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The Leading UX Firm for Medical & Life Sciences

4.9
8 reviews

Catalyst UX is the leading user experience strategy, design and development firm with specific practice areas in Medical and Life Science, Financial Systems, and Complex Operational Systems.

Our unified UX approach, refined in over 600 projects provides clients with strategic digital innovation, risk management and ongoing user validation.

Clients work with Catalyst because of our tenure and in-depth experience in UX research, design and development. We offer clients a dedicated, flexible team who will make sure your solution gets to market on time and under budget.  We serve global leaders and emerging innovators across the globe in:

Medical and Life Sciences

We design and deliver innovative software for medical and life science instruments. Our team applies deep industry knowledge, a user-centered research methodology, and analysis to deliver results.  You’ll want to hire us because we understand the complexities of this highly regulated industry.  Learn more: https://catalystux.com/medical

FinTech & Financial Solutions

We have worked in consumer banking, financial services to bring innovative applications to market. We also work on financial systems for enterprise clients from supply chain and logistics to workforce and selling and order management. Learn more: https://catalystux.com/financial

Operational Systems & IoT

We work across industries to leverage human-centered design to improve operations.  Projects include workforce management, sales and order management, supply chain, accounting, network security and telecommunications.  Learn more: https://catalystux.com/operational

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Undisclosed
 
Undisclosed
 
10 - 49
 Founded
1994
Show all +
San Mateo, CA
headquarters
  • 1700 South El Camino Real Suite 404
    San Mateo, CA 94402
    United States
    800.313.7874
other locations
  • 30 Newbury Street, 3rd Floor
    Boston, MA 02116
    United States
    800.313.7874
  • 2658 West Third Avenue
    Vancouver, BC V6K 1M3
    Canada
    800.313.7874

Portfolio

Key clients: 

Medical / Life Science Practice:  Roche, Thermo Fisher, Bio-Rad, Applied Biosystems, Blue Cross , Sandata, Cardinal Health,  Financial Solutions Practice:  ADP, American Express, CAIS, Barclays, Charles Schwab, First Data, Visa, LUX, PDI, SAP Operational Systems & IoT:  Cisco, Ticket Master, Wand, Priava, ShotSpotter

9 Ways to Transform Your UX

With over 600 UX projects under our belt, Catalyst UX know a few things about updating and refreshing UX. In fact there are nine ways we typically help our clients. See nine ways we’ve worked with clients to refresh their UX. From digital transformation to developing a unified ux design system, we’ve got you covered.

Catalyst UX is the Leading Medical & Life Science Design Firm

Over the past 25 years, we have worked with leaders and emerging innovators in medical and life sciences to deliver medical devices and diagnostics, improve lab management, collaborate with the FDA on drug development applications, and we've even produced software applications for medical providers and payers.

Drug Development Image

Drug Development

With respect to UX for drug development, design thinking practices can be applied in everything from clinical trial design to manufacturing and packaging. The ultimate goal is to accelerate the rate of discovery and the effectiveness of the investments being made.

At Catalyst UX, we’ve worked on everything from molecular kinetics for evaluating individual molecules to full drug FDA drug study designs.

Medical Devices and Diagnostics Image

Medical Devices and Diagnostics

Our team has expertise in UI/UX for advanced medical devices, medical instrument and diagnostic solutions. No matter how effective your solution is, if the user interface is not easy to use, the end-user may never derive the results of the device or be able to use it in the time required. Recognizing this, Catalyst UX uses its experience in creating intuitive user interfaces for medical devices to deliver the finest user

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experience.
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Laboratory Science Image

Laboratory Science

Catalyst UX has worked on many initiatives to leverage user experience design in laboratory science to drive efficiency and effectiveness of researchers and technicians. We’ve worked on applications to deliver efficient solutions for everything from blood testing to environmental testing.

