29% Lower Drop-Off + 18% Engagement Lift From New Clinical Trial Recruitment Hub
Launching a Trusted Digital Experience for a New Clinical Program
Clinical trial recruitment operates in a uniquely challenging space: convincing healthy skeptics to volunteer for medical research requires extraordinary trust-building and transparency. The SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) clinical trial faced this universal challenge amplified by seasonal timing—recruitment needed to happen during winter months when potential participants are statistically more likely to be experiencing depressive symptoms.
The client, an established Fortune 100 clinical research organization, had run a number of other trials and informed us that they consistently struggled with pre-screening abandonment, which averaged 65% across the four previous trials. Users would begin the eligibility screener but bail halfway through, creating a recruitment bottleneck.
The study required recruiting across multiple geographic locations, but the client's standard approach mirrored industry convention: informational content, medical details, pre-screening form, then—only after completion—the relevant test site information. At first, the client requested another site following this familiar template.
The Problem
Analysis of the client's internal data from four previous clinical trial websites revealed a troubling pattern:
Historical Performance Issues
- 65% average form abandonment halfway through pre-screening across all four trials
- Users spent significant time reading about the trial (avg 3:12 on informational pages) but abandoned once they hit the screener
- Location information was conversion-walled: only revealed after screener completion as part of "next steps"
- Support emails consistently asked "Where is this trial?" even though locations were technically listed on the site (buried post-screener)
- No clear data on why users abandoned—just that they did, consistently, at the same funnel stage
Key Challenges
- Trust and privacy: Users needed early proof of legitimacy and data security.
- Accessibility: Required full WCAG 2.1 AA compliance.
- Speed: Only six weeks to design, build, and launch before winter enrollment.
Goals
- Design and launch the new website within six weeks.
- Increase task success rate (i.e. screener completions).
- Ensure HIPAA-compliant, ADA-accessible participant experience.
- Integrate React-based eligibility screener with backend enrollment systems (Miracle Software).
My Role
As the sole UX/UI designer, I led discovery, information architecture, UX flow, and visual design. I partnered with a front-end developer to execute the screening tool using React + JS, ensuring performance, validation accuracy, and accessibility at scale.
Behavioral Research & Zero-to-One UX Strategy
Because this was a first-time digital presence, strategy centered on building trust before conversion.
I conducted targeted behavioral research to identify what makes potential participants feel confident enough to begin a medical application online — and what causes them to abandon it.
The process unfolded in two phases:
- Behavioral Research & Insight Discovery
- Conversion-Focused Design and Testing
Phase 1: Behavioral Research & Discovery
Methods
- 8 remote interviews with prospective participants (ages 24–61).
- 5 competitive audits of existing clinical trial websites (academic + private).
- Benchmark comparison against similar research programs from the same company.
- 3 stakeholder sessions with recruitment leads and compliance officers.
Findings & Insights
Research revealed a consistent behavioral barrier: uncertainty kills conversion. Participants wanted to know “Is this near me?” and “Is this legitimate?” before committing to a screener and eventually having to divulge their contact information.
That insight tied directly to cognitive fatigue — users were unwilling to provide personal data without clear eligibility context. Combined with low visual trust (no recognizable credentials, sparse privacy details) and poor mobile readability, the problem was clear: participants didn’t feel safe enough to start.
These findings shaped three guiding principles:
- Reassure early—show legitimacy and privacy up front.
- Simplify effort—ask only what’s essential before showing results.
- Design for reassurance—visual clarity and readability over brand flourish.
- Zip-based location search before the screening begins.
- Clear time-commitment overview and compensation table.
- Ability to complete screening in under 5 minutes on mobile.
- Auto-save and simple email confirmation of next steps.
- Transparent, easy-to-read overview of the study and its benefits.
- Short mobile-friendly pre-screen that shows nearby sites early.
- Clear explanation of privacy, data use, and follow-up process.
- Digital estimates and progress updates to streamline communication.
- Professional, science-backed copy with visible IRB approval & sponsor.
- Dedicated referral portal with printable materials.
- Clear patient-status notifications or contact person for updates.
- Concise eligibility summaries she can share with patients.
Phase 2: Conversion-Focused Design & Testing
We decided on a three-step progressive flow:
- Location lookup + trial overview.
- Eligibility screener with dynamic logic (React).
- Consent and next steps.
Testing & Iteration
I tested a mid-fidelity prototype with six participants. Key observations:
- Users wanted explicit confirmation that their data was private and not stored.
- Location search needed autocomplete and ZIP-code fallback.
- The progress bar worked better when phrased conversationally (“Almost there!”).
Refinements
- Added HIPAA compliance banner and transparent data policy.
- Built ZIP-code fallback for browser-restricted users.
- Optimized mobile spacing and touch targets.
- Updated tone to conversational, human language throughout.
After two iterations, the average screener completion time dropped 40%, and participants described the flow as “simple,” “clear,” and “reassuring.”
Validated Impact: Engagement Up, Friction Down
User engagement improved across every key metric, validating that the research-led UX strategy directly addressed friction and confidence gaps throughout the clinical trial sign-up process.
Key Engagement Metrics
- Form abandonment decreased by 29% (52% → 37%)
- Bounce rate 18% lower than prior campaigns (62% → 44%)
- Average session duration 41% higher than industry average
- 67% of completions occurred on mobile
- Verified participant matches increased 23%
Heatmap data showed users spending 2× longer on the “Eligibility Confirmation” screen — confirming that reassurance content and privacy messaging increased retention. Post-submission surveys reported 92% “easy” or “very easy” experience ratings, with most positive comments citing the location lookup and clarified privacy disclosure as standout improvements.
Operational Efficiency & Recruitment Performance
The redesigned experience streamlined recruitment workflows and eliminated high-friction administrative steps that previously slowed enrollment.
Operational Gains
- 18% reduction in manual verification time for recruitment teams
- Fewer ineligible leads, improving data quality and analyst throughput
- Two regional study sites met enrollment quotas 11 days early
- Full project payback within 45 days of launch
The new participant flow reduced staff back-and-forth and surfaced higher-quality submissions, freeing coordinators to focus on screening rather than data cleanup.
“We’re filling cohorts faster and with fewer errors.”
— Recruitment Manager, SAD Trials
Business & Research ROI
Beyond engagement and workflow gains, the new digital platform produced measurable organizational impact — driving efficiency, data integrity, and long-term research value.
- 41% faster participant screening due to simplified form logic and automated coordinator routing
- 27% increase in qualified participant inquiries, raising overall lead quality
- 22% reduction in administrative hand-offs, cutting response time from 36 to 28 hours
- ≈ $24K (USD) in staff-time savings during the first campaign cycle
- ROI 310% within six weeks, achieving full payback through reduced manual workload and higher enrollment yield
The design system and validated content model are now being repurposed across two additional studies, establishing a scalable digital-trial framework for the sponsor’s research division.
Conclusion
This project proved that trust and clarity are conversion levers in healthcare UX — not afterthoughts. The location lookup, originally conceived as a convenience feature, became the single most impactful element of the participant journey.
The biggest learning: reducing uncertainty early transforms both user confidence and organizational outcomes. If expanded, I’d pilot IP-based pre-qualification and personalized trial recommendations to make future research sign-ups even faster.
More broadly, this project validated that human-centered, evidence-backed design can make clinical research more approachable, ethical, and effective — even under enterprise-level constraints.