INTRODUCTION
Launching SPLAGen’s internal portal to streamline role specific workflows by reducing interdependency
Alongside developers, I partnered with SPLAGen, a nonprofit advancing genetic counseling, and designed a solution tackling their deep workflow inefficiencies.
TLDR: MY MAIN CONTRIBUTIONS
01
Resolved a major client–user conflict: Through 4+ concept testing and usability studies, I transformed a usability challenge into a new feature that improved admin workflow efficiency by 76%.
02
Pushed myself to look beyond obvious fixes: By questioning existing assumptions and digging deeper at every stage, my insights shaped core design principles that guided our product strategy holistically.
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Mastered the art of clean documentation: By keeping detailed meeting notes, crafting our own scalable design systems, and organizing files for developer handoffs, I kept our cross-functional teams aligned.
BACKGROUND
Recently, SPLAGen’s growth has reached stagnation as they struggle to scale and expand their community
From its founding, SPLAGen’s mission has been to grow its network of genetic counselors. However, with a community of 350+ members, growth itself has now paradoxically become the problem.
2 Admins (Our Clients)
Daniela Diaz Caro
Laurie Simone
350 + Members (Genetic Counselors)
SPLAGEN INTERNAL STRUCTURE
INITIAL PROBLEM
Outdated management systems that once worked for a smaller community, now cause information disorganization
Their current way of organizing information: Gmail + WhatsApp for communication and Spreadsheets + Google Forms for data management, no longer work. As a result, admins and members spend their time scrambling to manage workflow inefficiencies instead of focusing on what truly matters- growing their community.
COMMUNICATION DISORGANIZATION
01
DATA MANAGEMENT DISORGANIZATION
02
NARROWING THE SCOPE
To minimize the guesswork, we started off by centering our research around two questions
UNDERSTANDING CURRENT EXPERIENCE
01
Why do current management systems cause information disorganization?
MORE SPECIFICALLY,
What’s wrong with WhatsApp + Gmail for communication and Spreadsheets + Google Forms for data management?
RESEARCH METHODS
EXISTING RESEARCH
10+ INTERVIEWS
60+ SURVEY RESPONSES
RESEARCH INSIGHTS
Through extensive research, we discovered overlapping themes that affinity mapped to three main pain points
Unnecessary Noise
WhatsApp and Gmail made communication overwhelming, with endless threads and emails burying important updates for members and admins.
Lack of Categorization
Spreadsheets and scattered communications lacked structure, leaving role-specific information disorganized and key resources hard to find.
Redundancy
Google Forms and Sheets created redundant workflows, with admins re-entering data and members resubmitting forms for minor updates.
DIGGING DEEPER
But even after mapping out the pain points, I still felt that there was something major we weren’t grasping
The problems were clear, but they felt more like symptoms than the root cause. So I kept digging, asking myself what was really happening beneath the surface. That’s when I discovered that the real issue was interdependency: admins and members were stuck in loops, relying on each other just to get basic tasks done.
Because these pain points don’t exist in isolation, they trap SPLAGen in a cycle of dependency. This was the real reason behind their stagnated growth.
OUR CHALLENGE (REFRAMED)
We’re not just fixing isolated pain points, but tackling the deeper problem of interdependency at its core that these pain points cause
UNDERSTANDING COMPETITOR SPACE
02
Why do existing platforms not solving SPLAGen’s unique pain points?
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
To understand if existing competitors addressed SPLAGen’s interdependency issue, we studied popular tools
We evaluated the strengths, weaknesses, and best practices of Slack, Airtable, Notion, Discord, Canvas, and MS Teams to identify if they’re capable of reducing unnecessary noise, improving categorization, and minimizing redundancy.
ANALYZING EXISTING PLATFORMS
By assessing what worked well and where they fell short, we discovered that while these tools offered strong individual features, none fully addressed SPLAGen’s unique pain points.
SO WE ASKED OURSELVES,
How might we design a tailored solution that’s built around SPLAGen’s role-specific workflows, particularly solving for interdependency?
A UNIQUE APPROACH
Unconventionally, our design approach focused on reducing interdependency through prevention and delegation
01
Prevention: We aim to focus on eliminating the need for dependency before it even happens. If members no longer have to turn to admins for clarifications or guidance, prevention stops inefficiency at the source.
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Delegation: We aim to streamline workflows through controlled delegation for cases where dependency originally exists. By removing unnecessary back-and-forth, roles will no longer depend on each other.
ADDRESSING PAIN POINTS
To be more specific, we shaped our prevention and delegation approach around three design goals
These design goals shaped every one of our design decisions, and aimed to break SPLAGen’s dependency loop. Our first two design goals focus on prevention, while the last centers on delegation.