Advancing The Management Of Cardiovascular Disease Image

Advancing The Management Of Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiologists and patients need to keep track of many indicators when assessing someone’s health as it relates to a heart condition. With all of this information, it can be overwhelming to show and monitor the most critical factors in a way that patient’s can easily consume. Catalyst UX designed a digital solution to track and visually display the critical information a patient and their doctor need to manage heart-related

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conditions. The incorporation of graphs, charts and videos allows for more consumable information.
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A Family of Diagnostic Instruments, One UX Design System Image

A Family of Diagnostic Instruments, One UX Design System

Catalyst has provided UX research design and development to provide a consistent experience across the Roche product line of tissue diagnostic instruments, desktop and mobile applications. The Roche product line assists histotechs in laboratories across the globe to test patient tissues for cancer. The redesigned, unified system ensures more accuracy and faster processing of the test tissues for better patient outcomes.

Fueling Business With Predictive Analytics Image

Fueling Business With Predictive Analytics

Catalyst UX worked with PDI on the design of a highly efficient user interface for ordering, scheduling and delivering fuel. Our client, PDI, is the leader in enterprise management for convenience and retail petroleum distribution capability across the globe. When delivery of fuel is requested, PDI uses predictive analytics to schedule and optimize delivery. The design included drag and drop features that allow the user to

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apply the correct fuel order to the correct truck and location as well as hazmat certified approved routes for each drop. Overall this design made it easier and more efficient to order and schedule fuel delivery.
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Making Cities & Campuses Safer Image

Making Cities & Campuses Safer

ShotSpotter is the global leader in gunshot detection, location and forensic analysis. Previously Catalyst UX worked with ShotSpotter on designing and developing their mobile and IOS applications which leverage audio triangulation pinpoints and machine learning algorithms to notify first responders, security personnel and law enforcement of gunshot incidents. In a second project, shown here, ShotSpotter asked for help in

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ensuring Experts in their Incident Review Center would have no downtime. To do this, Catalyst designed a UI that would be responsive from several monitors down to one. The UI incorporated audio as well as visuals of the gunshot sensor triangulation on a map. The use of multiple types of audio and visual devices and the responsive UI equipped analysts with the tools they needed under any situation.
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Unified Responsive Design System Across a Suite of Financial Applications Image

Unified Responsive Design System Across a Suite of Financial Applications

Altisource, a leader in providing services and technology for the mortgage and real estate industries, needed a complete digital solution for their suite of applications. Catalyst provided a unified, responsive design system that was applied across multiple applications and provided a consistent experience across multiple devices.

Catalyst Designed a Leading Global Event Management System Image

Catalyst Designed a Leading Global Event Management System

Priava is one of the leading providers of a comprehensive event and venue management solution. Catalyst designed and developed a unified UX design system that enabled Priava to update over 300 views to be responsive and mobile accessible.

Monitoring Data Centers Across the Globe Image

Monitoring Data Centers Across the Globe

Digital Realty’s global ecosystem of data centers, colocation and interconnection strategies powers customer growth for some of the biggest technology brands. Catalyst worked with Digital Realty to provide a highly effective portal that enabled companies like Apple, Microsoft, LinkedIn and Salesforce to manage and monitor their centers remotely.

Digital Transformation of the Vehicle Fueling Experience Image

Digital Transformation of the Vehicle Fueling Experience

Gilbarco Veeder-Root (GVR) represents the leading brand of solutions and technologies that provide fuel management systems, convenience, control and environmental integrity for retail fueling. In an effort to open their digital retail fueling products to developers at large, Catalyst helped GVR create a retail fueling app solution allowing developers to submit their apps and retailers to schedule and display these apps on

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fueling displays world-wide.
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Reviews

4.9
8 reviews
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Visualization Design Prototype for Auditing Software Demo

“The quality and value proposition that they offer is great.”

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$10,000 to $49,999
 
June - July 2019
Project summary: 

Catalyst UX developed a visualization design prototype for an accounting software company. The prototype acts as a clickable demo, enabling stakeholders to showcase the potential product via desktop or tablet.

