The Problem
Panda Perio, an international dental software company, needed their product restructured and redesigned. The existing software had real usability problems that were limiting scalability but the users were specialised and resistant to change. The challenge wasn't just to redesign it, but to do so in a way that felt like an upgrade, not a disruption.
My Contribution
Led end-to-end UX research including usability testing of the existing product, competitor analysis, and in-depth user interviews with dental professionals
Identified a key strategic insight: the software had significant untapped market potential, but only if feature updates were introduced gradually rather than all at once
Produced a desirability report documenting user feedback and translating it into prioritised, actionable design decisions
Designed and tested iterative prototypes, gathering feedback at each stage to validate direction before moving forward
Developed a step by step roadmap to manage user adoption risk with constant alignment with the team and the stakeholders
The Outcome
Research and prototype validated with 6 dental professionals, findings were strong enough that the client gave go ahead to further work on the project
Competitive analysis revealed a clear market gap: most dental software in the industry is technically outdated, and the few modern alternatives were too resource-heavy to run smoothly on clinic hardware giving Panda Perio a genuine opening to own the middle ground
Phased rollout strategy was a turning point for the dev team, who had been overwhelmed by the scope of a full redesign before the project was restructured — breaking it into manageable stages unblocked the entire team
My Takeaways
Designing for a niche professional audience taught me that domain expertise matters as much as design expertise. Users who've worked a certain way for years don't want revolution, they want evolution. Knowing when not to redesign something is just as valuable a skill as knowing when to. This project also sharpened my ability to turn research into a strategic roadmap, not just a list of feature fixes.