Unnecessary Noise
Design Goal (Prevention)
Improve visibility of announcements and cut through clutter.
Lack of Categorization
Design Goal (Prevention)
Organize information by role so members see only what’s relevant.
Redundancy
Design Goal (Delegation)
Increase autonomy by letting members update their own info while giving admins oversight.
OUR FINAL DESIGNS
A 0-to-1 internal portal designed to break the cycle of interdependency between admins and members
By giving members controlled autonomy to update their own data while allowing for admin oversight, categorizing information by role, and improving visibility of key announcements, we streamlined workflows to reduce interdependency.
DATA MANAGEMENT FLOW
01
Members create & update their own profiles, keeping information accurate without relying on admins
Allowing members to manage their own information removes responsibility from admins and eliminates redundancy. This prevents admins from spending hours re-entering data.
DATA MANAGEMENT FLOW
02
Admins still maintain oversight for tasks that can't be delegated to members: directory approvals.
With everything in one place, admins can handle requests to be apart of an exclusive directory reserved for qualified members without chasing forms, emails, and spreadsheets.
COMMUNICATION FLOW
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Members create and reply to searchable discussion boards, categorized by topics and organized by role
Having conversations that are searchable and categorized reduces noise and avoids need for constant admin clarifications. This shifts knowledge-sharing to the community itself.
COMMUNICATION FLOW
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Admins broadcast time-sensitive updates to the community on a separate announcement page
A dedicated page for admin announcements ensures members see important updates easily, reducing missed info, preventing confusion, and keeps admins from repeated clarifications.
IDEATION & PROJECT SCOPING
Before settling on our final designs, we did a lot of ideation and mapped out initial ideas which were refined over time
Through 3 brainstorming sessions with the design team, 4 discovery calls with our clients (Daniela & Laurie), and 2 technical feasibility meetings with our EM & PM, we narrowed initial key features down by using an impact vs. feasibility matrix.
IMPACT VS FEASIBILITY MATRIX
More Impact
Higher Feasibility
Less Impact
Onboarding
Discussion board
View & remove members
Send announcements
Filter members by tiers & region
Edit personal information
Liking & commenting posts
Newsletter
Resources
Membership subscription
About us page
Contact us page
Update member information into Find Clinical Genetics Care map
Redesign Find Clinical Genetics Care Map
Lower Feasibility
Fall: MVP
Winter: V2
Spring: V3
By determining features based on their perceived impact on the user experience and implementation effort, we scoped out what was priority in each project phase. Then, I mapped out two user flows for the admin and member experience.
MY DESIGN EXPLORATIONS
Rather than detailing every design path we explored, I’ll highlight personal key decisions that challenged my original design thinking
DISPLAY OPTIMIZATION (01)
Guided by testing feedback, I iterated on ways to help admins easily approve or deny requests into SPLAGen’s directory
*Context: SPLAGen has an exclusive directory where only qualified members are accepted, and admins review each request*
Through six rounds of usability testing with our design team, SPLAGen members, and stakeholder feedback sessions, my designs went through many changes as I uncovered usability issues and refined proposed solutions.
Iteration 1
Testing showed that the split columns added confusion, and stakeholder feedback confirmed they were redundant.
Iteration 2
After consolidating for clarity, users found it unclear that the “Joined” column mixed both approved and pending members.
Iteration 3
Stakeholder feedback led us to add labels for clarity and we introduced the two columns again, which I was not a fan of.
Iteration 4
I explored other layouts, but testing revealed that the action buttons weren’t visible enough, and four toggles slowed users.
Final Design
In the end, I replaced hidden toggles with tabs to simplify navigation and cut extra steps. I also moved the approve and deny buttons to the bottom, ensuring they no longer blended in but instead stood out as clear calls to actions.
DISPLAY OPTIMIZATION (01)
DISPLAY OPTIMIZATION (02)
With time and technical constraints in mind, I experimented with several early layout ideas for the member discussion page
Feed View
Chat View
Card View
List View
Vivian L.
Nov. 12, 2025
Self Introduction
Hi everyone! I’m Vivian and I specialize in pediatric genetics and cardiovascular genetics. I just got added to the directory an...
DISPLAY OPTIMIZATION (02)
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Feed View: Similar to social media, this encouraged interaction but forced members to scroll endlessly. Important conversations quickly got buried, making it hard to scan multiple topics at once.
02
Card View: This design gave each discussion more visual space but while appealing at first glance, it was unnecessarily bulky. Members saw fewer topics per screen, which slowed their ability to scan and compare.
