From Blueprint to Buildout: Setting the Stage for LabCentral’s Web Presence

Strategy, UX/UI, Design Direction & Mentorship

LabCentral is a launchpad for high-potential life sciences and biotech startups, offering premium lab facilities and a thriving innovation ecosystem. Their team needed a website that better reflected the organization’s energy, diversity, and credibility—while handling large volumes of dynamic content with clarity and accessibility.

I was brought in by an agency to lead the strategic and creative direction of the initial web experience. My role also included mentoring and overseeing a junior designer from the agency team, who would later take the reins in expanding the design system and completing the additional pages.

WHAT I DELIVERED

Sitemap & User Flow

  • Developed to simplify and streamline navigation for key user types, including researchers, partners, and potential tenants.

Wireframes

  • Created for key templates, focusing on flexible content blocks that could handle varied content lengths, future-proofed for growth.

UI Style Guide

A comprehensive guide with reusable content blocks and design tokens to help the in-house and agency team maintain consistency across the site.

Client-Facing Design Rationale

Crafted and presented a detailed rationale to communicate the thinking behind layout, typography, brand expression, accessibility choices, and scalability. This ensured alignment with LabCentral’s vision and helped secure stakeholder buy-in.

  • Brand Personality
    The visual direction blends clarity and color, embodying LabCentral’s innovative, inclusive, and energetic culture.

  • Modular Flexibility
    With a focus on scalable components, the homepage design set the tone for a flexible system that could grow with the organization.

  • Graphic Elements
    Subtle use of brand patterns and design motifs adds movement and depth without overpowering the content.

  • Accessibility First
    ADA compliance was baked into every design decision—from high-contrast text and legible type hierarchy to considered use of color on mobile.

  • Mentorship & Handoff
    As part of the collaboration with the agency, I provided design direction and mentorship to a junior team member who was new to web design. I guided them through best practices in responsive layout, accessibility, and component-based UI design. My deliverables—including the homepage design and UI style guide—served as a blueprint for the full site buildout and helped establish a scalable, sustainable design system the team could confidently carry forward.

In Collaboration with: Sunnybyte