Medilims - a next-generation laboratory information management system built from scratch for small to medium private labs in UAE and UK, optimized for speed and simplicity in histology workflows
Small private labs in UAE and UK (5-30 employees) were trapped between expensive enterprise LIMS solutions (Epic Beaker at $80K+ annually) and legacy systems requiring manual Excel tracking. Labs were experiencing 12-15% error rates in sample processing, failing regulatory audits, and losing $3K-6K monthly due to sample mix-ups and delayed reporting. The market gap was clear: no affordable, compliant solution existed for labs processing 200-1,000 samples monthly.
Leading a 5-person team, I conducted ethnographic research through 18 on-site lab visits and contextual inquiries with 25+ lab managers across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, London, and Manchester. Key discovery: 85% of workflows were standardized (sample accessioning, tracking, basic reporting), but labs spent 60% of their software budget on customization they rarely used. The insight: build for the common 85%, make the remaining 15% configurable, not custom.
Leading a cross-functional team of 5 (1 head developer, 2 frontend engineers, 1 QA, 1 designer), I split my time 60% product strategy/user research, 40% hands-on development of critical UI components. My biggest technical decision: choosing progressive web app architecture over native mobile, enabling offline sample tracking crucial for labs with poor connectivity. Customer acquisition strategy emerged from attending the Lab Innovations Birmingham conference, where I identified that 70% of target labs were members of IBMS (UK) and EMLAB (UAE) associations - leading to partnership deals that reduced our CAC from $120 to $45.
Generated $240K ARR with 12 customers (8 UAE, 4 UK) representing 68% user activation. Reduced customer sample processing errors from 15% to 2% industry-leading rate. Achieved 4.7/5 CSAT score and 67 NPS through quarterly user feedback surveys. Team delivered 23 features across 8 months with 95% sprint completion rate. Product-market fit validated through 40% month-over-month growth in Q4 and 6 unsolicited customer referrals.
Medilims - a next-generation laboratory information management system built from scratch for small to medium private labs in UAE and UK, optimized for speed and simplicity in histology workflows
Small private labs in UAE and UK (5-30 employees) were trapped between expensive enterprise LIMS solutions (Epic Beaker at $80K+ annually) and legacy systems requiring manual Excel tracking. Labs were experiencing 12-15% error rates in sample processing, failing regulatory audits, and losing $3K-6K monthly due to sample mix-ups and delayed reporting. The market gap was clear: no affordable, compliant solution existed for labs processing 200-1,000 samples monthly.
Leading a 5-person team, I conducted ethnographic research through 18 on-site lab visits and contextual inquiries with 25+ lab managers across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, London, and Manchester. Key discovery: 85% of workflows were standardized (sample accessioning, tracking, basic reporting), but labs spent 60% of their software budget on customization they rarely used. The insight: build for the common 85%, make the remaining 15% configurable, not custom.
Leading a cross-functional team of 5 (1 head developer, 2 frontend engineers, 1 QA, 1 designer), I split my time 60% product strategy/user research, 40% hands-on development of critical UI components. My biggest technical decision: choosing progressive web app architecture over native mobile, enabling offline sample tracking crucial for labs with poor connectivity. Customer acquisition strategy emerged from attending the Lab Innovations Birmingham conference, where I identified that 70% of target labs were members of IBMS (UK) and EMLAB (UAE) associations - leading to partnership deals that reduced our CAC from $120 to $45.
Generated $240K ARR with 12 customers (8 UAE, 4 UK) representing 68% user activation. Reduced customer sample processing errors from 15% to 2% industry-leading rate. Achieved 4.7/5 CSAT score and 67 NPS through quarterly user feedback surveys. Team delivered 23 features across 8 months with 95% sprint completion rate. Product-market fit validated through 40% month-over-month growth in Q4 and 6 unsolicited customer referrals.