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Reinventing the comparator sourcing industry

How can we make it easier to develop supply strategies, forecast risk, gain real-time market intelligence and procure comparator drugs for clinical trials?

one of my favorite projects was the work done with coramed to create a comparator sourcing interface.
Fig.1 - High fidelity representation of the final web application from a consumer perspective.

Through the design and development of a web application we were able to help CoraMed Solutions provide a platform that improved the sourcing of comparator drugs opening up a wealth of industry insight. As well as establish trusted supply chains.

The team

  • Erik Johnson — UX Researcher
  • James Gartrell – UX/UI Designer
  • Dane Wesolko — UX/UI Designer

The challenge

There are significant complexities in planning studies, sourcing comparator drugs, receiving accurate prices and quantity information. In addition, understanding drug specific manufacturer requirements is difficult to determine. All of the precious points considered this is a lengthy and opaque process that contributes to waste, overspending and difficulties in conducting a clinical trial.

CoraMed saw the opportunity to reinvent this process and develop a solution that would open up the channels between buyers and manufacturers. Allowing for a more efficient and streamlined approach. Purpose UX and I were tasked in helping design a solution.

Fig.2 - Low fidelity wireframes helped shape early conversations and ideas.

Working through

Prior to my engagement Purpose UX and CoraMed collaborated on identifying the following key activities:

  • Draft proposals
  • Develop sourcing strategies
  • Understand compliance
  • Order and pay for drugs

Contracted as a User Experience Designer to lead design, my engagement:

  • Focused first on Buyers followed by Manufacturers
  • Used key activities as the constraint
Fig.3 - Diagraming buyer workflows outlined key perspectives of the app.

Brainstorming and rough sketching helped to test concepts. Followed by annotated wireframes which shaped page models and content structures. Leading into medium fidelity and pixel perfect design compositions. All design work was done in Sketch, a toolkit for design. Through each step deliverables were shared via InVision, a cloud based collaboration tool, where feedback was gathered and screens were iterated upon. The purpose was to develop an interactive prototype that reflected the project set before me.

The second phase of the engagement focused on the Manufacturers. During a multi-day workshop, Purpose UX, CoraMed and I worked together to create user personas, affinity maps and task flow diagrams which shaped the next set of interfaces. Having an established design direction new screens were rapidly prototyped and presented for review following the same feedback loop.

Fig.4 - Whiteboard brainstorm sessions allowed for a holistic understanding.

Once completed with designing the Buyer and Manufacturer interfaces no further tasks were contracted. CoraMed’s development team began working on a proof of concept. Deliverables provided:

  • Low fidelity wireframes—ironing out information architecture, content structure and page diagrams.
  • Medium fidelity design comps—grayscale representation of the interface with some brand styling applied.
  • High fidelity design comps—showing what the final product would look like with brand styling applied.
  • InVision prototype—communicating the vision and behavior of the app.
Fig.5 - High fidelity representation of the order creation dashboard.
Fig.6 - High fidelity representation of an order in progress at the payment stage.

The results

In working directly with Purpose UX and CoraMed a platform was designed making it easier to:

  • Source comparator drugs
  • Develop sourcing strategies
  • Gain deeper insight on pricing information
  • Build a trusted supply chain

This application is disruptive and as a result we expect to see buyers and manufacturers using this service to reinvent the comparator sourcing industry.

Reflections

If anything could have been changed it would have been the project approach. Instead of starting focused on a single user role a high level overview mapping out the system may have exposed overlap. While designing there were instances where assumed tasks actually ended up falling under different roles.