Inova DD
Redesigned a legacy due diligence platform for scientists and legal teams, then led full-scale frontend and backend development.
Design Team Lead, Project Manager
2022 — 2024
BIOPHARMA
Figma, Bootstrap, HTML/CSS, Jira, Teams
Research
Due diligence in biopharma is inherently complex. But the tools were making it worse. Scientists conducted assessments using Word documents, email threads, and a UI that didn't reflect how they actually worked. Critical data lived in documents and had to be manually converted into the application's fields. Every transfer was a chance for error.
The existing platform was built on a legacy stack — Spring Boot, Freemarker, Bootstrap — and the UX reflected it: clunky, fragmented, and disorienting for anyone who wasn't already trained on it.
Centralize expert reports and structured questionnaires into one cohesive platform that scientists, legal teams, and compliance officers could all navigate without training.
This started as a UI/UX redesign engagement. Within months it expanded to full-scale development, and my role shifted from Design Team Lead to Project Manager coordinating a distributed external team.
Persona 1: Scientist / Expert
"This assessment data is scattered across five documents."
Overwhelmed by manual processes and compliance pressure
Copies data from Word docs into fragmented UI fields
"I need a centralized view of all my projects."
Persona 2: Compliance Officer
"I can't see where any project actually stands right now."
Anxious about missing deadlines without a clear pipeline view
Asks scientists for status updates over email, compiles manually
"Give me one dashboard with every project's status."
UX Design
| CUSTOMER JOBS | PAINS | GAINS |
|---|---|---|
| Manage expert reports | Fragmented tools and documents | Unified assessment dashboard |
| Track assessment progress | Manual Word-to-UI data transfer | Structured digital questionnaires |
| Ensure regulatory compliance | No centralized project overview | Automated status tracking |
| PHASE 1REDESIGN SPRINT | PHASE 2FRONTEND DELIVERY | PHASE 3FULL DEVELOPMENT |
|---|---|---|
| Dashboard and project listing | HTML/CSS pages (Bootstrap) | Backend (Spring Boot, MySQL) |
| Project details view | Admin management views | Async communication protocols |
| Assessment and expert views | Design-to-dev handoff specs | Scope management framework |
Key Decision
We mapped dual-persona journeys for scientists and compliance officers — a dashboard-first experience where each role saw a different default view but navigated the same underlying project structure. One IA, two mental models.
UI Design
A two-week sprint redesign in Figma. Mockups for Dashboard, Project Listing, Project Details, Assessment View, Expert Opinions, and Expert View. HTML/CSS static pages using Bootstrap framework for direct dev integration.
Outcomes
A project that started as a design engagement and grew into a full product delivery, with lessons in distributed team management.
2
WEEK REDESIGN SPRINTDelivered complete UI mockups for all critical views in a focused sprint.
1
PLATFORM SHIPPEDCohesive platform replacing fragmented document-based workflows.
ORG
ADOPTIONAsync communication protocols adopted as organizational standard.
Development handoff is a two-way street
Delivering Figma files wasn't enough for a backend-heavy team. We had to bridge the gap by delivering static HTML/CSS (Bootstrap) pages. Good design doesn't survive bad handoff.
Design-to-PM is a natural transition
Moving from Design Lead to Project Manager wasn't a role change — it was a scope change. I was already making prioritization decisions, managing stakeholder expectations, and sequencing work. The title just caught up to the reality.
Proactive communication builds distributed trust
Weekly update logs and async standups weren't process overhead. They were how we built trust across time zones. When a team member in a different country can see exactly what happened this week without asking, that's when distributed work actually works.