Michigan Medicine Collaborator Hub
Connecting university researchers with industry partners to advance medical innovation through expertise, project ideas, and resource sharing.
Role
UX Designer
Team
1 Project Manager
3 UX Designers
Tools
Figma
FigJam
Timeline
Sept - Dec 2024
OVERVIEW
The Fast Forward Medicine Innovation Business Development (FFMI-BD) team at the University of Michigan Medical School bridges the gap between university researchers and industry partners to advance medical innovation. Their mission is to turn groundbreaking research into impactful real-world solutions by:
Managing contracts, budgets, and negotiations.
Strengthening industry partnerships to facilitate research translation.
A key tool in this mission is the Collaborator Hub — a searchable database that enables industry partners to:
Connects industry partners with U-M investigators
Find faculty members with expertise that matches their needs
Explore faculty-proposed project ideas
-Access information on available lab and clinical resources
The FFMI-BD website can be found here.
The Collaborator Hub’s current dashboard’s nested scrolling, inconsistent layout, and accessibility issues hinder the tool’s usability and collaboration.
PROBLEM
💭
HMW (How might we)
Improve visual clarity, streamline navigation, and enhance accessibility for a more user-friendly collaboration experience?
RESEARCH & GOALS
Based on 10 user interviews and analyses, users pointed out the following the most:
Filtering and searching for university resources.
Users must first select a department, then choose between "Exclude" or "Keep Only" options before proceeding. If users want to explore multiple departments, they must individually remove each department "block" to refine their search, creating a cumbersome experience.
Nested scrolling.
Multiple layers of scrolling in the Collaborator Hub’s Tableau dashboard makes it difficult for users to navigate and view data without interruption.
Exporting information as CSV files.
Information (instructions and export options) display as pop-ups over integral formation. Moreover, we believed that a interface should be designed in which instructions to do a simple task should not be needed.
Based on our user interviews and research, we identified key pain points and goals to enhance usability of the Collaborator Hub:
Simplify faculty descriptions
Replace technical jargon with clear, user-friendly language
Highlight faculty specializations to improve clarity and relevance
Improve navigation
Implement static, clearly labeled buttons for a consistent navigation experience
Add a “Clear All Filters” option to provide users greater control
Streamline filtering & sorting
Reorganize filters with a clear visual hierarchy to make them easier to use
Remove unnecessary options to reduce clutter and simplify decision-making
Enhance layout & space
Prioritize key content to minimize excessive scrolling.
Organize information into subpages for better readability and focus.
Ensure instructions are visible, concise, and easy to follow.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
Competitors demonstrate strengths in advanced search, profile features, and consistent design but often fall short in navigation efficiency and accessibility. Many platforms lack streamlined workflows and user-friendly customization, leaving opportunities to create a more intuitive and inclusive experience.
UI is clean and customizable
Top navigation bar is intuitive for users to switch from different tabs
Breadcrumb trails for indications to starting point to the end point
Gives options and flexibility with code issues and code request
Filters for topics, authors, and language
Text heavy (e.g. words on each system when filtering, not enough whitespace)
Profile overview for authors
Messaging system between researchers
Had to go through each page one by one
Good and consistent design, made it easy to understand/navigate
Data display with profiles
Misconception that you have to be in that field to access the resources – make it accessible to everyone
Advanced search and filtering options
Location and job type filters are logically grouped
Collaboration features are effective
Engagement-based elements promote professional networking
FINAL DESIGN
We used an iterative process — researching, designing, testing, getting feedback, and rinse and repeat.
Filtering and searching for university resources.
Users are able to easily search and filter through their preferences — whether it be
department, collaboration type, and more — through a dropdown.
Accessing information.
The Collaborator Hub spreadsheet can be easily filtered, sorted, and accessed. Nested scrolling has been removed for clarity and usability.
LEARNINGS
I started in this organization as a general member — someone who was brand new to Figma — and had the opportunity to grow through both personal and client projects. Through my experience with this client project, I’ve not only grown my passion for equitable educational resources and technologies, but also learned to work with stakeholders, clients, and a variety of team members who bring individual, unique perspectives to the design process.
What drew me originally to UX was the research and learning that comes with it — listening to stories, choices, adversities, experiences. I want to strive on in my professional career and personal life with this passion in mind with each step I take.