The Reviewer
 
1-10 Employees
 
Seattle, Washington
Craig Ballinger
VP of Customer Success, VALID8
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

The prototype has garnered praise from viewers for being high quality and succinctly laying out the product concept. Catalyst UX met expectations by delivering on an aggressive timeline. Organized and collaborative, the team had a wealth of knowledge in best design and business practices.

A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of customer success at VALID8 Financial, a software company in the audit/accounting space. Our products automate financial statement audits and forensic accounting investigations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Catalyst UX?

Our company needed design help to build out a prototype to display visualizations for our software. The prototype needed to be rich enough to show customers and prospects the type of features we’re looking to build in the future.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired Catalyst UX to expand our current product interface. More specifically, they created a visualization design prototype that acts as a clickable demo. They took a business process that you’d see and mocked it up so that we could show the end-to-end process in a demo environment. They made the demo accessible via tablet or desktop. 

What is the team composition?

We worked mainly with Paul (CEO, Catalyst UX) and Kevin (VP of User Experience, Catalyst UX).

How did you come to work with Catalyst UX?

I’ve worked with them a couple of times. I found out about them 3–4 years ago when I was looking for a company that does UX/UI work. I did a bunch of research as to what companies were out there, with being initially referred to Catalyst UX by a colleague. I did a sales cycle with them and many others. The reason I went with them was that not only were they good at what they did from a design point of view, but they had domain knowledge in financial areas.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $25,000–$50,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June–July 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

It was a rapid prototype project that was delivered on time and within expectations. We’re using it to show where we’re going from a product point of view. When people see the demo, they’re very impressed by its quality and the concept that it lays out.

How did Catalyst UX perform from a project management standpoint?

They were continuously improving their processes. We were pleased by their organization and project management capabilities. We were very aggressive with what we wanted to do, and they worked with us on the timelines and told us what they could deliver. They were realistic in terms of what their delivery was. The tools they used, including Trello, were top-notch.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were impressed that their knowledge included not only design and UX/UI but also business. 
They understand business terminology and what the consumer wants to do with their product. That was invaluable and the reason that I will continue using them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’ve been impressed with what they’ve done. They’ve quickly turned around the projects I’ve used them for. The quality and value proposition that they offer is great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you have the time to invest in the project. Part of the beauty of the way they do things is the collaborative piece of it.

5.0
Overall Score I’d easily work with them again. They not only deliver good work, but they’re nice and easy people to deal with as well.
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    They exceeded our timelines. They were very flexible when we needed to change timelines.
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    It was very good value for money.
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
    It’s top-notch.
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

UX Design & Dev for Brain-Computer Interface Company

"I can’t speak highly enough of his professionalism and responsiveness."

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
4.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
Confidential
 
Jan. 2017 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

Catalyst UX delivers cross-platform UX/UI services for a handsfree medical device that is subject to governmental regulations. The team assists with focus group testing and overall product strategy.

The Reviewer
 
1-10 Employees
 
Palo Alto, California
CEO, Brain-Computer Interface Company
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Leveraging an effective remote project management approach, Catalyst UX maintains open lines of communication and consistent feedback channels. The project manager handles adjustments well, letting the client dictate changes as needed. Customers can expect an accessible and experienced partner.

A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a brain-computer interface company. We’re building an implantable brain-computer interface for people with paralysis, allowing them to control handsfree devices that overcome problems of communication and upper and lower limb function.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Catalyst UX?

We’re working with them to solve a very exciting UX problem, namely building a handsfree user experience that is cross-platform. We’re building a completely modular and cross-platform system that enables people to interact with existing operating systems but without the use of a mouse or keyboard. Critical in this is the UI/UX, and Catalyst is serving that role for us. We chose them because of their experience with medical device applications and their understanding of FDA regulations.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’re utilizing Catalyst’s access to industrial designers and developers to deliver a user-focused UI/UX solution for our cross-platform development needs. It’s traditional technology development, but we’re targeting a patient population, and therefore, have to meet specific criteria set out by the FDA. Catalyst is going about development in a strict and highly regulated manner so that we can present our work clearly to the FDA.

