The Expanding Universe of Olink Insight
Navigation redesign for a growing scientific platform
The Problem
Olink Insight started as a focused platform with just two straightforward features. But like many growing tools, it gradually expanded into a collection of powerful capabilities. Each solved a specific problem, however all cluttered together they became impossible to locate and understand.
To users, this felt arbitrary. It was difficult to answer basic questions like:
Where do I begin my study?
What can this tool actually do for me?
How do I use Insight?
TL;DR
Goal: Make a fast-growing product feel predictable.
My role: Product design (IA + interaction), facilitation, prototyping, stakeholder alignment.
Methods: Intent mapping, open card sorting, iterative IA, concept testing.
Outcome: Clear entry points aligned to user goals + a structure that scales with new features.
- Faster findability: median “locate the right tool” time down in usability checks.
- Fewer support interrupts: “where do I… / where is…” tickets down post-release.
- Higher feature discovery: usage of previously hidden tools up.
Rebuilding the Map
The simple truth is: most users don't navigate by feature — they navigate by intent. Our users weren’t looking for features like Panel Selection or Gene Ontology Search. They were asking questions like:
What proteins should I work with?
What product fits my list?
Can I trust the data?
To uncover a meaningful structure, we ran open card-sorting sessions with stakeholders across development, product and support. Each team brought a different mental model to the table. Through multiple iterations, we asked not just where features should go but what they meant. What questions did they help answer? How early or late in the research stage did they belong?
This eventually led to broader discussions around what the research journey actually looks like in practice. We sketched loops, overlaps, even dead ends and used those patterns to shape a system.
The Solution
The new navigation introduced four clear entry points grouped by user goal. Each section is supported with tool and feature descriptions making functionality legible before interaction. This shift in perspective from software architecture to research journey allows users not to navigate by task and goal instead of trial and error.
Early concept sketch to visualise how all categories create a vicious circle of sorts, how the user can jump into any stage of their research study and all of the categories loop back to "lists" being the beating heart of Insight.
Lists
Create, manage and reuse protein lists across tools and workflows.
Find Proteins
Build lists using biological context: pathways, diseases, gene ontology and converting gene names.
Plan Study
Select products, explore coverage, design custom panels, calculate study size.
Olink Data
Explore curated data stories and normal ranges from Olink’s internal studies.
Analysis and Tools
Analyze data, search publications, access R packages and visualization tools.
The Result: A Structure That Scales
The redesign took inspiration from the visual language of the Olink.com. The updated structure nodded subtly toward brand cohesion without sacrificing usability.
Internally, this change gave developers and PMs a cleaner model for growth. Externally, it gave users orientation.
“It finally feels like everything has a place and I know where to go next.”
- User feedback
Support stopped explaining the interface and started discussing science.
The product team gained the breathing room they needed to build without working around a big chunk of legacy UX.
In complex tools, structure is design. It's the quiet system that shapes how users think and whether they trust what they're seeing. This navigation redesign redefined how Olink Insight welcomed its users: With understanding.