Partners Healthcare IRB

Redesign of Insight, the electronic IRB (Institutional Review Board) portal used by Partners Healthcare's six major research institutions. Joined the design team mid-process, working with Jennifer Patel at Involution Studios. The portal is the central point for submitting and reviewing medical research protocols across the largest provider network in Massachusetts.

The IRB portal suffered from serious usability issues. Submitters had difficulty parsing complex language in lengthy applications — it felt like "decoding a puzzle." Couldn't easily find their protocols among all department submissions, had to search by system ID number.

Protocol information was fragmented across multiple layers and locations. Reviewers spent significant time hunting for specific pieces. No side-by-side version comparison — reviewers opened previous versions in new windows to compare line by line.

The iterative back-and-forth between submission and review was opaque. Submitters couldn't see where their protocol was held up. Reviewer comments were enumerated in a separate text area, referencing scattered form locations. These usability issues delayed research by weeks.

Conducted in-depth, in-person interviews with 65 individuals at 6 research facilities — reviewers, research team members, administrators, principal investigators, and Fellows.

Investigated the end-to-end IRB process to understand how people thought about their work and the tools they used. Identified key pain points: confusing language, poor protocol findability, fragmented information, opaque review status, and unclear communication.

Returned to the same groups across multiple rounds, occasionally pulling in fresh voices — spoke with 91 individuals overall in a participatory design approach.

Protocol list redesigned: grouped by study, sorted by most recently updated, color-coded status highlighting protocols needing attention. Older protocols fall to the bottom.

Open, navigable forms with concise, clear language following typographic best practices. Contextual help throughout. Visible progress tracking as forms are completed.

Transparent review process — clear step/status visibility from list to detail view. Play-by-play history showing who had the protocol and when.

Contextual communication — reviewers comment directly where changes are needed (not in a separate letter). Comments marked in protocol navigation for easy scanning.

Versioning with side-by-side comparison. Changes and comments clearly marked in navigation. Established a foundational design system for the larger Insight application.

Validated with 91 individuals — analysts, admins, program chairs, and principal investigators all approved the designs.

Insight 4.0 rolled out to all Partners research facilities.

Participants felt heard and had a responsible part in the design through the participatory approach.