Creative Refresh for Medable Design System

At the outset of this ongoing project, Otherness worked with the in-house team over 6 months iterating and optimizing using fast feedback from social media to test our boundaries across every design element. Designers were challenged to break the design system to expose inefficiencies and weaknesses, then find elegant and functional solutions.

At the culmination of this process, we had thoroughly refreshed every area of Medable’s design. As much as this work prepared every designer to execute brilliantly, from creating bold statements to long-form educational content, an equally important achievement is the internal cultural shift this work has inspired. In the wake of economic shifts, we have infused a sense of pride and excitement across all Medable teams by bringing the brand to a level that’s on par with true B2C greats.

Medable's platform contains UI elements that, for confidentiality purposes, were not allowed to be shown in marketing materials. But it’s a platform experience Medable is proud of, and it was critical to somehow show off that key differentiator of their offering at every opportunity. So how do you convey the felt experience of using a product, without giving too much away? In harmony with a new photographic direction built on a delicate blend of lifestyle imagery, and depictions of researchers and remote work, Otherness introduced the use of cinematic UI notification elements as a compelling and unique overlay of product interaction. Images which are welcoming, calm, and represent the life of a research accurately, are elegantly woven with cinema-style depictions of the Medable tech easing into their day naturally, working with them seamlessly.

Though the underlying tech of Medable is undeniably cool, that didn’t mean the brand had to be cold. The new system includes a refreshed color palette, graphic motifs, static and motion backgrounds, motion graphics, and an updated font system. The colour scheme brought things into a refined, pioneering luxury space, using cool greys, cream, and camel tones to suggest a warm and inviting way into the world of research.

Graphic symbols that thrive in animation were used to capture complicated product concepts such as decentralization, data points, patient-centeredness, progress, and unification.

To complement this, we used abstract support imagery to bring the brand into the world of tech without disrupting that core message, drawing inspiration of fiberglass and light, rather than the previous seen-it-all-before generic labcoat stock, or closeups of moss, cell cultures, and leaves.