Applying user-centred design in life science resources

If you are interested in making the most of your scientific website, database or software, learning how to convert user feedback into new developments is key. And putting the user at the centre was a key aspect of the redesign of Expasy, SIB’s user-friendly knowledge discovery portal for life science. In this in silico talk, Chiara Gabella and Severine Duvaud, of our Resource Usability and Support team, guide you through the steps in the redesign project that led to a 15% increase in users, and provide you with a demo of how to use Expasy. The project is presented in depth in a recent publication in the journal Nucleic Acids Research.

About the in silico talks series – The latest in bioinformatics by SIB Scientists

The in silico talks online series aims to inform bioinformaticians, life scientists and clinicians about the latest advances led by SIB Scientists on a wide range of topics in bioinformatics methods, research and resources. Stay abreast of the latest developments, get exclusive insights into recent papers, and discover how these advances might help you in your work or research, by subscribing to the in silico talks mailing list.

Speaker

Name:

Chiara Gabella & Severine Duvaud

Institute:

SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics

Chiara Gabella and Severine Duvaud co-lead the Resource and Usability Support group at SIB, managing several scientific, technical, and administrative projects, with the aim of increasing visibility, impact, and user-friendliness of SIB Resources. They are responsible for the strategy and processes to improve the User Experience (UX) design of these Resources, as well as best practices, knowledge and expertise sharing within SIB. Chiara joined SIB in 2016, after a postdoc in Biophysics. She holds a MSc in Mathematical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin and a PhD in Physics from the EPFL in Lausanne. Severine joined SIB in 2003. She holds a MSc in Computer Sciences from the National Institute of Applied Sciences of Lyon and a MSc in Biochemistry from the University of Lyon. Severine is also a Certified Professional Scrum Master. They both hold a UX Designer Diploma (cum laude) from the SAWI Design & Code school.

Video

Duration:

14 minutes 36 seconds

License:

This video is available under the creative commons license CC-BY-4.0

Reference(s)

Séverine Duvaud, Chiara Gabella, Frédérique Lisacek, Heinz Stockinger, Vassilios Ioannidis, Christine Durinx. Expasy, the Swiss Bioinformatics Resource Portal, as designed by its users, Nucleic Acids Research, 2021.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkab225