A patient-first mobile app for finding clinical trials and signing up for them. Built so the CRO reads the same form the patient filled out, instead of chasing it by phone.
01 Context
Clinical trials are essential for medical progress but are often hard to access, especially for marginalized groups. Many patients face trust issues, information gaps, and overly complex enrollment processes. TrialsConnect empowers users with personalized recommendations, transparent data sharing, and a supportive digital ecosystem, all while adhering to HIPAA guidelines.
02 Problem
Patients face significant barriers in accessing and participating in clinical trials.
Lack of Awareness
Patients have difficulty finding trials relevant to their conditions due to scattered and non-personalized resources.
Trust Issues
Concerns about data misuse discourage participation.
Complex Enrolment
Existing processes are tedious and often exclude underrepresented communities.
Recruitment Challenges for CROs
Clinical research organisations face delays due to inefficient participant pre-qualification.
03 Project goal
Simplify the trial discovery and enrollment process.
Build trust with secure, transparent data-sharing mechanisms.
Create an inclusive and engaging platform.
Improve recruitment efficiency for clinical research organizations.
04 Research
Our research approach was structured to build a deep understanding of the clinical trial landscape, regulatory requirements, existing solutions, and the perspectives of clinical research organizations. We followed a phased approach: Domain Research (Clinical Trials and HIPAA Compliance), Competitive Analysis, and Stakeholder Interviews.
Domain Research
Clinical trials and HIPAA compliance.
Competitive Analysis
Five active patient-recruitment platforms.
Stakeholder Interviews
Two CRO representatives running live recruitment.
Before diving into stakeholder-specific research, we conducted thorough desk research on clinical trials and HIPAA regulations. This foundational step was crucial for:
Understanding the Clinical Trial Process
We researched the various phases of clinical trials, the roles of different stakeholders (patients, researchers, CROs, sponsors), and the typical challenges in trial recruitment and participation.
Ensuring HIPAA Compliance
We reviewed HIPAA guidelines and digital application standards to ensure that our design would prioritize data security and patient privacy. This included understanding requirements for data encryption, access control, user consent, audit trails, data minimization, and secure communication.
Informing Subsequent Research
This background knowledge allowed us to ask more informed questions during stakeholder interviews and critically evaluate existing solutions during the competitive analysis.
I conducted a competitive analysis of existing platforms and solutions in the clinical trial recruitment space. This analysis helped us identify strengths and weaknesses among key competitors and define our unique value proposition for TrialsConnect.
| Criteria | AutoCruitment Direct-to-patient digital outreach. | Antidote Healthcare partners build trust. | BBK Worldwide Long-standing recruitment expertise. | Science37 Decentralized, accessibility-first. | Medpace · TrialPACE Full-service CRO platform. |
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Following the domain research and competitive analysis, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 2 stakeholders. Our participants included:
Participants
2 CRO Representatives
Professionals responsible for clinical trial recruitment and management. We aimed to get a wide range of perspectives from CROs of different sizes and specializations.
Interview Objectives
Interview Approach
Key Insights from Stakeholders
Enrollment Challenges
Patients struggle with understanding enrollment processes and eligibility criteria, which deters participation.
Barriers to Participation
Common barriers include lack of awareness, safety concerns, and logistical issues such as travel.
Need for a Dedicated App
There is a clear need for a dedicated clinical trial app to enhance access to information and improve the user experience.
Diverse User Motivations
Users are motivated by factors such as seeking new treatments, financial incentives, and the desire to contribute to medical research.
Engagement Strategies
Current communication methods are often insufficient; more interactive and personalized strategies are needed to keep participants engaged.
Data Security Concerns
Addressing concerns about data security is crucial for building trust in the app among users.
05 Persona
06 Wireframes
Onboarding, trial discovery, and consent each got walked through in greyscale first. Cheap to redraw, fast to validate. Wireframes went in front of the CRO leads to test that the structure actually held before any visual investment.
07 Iterations
The first home page was doing too much, and people couldn't tell what to look at first. Switched to a card layout so the important things are what the patient sees first.
Onboarding asked too many questions. Cut them down, and put a short note next to each one explaining why we needed it.
08 Final designs
09 Style guide
10 Impact
One flow
Discovery, consent, and pre-qualification all in one app, instead of three.
Visible consent
Patients can see what they've shared, who has it, and pull it back any time.
Intake that just works
The form the patient fills out is the form the CRO reads. No retyping.
Faster screening
What used to take weeks of phone calls now takes one review pass.
What I'd do next. Test the flow somewhere with real pressure on it: a waiting room, a clinic intake desk. We shipped a guided path because it was the cheaper call for v1, but a self-service version would probably cut the whole process down further.
Working on something similar
Patient-facing apps, healthcare, anything that has to live inside HIPAA or similar rules. Happy to chat through what you're working on before you commit to anything.