The Challenge
AVENIO Designer is a cloud solution enabling laboratories around the world to customize their own protocols for library preparation and target enrichment to be used on the AVENIO Edge instrument. It is used by lab technicians and lab directors to aid them in automating library preparation and target enrichment protocols.
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I was Lead Product Designer directly involved in the inception, ideation, prototyping and implementation of the AVENIO Designer.
Design Problem:
A protocol may consist of several steps. Each step has multiple variables. The challenge was designing a system that gave lab technicians and directors a birds-eye view of the process with the granularity to make adjustment for specific tests.
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Simplify Value Proposition
Persona Research: Lab Technicians vs Lab Directors.
Lab Directors make the final decision on purchasing equipment and software for their respective laboratories and have a particular set of KPIs that they measure success by . On the the other hand , Lab Directors almost never actually use the product. Lab technicians however use the product everyday. The challenge was balancing the needs of the directors (efficiency) and empowering lab technicians to make better decisions (accuracy).
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Define user flow and identify architectural and regulatory implications
Bioinformatic software is heavily regulated and we had to be aware of the distinction between the synthesizing of data, providing a diagnostic and providing a "recommendation". Often times the distinction is subtle but had drastically different regulatory implications. User access, Privacy and Tenant Management were critical considerations. The result of these consideration inspired Roche to do a dramatic overhaul of its user management system and the creation a cross-product single sign-in.
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The Process
Define functionality for MVP
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Customize library preparation and target enrichment protocols using Roche-provided protocol templates
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Download/distribute customized protocols to designated location(s) (e.g., USB, computer folder, shared drive*) based on setup
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Save protocols in progress and come back at a later time to complete customization and/or to make enhancements
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Generate/print PDF reports for finalized protocols
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Test prototype with internal and external stakeholders.
After creating a low fidelity prototype I tested it with Roche's internal laboratory technicians. I had to be cognizant of the inclination of internal stakeholders to be bias in our favor. During the testing process I advocated for anonymity in order to get the most authentic user testing results. I also had the opportunity to speak with external laboratories in Australia, Spain and Switzerland. This gave me insight into how labs are run differently in different parts of the world.
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Implement Feedback
Customization vs Templates?
We initially set out to create a robust personalized experience that allowed the user to create their own test from scratch. User testing and market research proved that larger laboratories where more focused on throughput and are running small variety of common tests, very often. Research labs where running very specific unique tests very infrequently.
We ultimately decided on a template based system that allowed the user to have a top down view of the test creation process while still allowing users to configure the template
Step Overview Navigation
From a side panel the user can select the step in the protocol that needs attention and then customize the variables. The user can then save these variables as a new template .
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