Vicarious Surgical
A surgical robot that uses VR and 3D screen technology to look and move around the patient’s abdomen
MY ROLE: sole UI/UX designer, defined systems requirements and architecture, supervised design intern
Pre-FDA Approval and NDAs
Sorry most of the work I completed at Vicarious is very heavily NDA’d due to not being released or used in live procedures so I'll be illustrating these in a way that will hopefully not give you enough information to steal any company ideas 💖
IDEATING AND PROTOTYPING
I created the first set of Unity prototypes to test design ideas that would eventually lead to a patent filing for new ways of controlling a surgical robot inside of a human body
Leading Digital Design
I collaborated with a large cross functional team (software and hardware engineers, human factors, industrial design, clinical, regulatory)to define system requirements for FDA documentation, as well as design all digital components of the system--from VR to 3D screens to 2D displays, as well as leading the UX to determine how they all interacted.
Leadership
I managed the first design internship, taking on a UI/UX intern who was eventually hired on in a design capacity. I put together the job description, designed a short (1 hr) design challenge, and conducted all interviews.
Learnings
- FDA compliance is hard 😢
- Always listen to the other departments--they’re trying to make your life easier in the long run
- Regulatory requirements make it hard to iterate as quickly as I’d like to work but they are there to