Michigan Medicine Collaborator Hub
Connecting university researchers with industry partners to advance medical innovation through expertise, project ideas, and resource sharing.
Role
UX Designer
Team
1 Project Manager
3 UX Designers
Tools
Figma
FigJam
Timeline
Sept - Dec 2024
OVERVIEW
The Fast Forward Medicine Innovation Business Development (FFMI-BD) team at the University of Michigan Medical School bridges the gap between university researchers and industry partners to advance medical innovation. Their mission is to turn groundbreaking research into impactful real-world solutions by:
Managing contracts, budgets, and negotiations.
Strengthening industry partnerships to facilitate research translation.
A key tool in this mission is the Collaborator Hub — a searchable database that enables industry partners to:
Connects industry partners with U-M investigators
Find faculty members with expertise that matches their needs
Explore faculty-proposed project ideas
-Access information on available lab and clinical resources
The FFMI-BD website can be found here.
The Collaborator Hub’s current dashboard’s nested scrolling, inconsistent layout, and accessibility issues hinder the tool’s usability and collaboration.
PROBLEM
💭
HMW (How might we)
Improve visual clarity, streamline navigation, and enhance accessibility for a more user-friendly collaboration experience?
RESEARCH & GOALS
Based on 10 user interviews and analyses, users pointed out the following the most:
Filtering and searching for university resources.
Users must first select a department, then choose between "Exclude" or "Keep Only" options before proceeding. If users want to explore multiple departments, they must individually remove each department "block" to refine their search, creating a cumbersome experience.
Nested scrolling.
Multiple layers of scrolling in the Collaborator Hub’s Tableau dashboard makes it difficult for users to navigate and view data without interruption.
Exporting information as CSV files.
Information (instructions and export options) display as pop-ups over integral formation. Moreover, we believed that a interface should be designed in which instructions to do a simple task should not be needed.
Based on our user interviews and research, we identified key pain points and goals to enhance usability of the Collaborator Hub:
Simplify faculty descriptions
Replace technical jargon with clear, user-friendly language
Highlight faculty specializations to improve clarity and relevance
Improve navigation
Implement static, clearly labeled buttons for a consistent navigation experience
Add a “Clear All Filters” option to provide users greater control
Streamline filtering & sorting
Reorganize filters with a clear visual hierarchy to make them easier to use
Remove unnecessary options to reduce clutter and simplify decision-making
Enhance layout & space
Prioritize key content to minimize excessive scrolling.
Organize information into subpages for better readability and focus.
Ensure instructions are visible, concise, and easy to follow.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
Competitors demonstrate strengths in advanced search, profile features, and consistent design but often fall short in navigation efficiency and accessibility. Many platforms lack streamlined workflows and user-friendly customization, leaving opportunities to create a more intuitive and inclusive experience.
UI is clean and customizable
Top navigation bar is intuitive for users to switch from different tabs
Breadcrumb trails for indications to starting point to the end point
Gives options and flexibility with code issues and code request
Filters for topics, authors, and language
Text heavy (e.g. words on each system when filtering, not enough whitespace)
Profile overview for authors
Messaging system between researchers
Had to go through each page one by one
Good and consistent design, made it easy to understand/navigate
Data display with profiles
Misconception that you have to be in that field to access the resources – make it accessible to everyone
Advanced search and filtering options
Location and job type filters are logically grouped
Collaboration features are effective
Engagement-based elements promote professional networking
FINAL DESIGN
We used an iterative process — researching, designing, testing, getting feedback, and rinse and repeat.
Filtering and searching for university resources.
Users are able to easily search and filter through their preferences — whether it be
department, collaboration type, and more — through a dropdown.
Accessing information.
The Collaborator Hub spreadsheet can be easily filtered, sorted, and accessed. Nested scrolling has been removed for clarity and usability.
LEARNINGS
I started in this organization as a general member — someone who was brand new to Figma — and had the opportunity to grow through both personal and client projects. Through my experience with this client project, I’ve not only grown my passion for equitable educational resources and technologies, but also learned to work with stakeholders, clients, and a variety of team members who bring individual, unique perspectives to the design process.
What drew me originally to UX was the research and learning that comes with it — listening to stories, choices, adversities, experiences. I want to strive on in my professional career and personal life with this passion in mind with each step I take.
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