We’ve gone through a discovery phase, and we’re working on the design now before we begin the coding phase. Catalyst has been an early partner for us, helping us design the product at the outset. Focus-group testing has been handled by both our parties.

What is the team composition?

There are about five people from their team working with us. Paul (CEO, Catalyst UX) is our main contact, and he coordinates the entire team. There’s a UX designer in place, a programmer, and a few others.

How did you come to work with Catalyst UX?

We did an exhaustive search to find every UI/UX developer in the US who had experience with getting software through FDA approval, and Catalyst UX came out on top. We had buy-in from their founder, and that was important. We knew that they were interested in the project, and it was obvious early on that Paul had a strategic vision for delivering on the requirements of a small, early-stage startup. He’d been through a couple of major development projects and understood what I needed in order to get the next round of funding, a necessary step to keep the project moving forward. That was the real difference point, and they’ve proven capable of doing that.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Catalyst UX at least three years ago, probably in the first quarter of 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

There’s something a bit different about Catalyst. The reason they’ve been able to attract good people in the Bay Area—which is highly competitive—is that their developers are spread all over the country. Our work with them has been web-based, and it’s worked well. Our company is spread between Silicon Valley and Australia, and they’ve been flexible, especially in terms of communication.

How did Catalyst UX perform from a project management standpoint?

Paul is the project lead, and he’s very approachable and friendly. I can’t speak highly enough of his professionalism and responsiveness. We use Zoom and monday.com for project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Another feature of startups is that plans change frequently, and some people don’t do well with that and become frustrated. We’re changing what we want a lot, and Paul has been very responsive and flexible. As a startup, we need to control our cash flow, and, rather than bringing in our own software programmers, I’ve used Catalyst in a way that allows us to freeze their activity depending on the stage we’re at.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We have only positive feedback for them overall. I don’t think I have anything negative to say.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

We deal with medical and consumer devices, which have very different design approaches. There needs to be a complementary set of skills between those, which is challenging to get. If that’s what you’re looking for, I’d recommend Catalyst UX extremely highly. I’m glad we chose them.

5.0
Overall Score
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
  • 4.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    They’re pretty expensive.
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
    They’re always willing to take the time to understand our perspective.
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

Portal Design & Dev for Fuel POS Company

“Catalyst UX was very knowledgeable about what we needed.”

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
4.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$10,000 to $49,999
 
Aug. - Nov. 2018
Project summary: 

Catalyst UX designed and developed a portal for a POS technology company’s platform. Deliverables included wireframes, UX use cases, page layouts, and functionalities. They held customer interaction sessions.

The Reviewer
 
1,001-10,000 Employees
 
Greensboro, North Carolina
Global Product Manager, Fuel POS Company
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Client users praise the portal’s intuitive and user-friendly design. Catalyst UX remained open to different ideas, and they provided actionable feedback that facilitated the best end product possible. Internal stakeholders were pleased with the team's project management capabilities.

A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the global product manager at a gas dispenser and POS technology company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Catalyst UX?

We were introducing a new platform with an app store and development resource tool to enable our retail customers and third-party developers to build apps. We needed to develop a portal for the platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Catalyst UX helped design and develop our platform’s portal for retailers and developers. First, they did a brainstorming session with some of our development team to determine what we needed and how best to go about it. 

Then, Catalyst UX worked on some UX use cases and layouts. They developed the wireframes and conducted customer interaction sessions to get feedback and really capture the voice of our customer base. Finally, Catalyst UX developed pages, including the layouts and functionalities. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with an account manager, a project manager, and a developer who worked on the UI. The project manager also did a lot of the UI.

