Sean Lee | Product Design Leader | San Mateo, CA
Microarray Analysis
Powered by Illumina’s Infinium technology, Microarray applications provide scalable, high-quality analysis for thousands of DNA samples, aiding drug development and disease research for scientists and bioinformaticians to improve global healthcare.
As the Lead UX Designer, I partnered with product leadership to reinvent a legacy desktop tool into a unified cloud solution. By overcoming long-standing technical silos and usability friction, this strategic transformation drove an 85% customer transition within the first year. The shift led to a 20% increase in total revenue, marking the highest financial performance in the history of Illumina’s Microarray segment.
The Challenge:
Scaling Beyond Legacy Systems
The microarray analysis space was long dominated by GenomeStudio, a legacy desktop application that had become a significant productivity bottleneck. Despite its technical power, the tool suffered from fragmented workflows and critical usability friction that impacted lab efficiency.
User sentiment on social media confirmed the frustration, highlighting specific technical gaps that defined the project's urgency:
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Limited Assay Support: it was restricted primarily to Genotyping assays, offering no native support for other critical applications like PRS (Polygenic Risk Score) or Pharmacogenomics in a cloud environment.
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Version Incompatibility: The legacy system struggled with modern data formats, requiring researchers to maintain outdated OS environments just to run specific, older versions of the software.
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Workflow Silos: Because the tool couldn't handle diverse assay types, researchers were forced to switch between multiple software products to complete a single study, significantly increasing turnaround time.
After identifying issues in the discovery process, I created this lean persona to define clear goals: simplifying analysis setup with a cloud-based solution to replace Genome Studio. This unified platform supports customers who utilize both sequencing and microarray analyses within a single platform.
Discovery:
Mapping from Fragmented to Clarity
I mapped the Infinium XT process to identify the critical transition where physical samples are scanned and data is downstreamed to the cloud. By aligning biological steps like Amplification and Hybridization with software needs, I created a unified path from a previously fragmented legacy experience.
Applying a 0 to 1 approach, I designed the cloud architecture from scratch to replace legacy desktop constraints. Through multiple iterations with the product development team, we refined the architecture by defining where users initiate analysis setup, identifying essential input and output components, and ensuring a cohesive cloud experience for users to analyze the scanned data at ease.
The Solution:
A Unified Genomics Workflow
After collaborating on series of design explorations with the team, I created a high-fidelity prototype for user studies, refining it through iterative feedback until release. Since launch, the product has evolved with continuous updates, providing a robust end-to-end experience beyond just a genotyping analysis tool.
The analysis setup workflow serves as the entry point to Microarray Cloud Solution, enabling users to configure settings, select samples, and launch analysis for a specific application type tailored to assay purpose such as Genotyping assay (identifying genetic traits and study disease risk) or Pharmacogenomics (understanding how genes affect drug responses for personalized medicine).
A key highlight of the cloud setup is the ability to customize configurations beyond the commercial product settings. This flexibility allows customers to focus on specific gene expressions for specialized assays with no limit.
A recent enhancement, 'Planned Analysis', allows users to save analysis setup in advance and auto-launch it when sample data is ready. This feature helps users streamline the process, and increased the number of samples analyzed, contributing to the company's Micoarray revenue growth in overall.
From the 'Planned Analyses' data table, users click the analysis name to review the setup details. Clicking “Edit” switches the view to edit mode, allowing users to reconfigure the setup.
From the local tab, users can navigate to Data management, a centralized file browser to conveniently access and manage all scanned data in an organized structure tied to the lab experience.
This cloud solution provides greater flexibility for experiments, offering a wider range of applications, and complete control with custom configuration and QC thresholds. Additionally, the microarray analysis setup workflow was integrated within BaseSpace Sequence Hub, the industry leading genomics software, allowing scientists to seamlessly use both genome sequencing and microarray applications within a single platform.
Impact:
Driving Adoption and Business Growth
By replacing a fragmented legacy tool with a unified cloud solution, we achieved record-breaking growth for Illumina’s Microarray segment. My data-driven approach ensured that the new platform was not just a UI update, but a high-performance engine built on a completely new data model.
Post-launch data confirmed the efficiency of the new Unified Setup logic. We achieved an 84% task completion rate for complex analysis configurations. By automating previously manual steps, we reduced the technical barrier to entry, allowing lab staff to launch PRS and Genotyping assays with significantly higher confidence and speed.
Post-launch data confirmed the efficiency of the new Unified Setup logic. We achieved an 84% task completion rate for complex analysis configurations. By automating previously manual steps, we reduced the technical barrier to entry, allowing lab staff to launch PRS and Genotyping assays with significantly higher confidence and speed.
As the Lead Designer for BaseSpace Sequence Hub (BSSH), I integrated Microarray directly into the platform to create a "one-stop solution" for scientists and researchers using both sequencing and microarray technologies. Centralizing these formerly disconnected workflows into the BSSH ecosystem significantly reduced overhead and simplified data management for global labs.
This strategic integration and focus on user-centered innovation contributed to a 152% increase in BSSH NPS over three years. By addressing the long-standing frustrations found in legacy tools like GenomeStudio, we built deep trust with the bioinformatics community, reaching an industry-leading platform score of nearly 50.
The transition to a cloud-based solution fueled a significant boost in microarray sales and software subscription growth. By delivering a high-performance engine that surpassed legacy desktop constraints, we transformed a technical hurdle into a primary revenue driver. As shown in the KPI data, customers consumed over 5.5K samples per quarter, primarily on the cloud.
This growth was underpinned by a 90% adoption rate among existing customers. By prioritizing a user-friendly migration path from GenomeStudio, we successfully transitioned the majority of the legacy install base into the new ecosystem within the first year. This move secured long-term platform loyalty and established a foundation for recurring subscription revenue.