Flexible Flow Encompassing Diverse Use Cases
Users can publish a study alone or with supporting material(s).
Enable Medicine recently launched Atlas Library, a public database of scientific findings. Previously, scientists submitted study publication requests through an external form, with engineering manually handling data entry and publishing. My task was to design a flow enabling researchers to independently share studies containing scientific insights.
Citations are critical to reference work and acknowledge contributors. Publication citations (manuscript, conference presentation) always take priority.
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Forms can be tedious, but leveraging auto-filling fields aims to streamline user input, making the process smoother and less burdensome.
A large motivation for publishing work is for it to be discovered by others. Keywords are associated with each study to aid in quick and relevant search results.
Previously, the company primarily focused on tools for biological data analysis. This new publishing flow represents a pivotal step in broadening the platform's scope to include data publishing and sharing among scientists, enabling them to leverage each other's work for accelerated scientific insights.
Empowering users to autonomously publish their studies on the platform boosts efficiency and productivity for both scientists and engineers.
Initial User Requirements
We want to provide users with a clear understanding of what it means to publish on the platform.
We want to keep the publishing flow straightforward to minimize the barrier from completing the task.
1. Publish study data (share raw data and analysis insights)
2. Publish study with conference presentation (used to present research to field experts)
3. Publish study with manuscript (a scientific paper communicating methodology and obtained results)
Insights from interviews helped shape solutions. I also reached out to engineering to evaluate solution feasibility and adjusted as necessary to fit constraints.
Solution:
Treat study details as a required base, establish an optional step for attaching supporting materials.
How can we prioritize publication citations while addressing scenarios where no publications are included?
Solution:
Implement a dedicated citation step, requiring a study citation only in the absence of other citations.
The citation step comes after adding extra materials, allowing the system to verify existing citations from related publications. If none are found, a study citation is optional; otherwise, it's required.
How might we streamline the information input process?
Initial Solution:
Utilize DOI numbers to access information for auto populating input fields.
Resource Constraint:
While technically feasible, the information DOI numbers are linked to have varied formats which posed parsing challenges.
Revised Solution:
Explore less resource intensive methods such as auto populating fields using existing study information.
How might we allow users to control what study content is published?
Initial Solution:
Enable toggling of study content for publication.
Enable selection of analysis runs to be published.
Feasibility Constraint:
Code structure doesn't support selective publishing of study contents.
Revised Solution:
To address this, as users are introduced to publishing, we’ll emphasize that all study content will be visible and recommend archiving undesired analysis runs beforehand.
After formulating solutions based on research and constraint considerations, I delved into the design phase. Once I had mid-fidelity mockups, I proceeded to usability testing. I found testing before refining visual design allowed me to incorporate feedback more efficiently.
Publishing FYI’s help orient the user by providing context around what it means to publish a study and steps they should take to provide the ideal viewer experience.
Before and After (revisions highlighted in yellow)
Required step for users to enter information pertaining to their study.
Before and After (revisions highlighted in yellow)
Optional step where users can attach supporting materials to their study.
Before and After (changes highlighted in yellow)
This step allows users to review and add citations. If they have no citations at this point, a study citation will be required.
Before and After (revisions highlighted in yellow)
This step serves as a dedicated space for users to confirm information that will become publicly viewable.
Before and After (revisions highlighted in yellow)
