Healthcare · Product discovery · Co-creation
Co-creating a standard for clinical case presentation with dermatologists across Europe
27
dermatologists across Europe in the scientific committee
200k+
engaged users
ASPID
Prize for Most Innovative Project, 2022
Context
Almirall wanted to help dermatologists present psoriasis clinical cases at congresses and educational sessions.
Presentations were inconsistent, relying on static slides and fragmented materials that made it hard to compare cases or explain treatment decisions.
The challenge
Design a digital tool to present clinical cases in a structured, visual and engaging way, intuitive for dermatologists with different levels of digital skill. Every dermatologist presented cases differently, and no comparable product existed. In a regulated medical environment, this meant balancing clinical accuracy, usability, compliance and scalability.
Strategic approach
Rather than designing for dermatologists, we designed with them.
A Digital Scientific Committee of 27 dermatologists across Europe became a continuous source of expertise for discovery, validation and research.
- Structured clinical storytelling: one format that makes cases easy to compare.
- Visual clarity: imagery and structured data that read quickly in a presentation.
- Intuitive interaction: simple for every level of digital skill, without compromising medical rigour.
01
Turned clinical expertise into a co-creation loop.
Listen to dermatologists' workflows, prototype a shared experience, let them explore it on their own for several days, interview them, and iterate. After the beta, remote usability tests revealed three issues: the case-creation flow lacked clarity, data entry felt slow, and performance hurt usability.
02
Prioritised improvements with the committee.
I turned the feedback into a prioritised list of improvements, balancing clinical needs, technical effort and launch timing.
03
Simplified the case-creation flow.
Users got lost after a rigid three-step process. With doctors and the medical and communications teams, I replaced it with tabs that guide users to create a timepoint, and reduced the flow from six modules to four.
04
Reduced input effort without compromising medical rigour.
- Intelligent search replaced long scroll-based lists of clinical variables.
- Optional free-text fields gave flexibility where needed.
- Sections open by default to remove unnecessary clicks.
We validated it by asking dermatologists to create the same clinical case in the new interface and comparing completion times.
05
Balanced visual quality and performance.
High-resolution 3D avatars slowed the app on some devices. Rather than lowering quality, I introduced adjustable resolution (2K / 3K / 4K), device-based detection and clear minimum requirements.
Impact
SAM launched on iOS, Android, Windows and Mac, reaching 200,000+ engaged users.
The project won the ASPID Prize for Most Innovative Project (2022), recognising its contribution to digital tools in dermatology.
The Scientific Committee created a lasting feedback loop between clinicians and product teams.
Reflection
When there's no product to copy, the users become the benchmark.
Bringing 27 specialists into the process turned different practices into one shared standard, and kept clinical rigour and usability in balance at every decision.
Let's talk.
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