How did you come to work with Catalyst UX?

I vetted 4–5 partners in the space. I told them what we were looking for and asked what they could do for us. The vendors provided us with examples of their work and previous customers to contact. Catalyst UX just came out on top.

How much have you invested with them?

My company spent about $72,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work spanned August–November 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’ve launched the first version of the portal and have six large customers using it. They’re able to roll out projects pretty quickly. We’ve received wonderful comments from our customers regarding how intuitive and easy to use the portal is.

How did Catalyst UX perform from a project management standpoint?

Catalyst UX was excellent. They were always on top of it. They ran all of the meetings, including the customer interaction sessions. The team was open to different ideas and what we had to offer. They were very good at providing feedback on how things might be perceived and utilized so that we could create the best possible solution. We were in communication with them about twice a week.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The way they were able to demonstrate how the portal would look and feel was impressive. Catalyst UX was very knowledgeable about what we needed. They put themselves in our position so that they could see what we were going to do with the portal and create exactly what we had talked about. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t. They were awesome to work with.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be open to their ideas. We hadn’t considered some of the things they proposed to us, but we implemented them because they were really good. It can be difficult to step out of your own little box when you’re doing projects like this, but they help you step out without being too disruptive to what you’re trying to do. 

5.0
Overall Score We got what we needed.
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    They always met deadlines, even when we changed things up on them.
  • 4.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    Costs were a little high, but they were still the best choice. With quality and knowledge, you get what you pay for.
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
    They provided quality deliverables, which is exactly what we were looking for.
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

UI Design for Financial Services Firm

"We were really happy with their output."

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
4.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$10,000 to $49,999
 
Jun. - July. 2019
Project summary: 

Catalyst UX created design mockups for the frontend UI of a financial data analysis solution. They shared screens through Figma.

The Reviewer
 
1-10 Employees
 
Seattle, Washington
Chris McCall
Founder, Valid8 Financial
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

They delivered a satisfactory concept on time following a thorough discovery phase. Catalyst UX utilizes their deep understanding of data to deliver designs that fit the specific needs of their clients.

A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of CEO of Valid8 Financial. We build software that's targeted at CPAs. Our products automate financial statement audits and forensic accounting investigations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Catalyst UX?

We collect complex data from a variety of sources, including ERP systems and financial institutions. We integrate that into a new data set, but it's very complex and we needed a simple way to display it. We asked Catalyst UX to provide mockups of some interactive data visualizations.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Right now, our system output is just a file, and we wanted a user interface to view the data. They mocked up a wireframe of various new screens that would need a navigation approach, as well as the screens themselves in terms of markup. We’re going to use their output as our requirements for the development of our next UI. They wireframed using Figma, and when I logged into Figma, I could see both UI mockups along with the screens that were being designed.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Paul (CEO, Catalyst UX) and Kevin (VP of User Experience).

How did you come to work with Catalyst UX?

Our vice president of customer success had worked with them previously. Also, they had experience creating UI that leveraged financial data. Those two data points made the decision pretty easy.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $25,000–$50,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June–July 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They delivered the concept. It was a very well-run project.

How did Catalyst UX perform from a project management standpoint?

They had useful infrastructure and they ran very specific meetings with clear objectives. They maintained their cadence throughout the project and delivered on time. We did a kickoff in person to do a deep dive into requirements and discovery. After that, we just did screen sharing. They’re very easy to work with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their understanding of both accounting and finance data at a very granular level and without a lot of background made them unique. The data design on the output was really good and we've been really happy with it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not off the top of my head. We were really happy with their output.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I don't think you can go wrong with those guys. You have to be committed to the process. If you’re doing UX design, you have to commit to the requirements development process. You’re going to get out what you put in.

5.0
Overall Score
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    Everything came in as expected.
  • 4.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    The requirements development was a fairly large investment from our perspective.
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
    They added a lot of value to the design process itself.
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

App UI Redesign for Life Sciences Software Company

“The team was very collaborative; if we weren’t happy with something, they worked with us to fix it.”

