As part of Ginkgo’s platform team, I led UX and visual design for a reimagined software tool that powers automated, modular robotic labs. The software is used by scientists, engineers, and operators to configure and run complex synthetic biology workflows—across physical instruments and digital protocols.

This project brought together my strengths in systems thinking, UI/UX for workflow-heavy software, and and required building a 0–1 design system for a product in a regulated, high-stakes domain.

Ginkgo’s robotic lab infrastructure is flexible and modular by design—but the tools for configuring it were anything but. Users relied on fragmented, siloed tools with inconsistent UI patterns and steep learning curves.Operators needed a clearer way to configure physical instruments, visualize their interconnections, and manage workflows—without needing to code or juggle multiple systems.

I led UX and visual design from discovery to delivery, built a 0–1, scalable design system for internal platform tools, collaborated with product, engineering, and wet-lab ops to align technical constraints and user needs and partnered with systems thinkers and robotics engineers to model and simplify complex systems visually.

I worked with subject-matter experts to map the hidden logic of our lab automation stack—understanding the physical layout of instruments, the data models representing them, and how protocols were configured.I created high-fidelity system diagrams to model these relationships and ensure the product team could agree on a shared mental model.

The users of this tool included operations leads, automation engineers, and highly technical biologists. They needed configurability without clutter—and fast access to granular settings.

We conducted interviews and whiteboard sessions to understand their mental models and workflows. Then I translated those into an interface that balanced hierarchical clarity with direct manipulation—including compact components, nested configurations, and intuitive navigation.

I created a modular design system from scratch in Figma, with a focus on: visual consistency across complex data views and states, accessibility (color, focus states, keyboard navigation), scalability for future internal tools across the automation and software teams, and systematic spacing, color, and component naming conventions for easier handoff and documentation.

This foundational system is now used across multiple internal apps, ensuring faster builds and a cohesive visual language for Ginkgo’s internal software ecosystem.

A core part of the UI was a dashboard and workflow editor that allowed users to: configure instrument properties, link protocols and assign them to physical machines, see system errors or missing configurations, and understand the state of the lab in real time.

The result was a compact, high-density interface with smart defaults and contextual reveals, allowing power users to stay in flow while navigating complex dependencies.

I used a combination of Figma (for component libraries, variants, auto layout, documentation), Design systems (naming conventions, scalability principles, accessibility baked in from day one), UX patterns for dashboards, tables, side panels, modals, and error states, combined with collaborative Agile sprints with PMs and engineers.

Delivered a cohesive, testable MVP to unlock lab configuration workflows, reduced UI complexity and surface area by mapping real-world systems more intuitively, design system adopted by multiple internal teams, improved user confidence and autonomy for running highly sensitive experiments.

The software was designed within the context of synthetic biology, robotics, and instrumentation. I collaborated with teams that handle regulated processes and high-safety environments and balanced rapid iteration with auditability and scientific traceability.