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Sphinx Bio
Company Size
1-10
Headquarters
San Francisco, California, USA
Industry
SaaS, BioTech, Machine Learning
A centralized platform for data ingestion and analysis that makes it easier and faster for scientists to analyze their own data.
Services we provided
Messaging research
Website structure and copywriting
Brand exploration and art direction
Website and landing page design
Webflow website development
Challenge
Old, outdated site: Sphinx's initial website, a quick setup by the founder, couldn't handle their sales surge.
Low-awareness audience: With a fairly new category of product, most of their visitors did not understand and were not sold on what Sphinx did or who they served.
Need to convince value: The website needed to convince an expert audience that Sphinx offered unique value, and would fit into their existing tool stack.
Solution
After a ton of research—we wrote, designed, and built a website that:
Put the spotlight on the problems Sphinx solves: This helped visitors see how Sphinx
Showcased diverse use cases and personas: This way visitors could see themselves using Sphinx, no matter their role in the lab.
Has a narrative flow: This guides visitors through the entire website with intuitive navigation and clean, beautiful and professional design.
Results
A professional-looking website with loads of personality and a scalable structure that doesn’t need to be revamped every 6 months.
“It was one of the better consulting relationships we had. I liked the async style of working and felt like the team was fairly responsive (even with the timezone differences).”
Sphinx Bio is a data platform designed specifically for biotech scientists. It streamlines the process of ingesting, analyzing, and visualizing experimental data, eliminating the need for manual entry or custom coding.
By automating these workflows, Sphinx Bio enables scientists to focus on their experiments while the platform manages the data.
When Sphinx Bio first launched, their website wasn’t winning any best design awards—or converting leads.
their founder admitted.
And placeholders are fine…until your sales team starts fielding the same questions over and over:
“What exactly does your product do?”
“How is this better than what we already use?”
“Is it built for biotech, or just generic software?”
These were questions any good SaaS site should’ve answered.
But the lack of clarity on their website was costing Sphinx Bio potential leads—and credibility.
The team knew it was time to upgrade from a placeholder to
So, they started searching for the right partner to bring their vision to life.
Sphinx Bio made their goals for the new website very clear to us:
Educating visitors on the data analysis headaches Sphinx solves, building a strong foundation for value recognition.
Showcasing Sphinx’s actual product within a narrative flow, addressing user pain points and highlighting major outcomes.
Attracting qualified prospects with content tailored for the ICP and secondary personas.
Researching for precise messaging
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Sphinx Bio’s old messaging was too direct and blindsided prospects who came in without an established understanding of the product.
We conducted a detailed review of Sphinx's materials, interviewed the team, and dove into the competitive landscape to understand key positioning opportunities.
This foundational research informed the creation of persona-driven content and use case pages that connected with every major stakeholder—scientists, ML engineers, and informatics teams—resulting in a clearer, more targeted value proposition.
Creating an engaging hook
A headline needs to do more than inform—it must intrigue and convey immediate relevance.
Problem: Sphinx’s initial messaging was too matter-of-fact and generic, missing the broader transformative potential of the product.
Solution: We collaborated with Sphinx’s founder to integrate the forward-looking term “software-defined biology” into the hero section, capturing the platform’s role in revolutionizing biotech workflows.
Impact: The new headline and subhead provided an aspirational yet grounded narrative that resonated with prospects making them stay longer on the page.
Addressing low visitor awareness
Prospects won’t look for a solution they don’t know exists. Highlighting the pain points of traditional methods helps create urgency.
Problem: Many visitors weren’t aware that an end-to-end solution like Sphinx existed. They were stuck with piecemeal tools or resource-heavy in-house systems.
Solution: We crafted a problem-focused narrative that educated users on inefficiencies in their current workflows and contrasted these with Sphinx's advantages. We also added a comparison table to visually showcase the difference between using multiple piecemeal tools and Sphinx Bio.
Impact: Our approach clarified the gaps in current tools and positioned Sphinx as the ultimate solution. This helped create the need for a end-to-end tool for the low awareness visitors.
Crafting a clear narrative
Features only make sense when they’re contextualized within a story of how they solve real problems.
Problem: The old site was bogged down with technical jargon, offering little clarity on the platform's capabilities or their relevance.
Solution: We structured the homepage into concise sections, introducing Sphinx’s features (Datasets, Notebooks, Entities, Annotations) as part of a holistic problem-solution workflow. We also simplified complex details into relatable use cases for quick comprehension.
Impact: This new narrative helped user understanding and confidence and made the page more approachable.
Building persona-driven use cases page
Decision-makers need to see themselves in the product before they’ll invest in it.
Problem: Sphinx’s old site didn’t address the distinct pain points of its varied user base, leaving key stakeholders disengaged.
Solution: We created dedicated use cases page tailored to scientists, ML engineers, and informatics teams, each highlighting how Sphinx streamlines their workflows and reduces bottlenecks.
Impact: This personalization approach led to a significant increase in engagement with secondary pages and broadened the appeal of the product across multiple buyer personas.
Overcoming hesitation with integrations
Resistance to change is high when users fear losing compatibility with existing systems.
Problem: Prospects worried that adopting Sphinx would render their existing tools and data obsolete.
Solution: We added a dedicated integrations section, clearly outlining how Sphinx works seamlessly with existing tools and processes.
Impact: By addressing this common concern, we reduced friction in the buyer journey, contributing to a smoother sales process and increased trust in the platform.
Aligning the tone with the brand
Scientific audiences value clarity and credibility over flashy claims.
Problem: The old site’s tone didn’t resonate with scientists, leaning too salesy and jargon-heavy.
Solution: We rewrote the copy to be simple, factual, and persuasive, organizing it into logical, easy-to-follow sections.
Impact: The tone shift made the website more relatable and trustworthy, which decreased bounce rates.
Connecting the brand with the prospects
In a crowded market, the why behind a product matters as much as the what.
Problem: Sphinx lacked a compelling narrative about its mission and the gaps it aims to fill in the biotech space.
Solution: We used the about page to tell the story behind Sphinx—its origins, values, and vision—while addressing potential employees as well as customers.
Impact: This helped build emotional resonance with visitors, enhancing brand perception and positioning Sphinx as a thought leader in its space.
Development
Revamping Sphinx’s website was a challenging but rewarding project. Here’s what we tackled:
Following our standard process, we developed a comprehensive style guide, enabling the Sphinx Bio team to easily manage and update their website independently. This approach also ensured a smooth handover, which the team greatly appreciated.
In keeping with the theme of scientific precision and efficiency, we designed a streamlined, user-friendly interface with a clear and intuitive navigation bar.
A distinctive aspect of this project was the integration of step-by-step guides and well-defined CTAs, enhancing the site’s engagement and level of detail.
While the overall look remains professional and serious, the emphasis on clarity and ease of use truly reflects the company’s ethos.
Given the extensive features and functionalities incorporated into the design, thorough testing and optimization were crucial before the hand-off.
We conducted extensive testing across all major browsers to ensure optimal performance, loading speed, and real-time functionality, considering all the dynamic elements we implemented.
When the new site launched, the feedback was immediate—and glowing. “Had a number of people go out of their way to comment that they liked the design of our new website.” the founder said. But more importantly, the site delivered on its mission:
Clarity
Visitors now instantly understand what Sphinx Bio does and why it’s a game-changer for biotech.
Credibility
The sleek, professional design reflects the sophistication of the product itself.
Leads
While they didn’t track metrics before, the team noticed an uptick in higher-quality leads post-launch.
417%
82%
207%
230%
125%
122%
74%
60%
60%
158%
25%