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4.5

Quality: 
4.0
Schedule: 
4.0
Cost: 
3.5
Willing to refer: 
4.5
The Project
 
$200,000 to $999,999
 
2013 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

Catalyst UX redesigned and implemented an electronic trial master file application’s UI using React, Kendo UI, CSS, and JavaScript. The team completed various other design projects.

The Reviewer
 
11-50 Employees
 
Blue Bell, Pennsylvania
Former Senior Director of Product Management, Software Company
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Catalyst UX’s high-quality design work was well-received by clients and internal stakeholders, spurring a long-term engagement. Although the billing process and sprints could’ve been better defined, Catalyst UX worked hard to deliver under tight deadlines.

A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the VP of product management at a small technology company that developed software for life sciences companies related explicitly to content management, like documentation for managing clinical trials. Then, that company was acquired by a larger company, and I became senior director of product management. I worked with Catalyst UX in both of these roles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Catalyst UX?

My company originally hired Catalyst UX to redesign our dated electronic trial master file (eTMF) application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For our first project with them, Catalyst UX developed the second version of our eTMF application’s UI. They built all of the screens and features that enable users to navigate the system, upload documents, and perform QC on documents. They developed the UI using React and Kendo UI, and then they implemented it using CSS and JavaScript. This initial project was quite lengthy; following that, we worked on several non-continuous projects.

What is the team composition?

The CEO was in contact with Catalyst UX before I joined the company, so I’m not sure how he found them. We did a proof of concept with Catalyst UX and another company, and then we put out an RFP. We chose Catalyst UX for two reasons: first, they had a vision for how they’d develop a set of reusable components; second, our engineers were more knowledgeable on the server-side, and Catalyst UX had the supplementary resources necessary to help with implementation.

How did you come to work with Catalyst UX?

Throughout our work together, my team worked with 6–7 individuals. Some of them worked on the technical side, and some were designers. Paul (Managing Partner, Catalyst UX) was involved from an oversight level.

How much have you invested with them?

My former company spent around $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Catalyst UX in early 2013, and the engagement was still ongoing when I left my company in April 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Their work was well-received by our clients and prospects.

How did Catalyst UX perform from a project management standpoint?

They were mostly good in this regard. When we had tight deadlines, they put in extra effort to meet them. For instance, we needed to get a demo to an important client under short notice. Catalyst UX got us a clickable prototype in time for the demo.

Sometimes, I think their designers were over-allocated and not as responsive as they should’ve been. Our sprints often didn’t have a defined scope or assigned number of hours; once, a designer used up hours we weren’t aware of. When we addressed this issue, Paul returned some hours to us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their designs were great. The team was very collaborative; if we weren’t happy with something, they worked with us to fix it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As I mentioned, there could’ve been more clarity in the billing process. They didn’t give us time sheets, which left us a bit uncertain as to how much work they did.

Any advice for potential customers?

They’re all good, but some of their team members are more senior than others. Be aware of the seniority level of the person you’re working with; also, try to get as much clarity as you can regarding the sprints. I felt that the sprints should’ve been defined by either a deliverable or a set number of hours.

4.5
Overall Score
  • 4.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    As long as deadlines were clear, they worked hard to meet them.
  • 3.5 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    I don’t have a lot of experience with other design firms, so I’m not entirely sure how their costs compare.
  • 4.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
    Most of their designs were good; once in a while, they went in the wrong direction.
  • 4.5 NPS
    Willing to refer

UX/UI Design for BioTech Company

"They understood our needs right away and began to add best practices to the UX customer experience." 

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$10,000 to $49,999
 
Oct. - Dec. 2018
Project summary: 

Catalyst UX built out a UX, introducing sophistication and usability to an ongoing development.

