Helping Patients Understand and Act on Complex Microbiome Test Results
My Role: Product Designer & Team Lead
Client: Salient Bio Labs
Timeline: Jul 2025 – Sept 2025 (5-week lean sprint)
Tools: Figma Design, Figma Make, Claude AI, Miro, Midjourney AI, Usability Testing, Competitive Analysis
Team: 6 Product Designers and Researchers
Stakeholders: Salient Bio Co-Founder, Project Manager, Scientific Lead for Salient Labs Research and Development, Software Engineering Lead For Bioinformatics
20%
Projected uplift in repeat test orders, driven by the redesigned Patient Action Plan with next-step guidance in the dashboard.
15%
Projected uplift in user retention
95.7%
Ease-of-use scoring (SEQ)
84%
Self-reported clarity of health data
The Evolution of the Salient Bio Results System Before Redesign
The Challenge
Salient Bio, a UK-based biotechnology company, delivered at-home microbiome test results via dense, static PDF reports.
This format overwhelmed patients, leading to low comprehension and, critically, no clear next steps.
My project was to transform this clinical document into an intuitive, interactive digital dashboard to support patient action and enable the company's strategic digital-first product vision.
Heuristic & Usability Evaluation
I conducted a structured usability review of the existing PDF report experience. This evaluation identified key friction points affecting patients.
My patient usability evaluation of original PDF microbiome report
My Role
I served as the UX Design & Research Lead, responsible for the entire 5-week lean sprint, covering strategy, competitive analysis, design, and usability validation.
Goals
Improved patient comprehension and confidence, validated at 84% clarity and 95.7% ease-of-use (SEQ) in usability testing
Strengthened practitioner trust by preserving scientific rigor within a patient-first, layered information structure
Supported projected ~15–20% growth in repeat test orders and ~10–15% improvement in user retention by embedding an always-visible Action Plan
Enabled digital-first scalability through modular, reusable dashboard components
The Team
6 Designers and Researchers
Our Stakeholders
Leadership
Co-Founder and Project Manager
Clinical Team
Scientific Lead for Salient Labs Research and Development (R&D)
Product and Engineering
Software Engineering Lead For Bioinformatics
Early Research
I led competitive analysis across 20+ health dashboards, finding a key market gap between "too simple" and "too clinical." I developed the persona, Amanda, to ground our design in the user's struggle to translate technical results into actionable next steps.
To validate whether patients could easily interpret their microbiome results, understand their personal health risks, and identify clear next steps using the new digital dashboard instead of a static PDF report.
This ensures the design is measured against comprehension, confidence, and actionability.
Methodology
I conducted moderated usability testing with 5 target users, measuring task success, System Usability Evaluation (SEQ), and qualitative feedback across result interpretation, risk identification, and next-step discovery.
My Approach
5-Week Lean UX Sprint
I defined the core business and user problem: replacing static, cognitively overwhelming PDF reports with a clear, actionable digital dashboard.
To validate this direction quickly, I led a lean UX sprint, prioritising mid-fidelity prototyping in Figma to test structure and comprehension early, rather than investing prematurely in visual polish.
Core Hypothesis
A layered information hierarchy (“Summary first, depth on demand”) would reduce cognitive load and improve patient comprehension.
User Persona
I created a user persona- 'Amanda', to deepen my understanding of the target demographic's needs and pain points.
This was synthesised from patient and stakeholder interviews, and analysis of the existing PDF report, revealing recurring frustrations with information overload, and a lack of actionable guidance.
Amanda’s goal is to understand and manage her health concerns independently. She often feels overwhelmed by long, technical medical reports and struggles to translate her test results into clear next steps due to limited clinical knowledge.
User Needs
To quickly understand what their results mean without clinical expertise
Clear prioritisation of what matters most to their health
Guidance on what action to take next and why
Stakeholder Needs
To support Salient Bio’s strategic and operational goals, the solution needed to:
Increase patient engagement with test results to support retention and repeat testing
Translate complex microbiome data into a scalable digital product
Maintain clinical accuracy and regulatory compliance while improving usability
Enable a digital-first patient experience aligned with long-term product growth
Support future iteration, expansion, and integration into a broader health platform
User Flow Mapping
Before wireframing, I mapped the patient journey from opening their test results to understanding risks and identifying next steps.
This helped prioritise which information needed to be visible immediately, what could be progressively revealed, and where the Action Plan should be anchored.
Information Architecture
To address cognitive overload, I established the strategy: “Summary at a Glance, Depth on Demand.”
I led the definition of a three-layered Information Architecture, securing early buy-in from the Scientific Lead to ensure scientific accuracy was preserved while improving accessibility.
Layer 1
High-level summary & risks
Layer 2
Interpreted results & key insights
Layer 3
Full taxonomy & clinical detail
This structure directly contributed to 84% clarity scores in testing.
Visual Design
I directed the development of mid-fidelity prototypes, focusing on six key, modular features
I prioritised the Always-Visible Action Plan to provide immediate guidance and turn clinical insights into scheduled consultations, directly solving Amanda's need for actionable next steps.
All prototypes were built and iterated in Figma, enabling rapid stakeholder feedback and usability validation.
Modular Components and Always-Visible Action Plan
Patient Dashboard
High-Fidelity Interactive Dashboard
The dashboard immediately greets the user with the Summary at a Glance; the top layer of our IA. This visual summary replaces overwhelming data with an immediate, clear status indicator.
Action Plan
Enter the Always-Visible Action Plan on the right rail.
This module visibly links insights to specific, actionable steps
solving the core problem of patient ambiguity.
Health Insights
This module visualises key health insights through linear charts, in which complex scientific links (like potential inflammation markers) are simplified into a clear priority list.
This design ensures that scientific rigor is maintained, but information density is controlled until the patient chooses to expand.
Microbiome Run-Down
The interactive Microbiome Breakdown allows users to compare their specific bacteria levels against a healthy reference group.
The interaction proves that clarity and high density data can coexist.
Validation
I executed usability testing with 5 users, which validated our task success (84%) but revealed key friction points.
I iterated on the design to address low discoverability of the Action Plan and improve the visual clarity of score ranges.
Moderated User Research
Test Metrics Results
84% task success across result interpretation and next-step discovery
95.7% ease-of-use (SEQ)
84% clarity score
~15–20% projected increase in repeat test orders
~10–15% projected increase in user retention
Business Impact (Projected)
By anchoring a task-prioritised Action Plan and introducing layered, user-centered information architecture, the dashboard was designed to support repeat test ordering and long-term engagement.
Based on usability performance and industry benchmarks, the design is projected to support ~15–20% growth in repeat test orders and ~10–15% improvement in user retention, enabling Salient Bio to scale within a predictable, digital-first product ecosystem.
