Client

Our client is a technology company building an open-source research collaboration and management platform. The solution is popular amongst leading US-based and European institutions, like Oxford, Yale, Berkeley, Princeton, and MIT. It is used by 850 thousand researchers from all over the world.

The platform lets the scientific community share, review, and register their research projects and data. This way, it helps promote knowledge sharing and transparency in research. Universities and public agencies, most notably the Japanese government, adopt the solution’s open-source code as a foundation for their products.

Challenge

The client developed a research management platform that’s been on the market for over a decade. Yet, without necessary updates, it did not comply with modern usability and accessibility standards. Plus, the codebase relied on niche technologies with limited support.

  • The user interface was visually outdated compared to other research management platforms. Brand perception could be hurt by it.
  • User experience didn't feel intuitive. Due to inconsistent elements and confusing navigation, basic workflows were too long. Users wouldn't find the necessary information because of cluttered layouts, visual noise, and cognitive overload.
  • The legacy frontend stack was too niche, with a weak ecosystem, rare updates, and a limited availability of developers. This made platform maintenance and potential expansion risky and expensive.

Having previously partnered with Exoft on other projects, the client engaged us again for research management platform redesign and legacy frontend modernization.

Cooperation

The project had a relatively predictable scope, so we used a fixed-price model. This setup allowed the client to focus on outcomes while we handled technical execution.

We take full responsibility for project and team management, from requirements management and work breakdown to daily planning and prioritization. The team follows a typical Scrum process: bi-weekly sprints, daily syncs, regular demos, etc.

The team grows, depending on the project stage we're in. Currently, we have eight members (a project manager and Angular developers). On demand, we've also engaged a UI/UX designer and QA engineers.

Stage 1: Discovery

We kicked off the project with a short discovery phase. Our solution architect audited a codebase, suggested a tech stack, and estimated the scope.

Then, we conducted client interviews, analyzed user behavior, and scanned other research management platforms. Discovery findings helped us shape a design strategy.

Stage 2: UI/UX redesign

We redesigned the research management platform, aligning it with user needs and business goals. We kept the existing branding but improved the overall look and user-friendliness. We prioritized responsiveness across devices. Plus, we enhanced the accessibility of a research management platform for people with disabilities. Our user interface modernization services included:

  • Heuristic evaluation of the existing interface to identify UX gaps (using Nielsen Norman Group frameworks)
  • Three design options, based on research findings
  • Responsive mockups for desktop, tablet, and mobile
  • Accessibility practices, following Google Accessibility Guidelines
  • Design system for a consistent style and reuse of icons, typography, colors, buttons, checkboxes, switches, and many other elements
  • Smooth design handoff to developers

Stage 3. Frontend Redevelopment

We migrated the platform to the newest technologies, without disrupting workflows critical to users. Ember to Angular migration improves performance, loading times, and backend synchronization. Key achievements in open-source research platform development:

  • Used a modern frontend architecture for better code organization and component reuse
  • Optimized existing functions: loaders, localization, search engine, filtering, and toast notification system
  • Improved app's performance, accelerated page loading times
  • Maintained close collaboration with backend developers for API integration and data sync
  • Introduced unit testing to support long-term code quality

In parallel, we're providing manual testing of deployed features and preparing for user acceptance testing ahead of final releases.

Solution

We are building a modern-looking, intuitive solution aligned with today's web accessibility standards. The research management and collaboration platform will be fully responsive on web, desktop, tablet, and mobile devices. It is accessible for vision-impaired users through optimized fonts, color contrast, and warning indicators.

The solution is designed to suit scientists of all ages and locations. It can be customized to meet regional needs, like date formats or support for different fonts.

The designs can be tailored to the requirements of partnering institutions, allowing changes in colors and styles without compromising readability, clarity, or visual appeal.

Delivered Value

The new design features a cleaner layout, more precise navigation, improved use of white space, consistent UI patterns, and smart filtering logic.

The additional value:

  • Finished the UI/UX redesign for web, desktop, mobile, and tablet in just 2 months
  • Improved user flows to reduce friction and support faster task completion
  • Created development documentation with processes, architecture, and lessons learned for easier team onboarding
  • Provided Angular training for the client's development team (10+ developers, bi-weekly lessons). This helps prepare the client's team to independently maintain and expand the solution after release
  • Ensured an intuitive platform experience for 850 thousand users worldwide
  • Develop high-quality open-source code, adopted by universities and government agencies