The Reviewer
 
51-200 Employees
 
Pleasanton, California
lisa jensen-long
VP Marketing, Bio-Rad
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Internal stakeholders are pleased with the final UX, specifically its look and feel and adherence to budgetary and timeline concerns. Catalyst UX got up to speed quickly and familiarized themselves with an existing product line.  

The client submitted this review online.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the VP of Marketing for an innovative division of Bio-Rad that is developing solutions for digital polymerase chain reaction (dCPR) and next generation sequencing(NGS) sample preparation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Catalyst UX?

Our company had developed the UX primarily internally and needed some sophistication and usability built in. Catalyst took these constraints and built a world-class UX on time and on budget.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to have a world class UX to go with our innovative, world-class system.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I knew Catalyst from my past experience with Ventana Medical Systems (Roche Tissue Diagnostics).

Describe the project in detail.

Catalyst picked up a project in the middle and completed the UX build.

What was the team composition?

Initial composition was Catalyst personnel working offsite on design.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The outcome of the project was great UX design work that integrated the constraints already in place along with fresh look and feel to the UX. It was completed on time and on budget and exceeded our expectations.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was great!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The most impressive part of Catalyst is their ability to very quickly adsorb what the goals and deliverables for the project are, especially in a complex product line. They understood our needs right away and began to add best practices to the UX customer experience.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No. 

5.0
Overall Score
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

UI/UX Design for Aviation Company

“Catalyst UX was a true extension of our internal team.”

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$200,000 to $999,999
 
Jan. 2018 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

Catalyst UX provided UI/UX design services to help make a maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) capability more user-friendly. They used an agile approach.

The Reviewer
 
501-1,000 Employees
 
San Diego Metro Area
Former VP of Logistics Products Services, Aviation Company
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

In addition to being high-caliber, Catalyst UX’s work often outpaced time and budget estimates. They facilitated an effortless partnership, collaborating well with an offshore development team and providing frequent progress updates. The team was receptive to user feedback.

A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The company I previously worked at is a global provider of information management software and services for defense, government, and commercial customers. We were acquired to provide world-class maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) capabilities for a large aviation company’s $20 billion annual operations. I was the VP of Logistics Products Services (LPS), the company’s commercial software division. I was responsible for all product development, maintenance, and operations, as well as defining a vision for next-generation MRO capabilities in a very competitive market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Catalyst UX?

As with many mature companies, we lacked innovative and accessible software tools. We needed to outsource a fresh and objective perspective to define the most user-friendly enterprise MRO capability that contemporary users, specifically the aviation company’s installation mechanic workforce, could easily deploy without much training.

What were your goals for this project?

The new MRO capability needed to vastly simplify the UX while maintaining the complex legacy capability. We wanted to add enterprise and cyber security skins so that our existing users could keep their original look, while new users could enjoy a more progressive UX.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Catalyst UX took an agile approach in their redesign of the new MRO capability’s UX and UI. My team interfaced directly with our end users, and we provided that feedback to Catalyst UX. They coded how the UI would flow.

While Catalyst UX worked on the frontend, my company hired an offshore vendor to do the backend development and other coding.

What is the team composition?

The teams on both sides scaled depending on the effort at hand. Our internal (parallel) team had a lead technical manager with supporting managers in the following disciplines: product data management, software development, and hardware.  Catalyst UX provided a technical manager for leadership and scaled various resources dependent upon tasking, which included software developers, UI experts, and process and human factors specialists.

How did you come to work with Catalyst UX?

My company underwent an exhaustive and meticulous vendor selection process for this strategic effort. We initially chose over one dozen vendors, then did due diligence and compared financial and performance reviews to narrow the selection down to three. After more matrix comparisons and numerous discussions, Catalyst UX was the clear leader and preferred vendor.

How much have you invested with them?

My company spent somewhere in the range of $250,000–$500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work with Catalyst UX began in January 2018. Although I left my company in March 2019, their work with Catalyst UX is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We primarily tracked the quality of Catalyst UX’s work and their ability to adhere to the schedules and budgets, as this ultimately affected our delivery schedule. They were considerably on or under budget for each of their estimations, and their deliverables were top-quality.

