Redesigning Thermo Fisher Scientific's IVDR Web Hub

Brett Abraham -

Context

The In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation (IVDR) is a new series of EU regulations that affects many of Thermo Fisher's customers. Thermo Fisher wanted to position themselves as an industry leader in IVDR guidance.

The goal of this project was to build a web hub for our customers to learn about how IVDR affects them and what they can do to prepare, including a list of our IVDR-compliant products.

We worked on the project throughout all of 2022 and handed it off to a different team for 2023.

My Role

The team was a mix of digital marketers and IVDR experts. I was the only UX designer and front-end developer on the team.

I led the design and development of this web hub. I worked closely with the our experts and marketers to make sure that we were providing customers with valuable information.

Planning

First, we reviewed the current webpage and defined frictions:

  • Lack of IVDR Specificity. Much of the information was too general and lacked IVDR-specific details.
  • Understated IVDR Content. Timelines and other key resources were difficult to find on the page.
  • Cluttered Content. Everything on one single page made it feel cluttered and overwhelming.
Original IVDR Webpage Wireframe

Define Strategy

With an understanding of the current state, we set several goals for the project:

  • Move Generalized Info. Move any information that wasn't IVDR-specific to other pages where they would be more relevant.
  • Categorize IVDR Info. Create different pages for different types of IVDR information.
  • Focus Marketing Strategy. Focus our goals onto generating awareness and leads.

Development Process

We started by developing a flexible framework to easily allow for changes over the coming year.

We prioritized developing the pages around the content we already had and were open to significant changes down the line.

First IVDR Page Redesign.

Research & Iteration

We met weekly with regulatory experts to stay updated on any new developments.

This was the most vital aspect of our success. As a designer with no formal background in law or science, these regular meetings allowed me to better understand the ongoing situation and react accordingly.

Final Iteration

By December 2022, we transformed the website into 4 distinct pages.

They covered many topics, including:

  • IVDR compliant products
  • IVDR related events
  • Webinars and videos
  • Blog posts
  • Educational resources

With this more comprehensive and user-friendly experience, we handed the pages off to a different team.

Final IVDR Webpage Wireframe.

Results

We handed off the project after a successful year. Throughout the course of the project, we saw significant improvements in various aspects of the IVDR webpages' performance:

  • Reduced Bounce Rate. We successfully reduced the bounce rate, from around 65% to roughly 40%.
  • Increased Visibility. Thermo Fisher's IVDR page consistently ranked within the top 3 non-sponsored Google search results for “IVDR” from May until the end of the year.
  • Increased User Engagement. We saw a 30% growth in newsletter subscriptions, showing increased user engagement.

Learnings

Expert Collaboration

As someone who doesn't know much about science or the regulations surrounding them, I spent hours working with our experts to better understand IVDR.

Through this process, I learned about how to communicate effectively with experts to better understand topics that I know little about.

Flexibility

Understanding that we wouldn't have all the answers at the beginning allowed us to completely shift design plans if it was best for the site.

Planning for Iteration

Starting small with an iterative approach in mind allowed us to dream big while making incremental progress.

Appreciation

This project could not have been successful without the team.

A special thanks to Stephen Walther, both the Content Strategist and my direct manager, who helped guide me and the design to success.

Another shoutout to Erika Leishman and Alan Livingston, whose expertise and patience was vital to creating a comprehensive and user-friendly webpage that effectively communicated the complex information surrounding IVDR.

Their contributions were truly invaluable to the project's overall success.