

Other notable projects
1. Creating Storyboard Guidelines
2. Creating Dark Mode UI Guidelines

Full Process Deck

Responsibilities

Storyboarding, Design System, Information Architecture, Visual Design, Cognitive Walkthrough, A/B Testing

Tools

Figma, Miro

Introduction

Vantage is a laboratory workflow software that helps users manage the workflow in the lab by tracking the process of diagnosing the type of cancer .

The cancer diagnostics team works with laboratory software that manages the tissue diagnostics process. Before diagnosis can take place, it has to be entered into the system. The software helps stakeholders enter or log tissue samples into the system and generate labels for further processing.

Overall tissue diagnostic process

Background

The Order Entry Portal hasn’t been updated in over a decade. The technology used in pathology labs has evolved since then and the types of cases managed by pathologists has also increased.

I worked with the Path UX team in the digital pathology space to simplify the laboratory workflow process of histologists & pathologists. While working on the design system of a project within Vantage, I identified that there was an issue in the order management portal of Vantage, which was the first step in the laboratory process.

Problem

The error rate is 5% and the average time to create a case is 20 minutes. An average case consists of 3- 80 blocks, specimens and slides

Businesses like small laboratories are often overloaded and understaffed. Combining this with an average case creation time of 20 minutes, it was a big deal. An average pathologist creates less that 20 cases a day and 1 out of 20 cases has an error which they need to rework on! The experience of the software impacted businesses like small laboratories and put unnecessary pressure on the pathologists.

As patients, we deserve to have good healthcare. So how could we expect that if our pathologists had such bad user experience with the tools they've been given to work with?

Existing UI selecting case item (block) and filling in details

Our Users & their tasks

Lab Assistants were the first point of contact with the tissue sample and entering it into Vantage

Their main role was to edit and create cases. The goal was to create labels for samples

Order Entry within Vantage & Users

Goal

To reduce the high error rate and time spent by pathologists and increase the efficiency of their workflow

Solution

1. Visualizing volume of items within each case
2. Relationship between items in the case
3. Categorized data fields

Existing vs Modified Information Architecture

Evaluation & Impact

Identifying outcomes and impact

30%

Reduction in error rate and time on task by improving the data visualization.

90 %

Increase in user satisfaction by eliminating misleading labels and restructuring site architecture.

Other projects #1

Creating storyboarding guidelines

Designers on the team wasted time creating storyboards from scratch. I created a set of frequently used characters and devices into components so designers could just drag and drop them into a scene to create faster storyboards .

While waiting for user feedback or between testing sessions, I helped other designers on my team communicate with stakeholders by creating storyboards. I also realized that there was no existing design pattern for creating these storyboards and designers wasted countless hours in creating new storyboards every single time.

Other projects #2

Visual Design - Dark Mode UI

I also worked on the visual design of the existing Advanced Search Portal. The stakeholders wanted to introduce a dark mode feature. I focused on working with the designer to not only establish a visual style guide but also ask questions about the features surrounding the product. I wanted to understand the product from the ground up .

Reflection and learnings

Communicating with others

A lot of the work I had worked on involved ambiguity, justifying the need for a redesign of the older, existing product. This challenged me to learn to break down complex ideas into easily understandable concepts and adapt my storytelling based on my audience. I realized that everyone in the company came from different backgrounds and had to structure my presentations based on who was in the ”room”.

Seeking daily feedback

Let’s face it, everything happens slowly in the pharmaceutical industry! I had to be proactive about setting meetings whether it was with stakeholders or with histologists to test my ideas. I also learnt to test my ideas with my team and use their experiences to build a prototype. This helped me understand others while regularly sharing my work and talking through my process.

Seeking data by myself

The phrase 'designers don’t always get the complete information they need' strongly resonated with me. I had to constantly reach out to people in various departments to find the missing puzzle pieces. By the end of the internship, I learnt that there is never the right time and built the confidence to ask the big questions.

Embracing the adventure

I jumped into a new space (pathology).
Learnt how to work in a regulated industry.
Met inspiring people who have pushed me to think in new ways.
Developed interactions and realized the impact that the smallest of changes can create on the user.
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Hit me up if you want to talk about

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Designed with love, coffee & lots of cat videos

Shruthi Andru . 2024