How did Catalyst UX perform from a project management standpoint?

They did exceptionally well in this regard. Catalyst UX’s entire team, even the CEO, was very responsive to the user feedback we collected, and they thoroughly explained their decisions. They interacted daily with our development team. We also had weekly team meetings, during which we received project updates and saw feature demonstrations. Each month, Catalyst UX provided financial accounting and status reports. They traveled as necessary.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The overall goal was very complex, but Catalyst UX delivered on or under budget and schedule for each milestone leading toward this capability. Having worked with many vendors, it was nice to work with a team that delivered on what they said they would. They didn’t make excuses or try to upsell. Catalyst UX was a true extension of our internal team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would’ve been helpful if they had more aviation expertise, although perhaps their lack thereof gave them a fresh perspective. Aviation’s maintenance repair overhaul ecosystem is very different from other fields they’ve probably worked in, like pharma or finance.

5.0
Overall Score I would do this all over again with them.
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    They always delivered on what they committed to. They were often ahead of schedule and under budget.
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    The value exceeded what we could’ve done internally or gotten from other vendors, even offshore.
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
    Any rework was not because of coding or design flaws, but due to user preference.
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer
    I referred them within the larger aviation company.

Web App Redesign for Pharmaceutical Tech

"They worked hard to understand our industry and were proactive in proposing solutions..." 

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
4.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$50,000 to $199,999
 
June - Nov. 2015
Project summary: 

Catalyst UX redesigned a web application’s UI. After learning about a niche industry, they worked through many iterations to deliver data management features and mobile compatibility.  

The Reviewer
 
51-200 Employees
 
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Keith Howells
CTO, OmniComm Systems
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

The rereleased app has achieved commercial success and wide market adoption. Catalyst UX was a committed partner, integrating multiple rounds of feedback and developing their own original ideas for product improvement. Their development background and cost-effectiveness are particularly noteworthy.

The client submitted this review online.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CTO of OmniComm Systems, a leading supplier of web-based technology that allows pharmaceutical companies to collect and manage data for clinical trials.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Catalyst UX?

While functionally rich, our lead product looked dated and didn't support mobile devices. A UI redesign was the first step in what became a three-year project to bring a fresh new release to market.

What were your goals for this project?

We set out to improve the UX and add targeted new functionality and mobile device compatibility.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We surveyed the market, developed a shortlist of three vendors, and asked for a capabilities presentation and price quote from each. We selected Catalyst UX based on their expertise, energy, and experience with healthcare applications.

Describe the project in detail.

We reviewed the current application and its functionality and then drilled down into the major areas we wanted to rewrite: navigation, patient selection, data entry, and data query management. For each area, we discussed ideas and required functionality and then waited for a proposed UI and workflow. We iterated about three times on each proposal before all participants were happy. We convened twice a week by web conference, and all work was done remotely.

What was the team composition?

We had a team of three. Paul (CEO, Catalyst UX) was the key driver in understanding our very specialized industry and proposing elegant solutions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The redesigned product was released in May 2018 and has been a significant commercial success. All new trials use the new release because it looks so much better than the old one.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

You have to work at it. Catalyst can't propose a suitable solution until they fully understand the intricacies of the desired functionality. As mentioned above, we'd typically work on each topic three times to make sure nothing was missed or skipped over.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They worked hard to understand our industry and were proactive in proposing solutions—a responsive layout for the main data entry page—even if we didn’t specifically ask about that area. Though we didn’t use their development arm, knowing that they had one convinced us that we could cleanly implement their UI. They were conscious about staying within budget.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing significant.

5.0
Overall Score
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    Flexible and organized.
  • 4.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    Probably on the high side, but worth it for the quality.
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer
    We used them again on a subsequent project.