Our mission
USDMPlay exists to make one thing true for anyone in clinical research: you shouldn't need to be a data modeler to understand what USDM actually looks like. We built a free, interactive education and demonstration platform where you can upload a real USDM JSON file and immediately see it as readable tables, UML-style diagrams, and practical use cases — instead of starting from a blank UML diagram and a data dictionary.
TL;DR
USDMPlay is a free platform built by ClinCafe that lets you upload a public USDM JSON file and explore it as tables, UML views, and hands-on use cases (SDTM Trial Design, Schedule of Activities, Patient Journey mapping) — with an integrated AI chatbot to ask questions about your own study data in real time. It's designed to complement CDISC's official USDM training, not replace it.
The gap we saw
The clinical research industry is moving steadily toward end-to-end data flow automation. Initiatives like CDISC 360i and a growing number of sponsor-level digital protocol efforts all converge on the same foundation: the Unified Study Definitions Model (USDM). If your organization is thinking seriously about automating study build, Schedule of Activities generation, or SDTM Trial Design domains, USDM is very likely already part of that conversation.
But USDM's object-model structure is best visualized through UML class diagrams — not the tabular, spreadsheet-style formats most clinical and data professionals are used to working in day to day. That's a real learning curve, and it's one that official training and documentation, however thorough, can only partly close through slides and static diagrams alone. See USDM UML Tutorial for exactly the kind of gap we mean.
We kept running into the same pattern: someone completes USDM training, understands the concepts in the abstract, and then opens a real USDM JSON file for the first time — and struggles to connect what they learned to what's actually in front of them. That gap, between conceptual understanding and hands-on fluency, is exactly what USDMPlay was built to close.
What USDMPlay does
USDMPlay is a free, interactive education and demonstration platform. In practice, that means:
Upload a real USDM file
Bring your own publicly available or non-production USDM JSON file and explore it directly, rather than a generic textbook example.
See it as relational tables
The same JSON, rendered as easy-to-read tables — the format most clinical and data professionals are already comfortable navigating.
See it as UML
The same study, shown through corresponding UML-style views, so you can connect the model's formal structure to your own real data.
Work through real use cases
Hands-on exercises built around SDTM Trial Design Domains, Schedule of Activities (SoA), and Patient Journey mapping — not abstract examples, but the actual downstream use cases USDM is built to support.
Get hands-on with the API
Practical experience with USDM APIs — the JSON structures, cross-references, and query patterns real automation is built on.
Ask questions in real time
An integrated AI chatbot lets you query and explore your own uploaded study data conversationally. See AI Needs a Foundation for how and why this works.
Who it's for
USDMPlay is built for anyone who touches a clinical study's design, not just programmers: clinical scientists, medical writers, data managers, statisticians, regulatory affairs professionals, study-build specialists, solution architects, and technology vendors alike. If your role means you need to understand what USDM actually represents — even if you'll never write a line of code against it — this platform is for you. If you're earlier in your USDM journey, USDM Tutorial is a good place to start before diving into your own file.
Built by ClinCafe
USDMPlay was launched by ClinCafe in direct response to watching industry professionals complete USDM training and then still struggle to work confidently with a real USDM implementation. Our goal wasn't to create another theoretical explainer alongside the many already available — it was to build a practical, experiential complement to CDISC's ongoing training efforts: a place to actually open a file, click around, break things, and learn by doing.
Our promise
What USDMPlay is — and isn't
USDMPlay is a free, independent educational and demonstration platform. It supports USDM 4.0 and is intended exclusively for learning and exploration. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by CDISC or TransCelerate, and it is not a validated or production-ready clinical system. Please upload only public or non-production data, and independently verify any AI-generated answers or transformed output before relying on them for real work.
As the industry moves further toward automation, understanding USDM well is quickly becoming essential, not optional. Our promise is simple: we'll keep USDMPlay free, keep it grounded in real, explorable data rather than abstract theory, and keep building the most practical, hands-on path available to actually understanding this standard.
Frequently asked questions
Is USDMPlay free to use?
Yes. USDMPlay is free, built as an educational and demonstration platform — not a commercial product.
Is USDMPlay affiliated with CDISC or TransCelerate?
No. USDMPlay is an independent initiative built by ClinCafe. It's designed to complement CDISC's official USDM training and documentation, not replace or represent it. All official, normative USDM material comes from CDISC and TransCelerate directly.
What data can I upload?
Only publicly available or non-production USDM JSON files. USDMPlay is an educational and demonstration environment, not a validated system for regulated or confidential study data.
What version of USDM does the platform support?
USDM 4.0. See our other pages, like USDM Version 4.0 Explained, for what's new in that release.
Who built USDMPlay?
ClinCafe built and maintains USDMPlay as a community-facing educational initiative, in response to seeing how steep the learning curve around USDM's object model was for industry professionals outside of data standards teams.