Breaking the Grid: The Rise of Web Anti-Design in Life Sciences

In recent years, life sciences organizations have made significant investments in their digital experience design. Many have focused on upgrading and implementing Design Systems to enhance consistency, functionality, and scalability. While these structured approaches have streamlined experiences for HCPs and patients, they’ve also introduced a level of predictability. As a result, a critical question arises: Has the push for standardization come at the cost of engagement?

As expectations rise, HCPs and patients now demand the same level of personalization, interactivity, and seamless design from life sciences websites that they encounter on e-commerce, social media, and financial services platforms.

To meet these expectations, organizations are now experimenting with a bold new approach: anti-design—a movement that challenges the rigidity of conventional design systems to create more engaging, human-centered digital experiences.

The Backbone of Conventional Design Systems

At the heart of conventional design systems lies the responsive grid layout, typically a 12-column structure that organizes a page into defined sections. Content authors or website builders use this grid to arrange components, which are pre-designed visual blocks that offer specific functionalities. For example, text blocks, image galleries, or call-to-action buttons. These components snap neatly into the grid, ensuring a polished and consistent look across pages.

This structured methodology offers several advantages

However, this rigidity in life sciences technology often stifles creativity. Designers and agencies on record (AORs) are constrained by the boundaries of templates and grids, limiting their ability to deliver unique, engaging digital experiences. This is where anti-design makes its case for sustainable web design.

What Is Anti-Design?

Anti-design deliberately breaks away from traditional web design rules to create bold, innovative, and sometimes disruptive user experiences. While it may sound rebellious, it’s not about ignoring established principles but rethinking them to promote innovation. Anti-design’s goal is to capture attention and engage users in unconventional ways.

Examples of Anti-Design Elements

More than just a visual statement, anti-design helps humanize digital platforms and make complex information more digestible. This is done through heightened user experience (UX) designs, unconventional layouts, immersive storytelling, and interactive elements, that help create experiences that feel more intuitive and personalized for users.

How Anti-Design Stands Apart

Anti-design stands apart by prioritizing creativity over uniformity. While conventional design often emphasizes consistency and structured aesthetics, anti-design focuses on uniqueness and context-specific visuals that defy traditional norms. This approach values individuality and expression, allowing for designs that break away from conventional rules. Another defining characteristic of anti-design is its embrace of deliberate imperfection. Rather than striving for flawless, polished compositions, it welcomes "flaws" such as uneven grids or chaotic layouts, using these elements to evoke emotion and engage the viewer in a deeper, more personal way.

How Life Sciences Websites Are Embracing Anti-Design

Anti-design is an opportunity to surprise and delight HCPs and patients, breaking the monotony of templated portals.

Statistics back this UX trend. According to Business Research Insights, the size of the worldwide user interface (UI) market reached almost $2.43 billion in 2024, and it is expected to surpass $7.43 billion by 2032, exhibiting a CAGR of 15.01%. Additionally, web users prefer websites that look attractive and up to date, emphasizing the importance of well-organized user interface and user experience designs in driving business success.

However, anti-design isn't a replacement for structured design systems—it's an enhancement. It works best for:

Examples of Anti-Design in Life Sciences Websites

Indegene advocates for bold digital experiences in life sciences, and this is exemplified by the Tezspire website. Developed by Indegene, this site breaks away from conventional pharma web design with large, colorful background images, oversized fonts, and interactive questionnaires, creating a highly engaging and patient-centric journey.

Furthermore, the industry is also embracing anti-design principles to stand out. BioAge Labs, for instance, takes a minimalist approach, stripping away excess content and using sparse text and visuals to create a clean, focused experience. Meanwhile, Sensei Bio challenges traditional navigation by placing its menu on the left-hand side rather than the usual top bar—an unconventional choice that maximizes screen real estate and improves accessibility.

The Future of Anti-Design in Life Sciences

As life sciences organizations explore more engaging digital experiences, they need the right infrastructure to support creativity. If existing CMS platforms or design systems impose limitations, providing alternate “playground” platforms can help companies experiment freely without disrupting the broader infrastructure.

For example, a hybrid approach could involve

At Indegene, we’ve seen a clear shift as life sciences brands move toward unconventional, non-traditional design approaches—particularly anti-design. Even if the term isn’t used explicitly, they are increasingly drawing inspiration from experimental design trends in media and retail.

With the right approach, anti-design will move from the fringes into the mainstream. We will expect to see multiple new websites embracing these principles this year. Having partnered with leading life sciences companies to reimagine their digital experiences, we recognize that standing out in a crowded digital presence requires bold, innovative design choices that go beyond industry norms.

Talk to us to learn more.