Respondent Portal
Mobile-first Portal Redesign
A consumer-facing portal redesigned so healthcare professionals and panel members can find their surveys, track their rewards, and manage participation — without getting lost.
Challenge
Users were lost.
The portal couldn't keep up with them.
The Respondent Portal had grown without a clear information hierarchy. Healthcare professionals and panel members opened it to find surveys, check earnings, and complete tasks — but couldn't locate what they needed, reward status was buried, and the mobile experience was effectively broken.
Internal stakeholders wanted three things at once: more registrations, fewer opt-outs, and a more motivating experience. The challenge wasn't a lack of features — it was an overwhelming amount of information presented without prioritization.
Methods
Designing for real users, not assumptions.
To understand what was really breaking down, we used four research methods — combining behavioral data with direct input from both users and internal stakeholders. Each method answered a different question, and together they grounded every design decision that followed.
The challenge wasn't a lack of features —
it was an overwhelming amount of information
presented without prioritization. — Core insight from discovery
Strategy
Mobile first.
Because that's where users were struggling most.
One pattern kept appearing across research: respondents on mobile couldn't see their rewards. Critical information was hidden, buried, or simply not rendering in a usable way on smaller screens. Rather than designing for desktop and adapting down, we flipped the approach — design for mobile first, then scale up to web.
Mobile constraints forced hard decisions about what truly mattered. If something couldn't fit on a small screen, it wasn't important enough to lead with. That discipline carried through to the web experience, creating a cleaner, more focused interface across both platforms.
IA
A new information architecture — built around how users actually think.
After card sorting revealed how users grouped information themselves, we restructured the portal around a clear hierarchy — leading with what users cared about most: their account status and rewards, followed by available surveys.
Final Design
From scattered information to an experience that respects the user's time.
To support common respondent behaviors, I focused on reducing friction at every decision point — making it fast to scan, decide, and act, especially during short mobile sessions. Five design decisions shaped the shipped experience.
Survey discovery — one at a time
Tapping "View All" opens a full-screen carousel where each survey occupies its own card. The respondent sees the title, status badge, time commitment, and reward value before deciding whether to start. Bottom dot indicators answer the universal question — "how many more are there?" — without scrolling.
Clear status & obvious actions
The dashboard surfaces all three survey states at a glance — Available, In Progress, and Completed. Respondents can tap into any In Progress survey, read the details, and resume exactly where they left off. Re-engagement is one tap, not a hunt.
One design system, two brands
The portal serves respondents across two distinct brands, each with its own visual identity. Rather than building two separate experiences, I designed a single unified system that adapts through color theming while keeping the same layout, hierarchy, and interaction patterns. Same mental model every time. Zero relearning.
Streamlined login for multiple roles
The portal serves two distinct user types — Researchers and Healthcare Professionals — with different needs and destinations after login. A role-based selection screen routes users directly to the right experience from the start, eliminating the confusion of landing in the wrong place and reducing support requests.
Power-user access — a different door
High-frequency internal users — operations teams managing large panels — needed a faster path. Rather than forcing them through the consumer-facing interface, frequent internal users are redirected to the new AUS admin tool, purpose-built for managing and filtering panels at scale. Two completely different jobs, two purpose-built experiences. The interface shown is the live production tool — built separately from the respondent-facing portal to serve a completely different job.
Validation
After launch, we kept listening.
Shipping wasn't the end — it was the beginning of the next round of learning. UserTesting.com gave us structured, unbiased feedback from users who had no prior exposure to the redesign. Hotjar gave us continuous behavioral signal — not just a snapshot, but ongoing data we could act on.
What we validated: rewards visibility improved — users found their balance faster and with less hesitation. Survey discovery felt clearer — respondents navigated between Available, In Progress, and Completed without confusion.
Impact
The redesign shipped.
The numbers followed.
We set out to make participation feel effortless. The results showed it worked — respondents came back more consistently, support load eased on the entry path, and the work was recognized externally with a Bronze Stevie Award for Life Sciences Innovation.
~25%
Increase in panelist logins post-launch
1,000s
Healthcare professionals served across both brands
4
Research methods grounded every design decision
🏆
Bronze Stevie Award — Life Sciences Innovation
Before / After
Same user. Same task.
Different portal.
The clearest measure of the redesign is what changed for the person on the other side of the screen — fewer questions about where to go, faster paths to rewards, and a mobile experience that finally matched where users actually were.
What I learned
Motivation is a design material.
This project wasn't purely consumer and wasn't purely B2B — it was both at once. Respondents needed a simple, motivating consumer experience. Internal admins needed power and efficiency. Designing one system that served both without compromising either required constant prioritization and a clear hierarchy of decisions.
What I'd do differently: push harder to include direct usability sessions with actual respondents earlier in the process — before design decisions were finalized. Their mental models around rewards and survey discovery would have sharpened our IA choices faster.
What I learned: respondents don't just need a functional portal — they need one that makes participation feel worth it. Rewards visibility, clear survey status, and a frictionless redemption flow aren't just UX improvements. They're the reason users come back.
When your users are consumers inside a professional platform,
you can't choose between simplicity and complexity —
you have to earn both. — Core takeaway