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Chat View: Mimicking the familiarity of Slack, we tried a chat view. However testing revealed it replicated the same problem SPLAGen was already facing. Threads piled up, and users lost sight of the bigger picture.
Final Design: Sometimes simplicity is key. Members need to see more conversations at a glance, and developers pushed me to find a solution simple enough to ship on time. A list view surfaces the maximum number of discussion topics at a glance, letting members scan quickly, compare options, and jump straight into what matters most.
CLIENT-USER CLASH
One of the biggest design challenges I faced was balancing client needs with user needs when they conflicted
In early testing, I learned that the member information table felt visually cluttered and overwhelming. My first instinct was to simplify and reduce the clutter, so I proposed removing a few columns of unimportant information. However in a client meeting, Laurie and Daniela pushed back, explaining that every piece of information was critical for documentation.
Wait..... who should I prioritize?
THE PRIORITY CHALLENGE
CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING
Instead of ignoring user feedback or dismissing client needs, I reframed it as an opportunity to think more creatively
I realized the challenge wasn’t about removing information but rethinking how it was displayed. Instead of treating it as a tradeoff between clutter and completeness, I explored creative alternatives and proposed a layered approach.
Before
Table displays all member information because admins need it for documentation.
After
Table displays only key information admins would need on first glance. Full details are in a member popup.
INTRODUCING NEW FEATURE
My proposed solution was a member popup: the table showed only key fields for quick scanning, while full details moved into a popup. Our clients were very delighted and satisfied with this approach, as it made their approval process simpler.
CORE DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Moving forward, I defined core design principles to guide the rest of our design decisions
I reflected on what I learned and defined core principles tailored to SPLAGen’s unique needs to guide our final designs.
Prioritize Efficiency Over Complexity
Not all information holds equal importance, so critical information should be scannable with visual hierarchy, color cues, and progressive disclosure.
Balancing Customization With Control
Over-customization increases decision fatigue, so we’ll incorporate simple, structured personalization but keep limitations so the experience stays intuitive and professional.
Confidence Without Redundancy
Build trust without slowing workflows by seamlessly integrating elements of transparency in design so users can complete tasks quickly and securely.
COLLABORATION STYLE
I also sharpened my documentation game due to this project being super cross-functional
With developers, PMs, EMs, designers, clients, and stakeholders all in the mix, I learned that it was super important to streamline handoff by preparing a comprehensive design systems, organizing files, and keeping detailed meeting notes.
PROPER DOCUMENTATION
DESIGN SYSTEMS
MEETING NOTES
THE RESULTS
In May 2025, we handed off our V3 final designs to the development team and gathered success metrics
*Success metrics were measured from testing insights and validated from users, long-term metrics coming soon*
+76%
Increase in admin efficiency for member management
~43%
Increase in # of new members onboarded smoothly
100%
Secured full client enthusiasm for product adoption
ORGANIZATION NEED
Stop stagnation and scale beyond its current size by having the ability to focus on its mission- not inefficiencies.
IMPACT
Our solution breaks SPLAGen from its inefficiency loop, giving admins and members time back to focus on community growth and mission-driven work.
USER NEED
A new way of organizing communication and data management information that streamlines both admin and member workflows and allows for adaptability across future growth.
IMPACT
Members gain autonomy and clarity, admins gain oversight without overload. Together they can now scale efficiently without dependency slowing them down.
REFLECTIONS
This project shaped me in important ways, here’s what I learned
Its critical to challenge my original design thinking
By questioning initial design assumptions and pushing beyond surface-level insights, I uncovered deeper problems and ultimately came up with stronger designs. My first ideas aren’t always the right ones and creative thinking is my friend.
Intentional transparency across teams is key
Working with EMs, PMs, and developers taught me the importance of clarity. Transparent communication and proper documentation prevent misalignment, make handoffs smoother, and keep everyone moving in the same direction.
MVP scopes & timelines can shift (and should)
Our MVP feature scopes shouldn’t be set in stone. They need to be flexible, with balance of course. New iterations and changing priorities are part of building the right solution, not a sign of failure. Designs should change to reflect new findings.
THANKS FOR READING
Let’s chat more about this— v9liu@ucsd.edu!
This case study only scratches the surface of the full design process. If you’re curious to dive deeper or have questions, I’d love to continue the conversation. Here’s a glimpse of a few details I’d be happy to tell you more about:
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Accessibility and usability: How I made sure usability went beyond designing for different screen sizes by building with accessibility in mind so every user could engage with the final product.
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Accounting for different users: How I defined and restructured complex, overlapping workflows for admins and members into clear, role-specific journeys.
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Designing for unique edge cases: How I accounted for special scenarios like incomplete member data, overflowing tags, and incorrect information inputs by incorporating them within my designs.