This document summarizes a UX team's journey in designing a tool to support drug discovery researchers. The team conducted interviews and observations of researchers to understand their needs. They developed scenarios and had workshops to generate design ideas. The team implemented an iterative design process, testing ideas frequently with users. Their final tool was found to be intuitive to use and included suggested features. The document outlines lessons learned, like the need for a multidisciplinary team and dedicated time. It also discusses next steps like expanding features, onboarding new users, and addressing data and support issues.

1. A UX Journey into the…
Nikiforos Karamanis
Jennifer Cham
World of Drug Discovery
European Bioinformatics Institute
Cambridge, UK

2. www.targetvalida,on.org

3. What’s a
“Target”?!
?!

4. Effec,ve
Drug
-­‐
binds
&
affects
func,on
of
correct
gene
Drug
that
will
fail
Drug
that
will
fail
Drug
that
will
fail
Drug
that
will
fail

5. Project Goal
Support R&D scientists doing…
“Target
Validation”
✔
Successful target prioritising è
dramatic impact on drug discovery

6. Evidence
• Criminal records
• Scripts of interviews
• CCTV footage
• Phone records
• Emails
• Photos
Person
(suspect/ potential criminal)
Hatton Garden Safe
Deposit Box Theft

7. (Potential) Target
for a new drug
Disease
Scientific evidence
• Gene data
• Protein data
• Approved drugs
• Gene regulation data
• Biochemical pathways

8. Map of our UX Journey
Interviews
Observations
Scenarios
Team
Workspace
UX
Workshops
Feedback &
Testing
Beta
(Mar 2015)
Start
(Mar 2014)
Sign-off
(Oct 2014)

9. One-to-One Interviews
What we did
• Telephone or face-2-face
• Interviewer & note taker
What worked?
• Silence
• Tell me about…,Typically…
Challenges
• Domain knowledge required
• Understand detail of activities
✔ Empathy map with “ideas”
Tip

10. Observations
What we did
• Observe users working on
“Deep dives” in context
What worked?
• Witnessed complex activities
• Identified painpoints
Challenges
• No extensive documentation
• Generalise from observations
✔ Several days
✔ Review notes ASAP
✔ Combine with interviews
Tips

11. Scenarios
What we did
• 3 scenarios based on interviews,
observations & analytics
What worked?
• Input, data, actions, output
• Helped define scope
Challenges
• Supporting the scenarios
✔ Consolidate
✔ Share & discuss
Tips

13. UX Plan for Stakeholders to Approve

14. Second leg of our UX Journey
Interviews
Observation
Scenario
Analysis
Team
Workspace
UX
Workshops
Feedback &
Testing
Beta
Start
Sign-off
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔

15. Team
What we did
• Multidisciplinary
• ‘Startup-like’
What worked?
• Agile approach
• Weekly UX meeting
Challenges
• Share ideas
• Achieve consensus
✔ Emphasis on communication
✔ Acting as facilitators
Tips

16. Workspace
What we did
• Ideas & designs on the wall
• Meet & discuss there
What worked?
• Access to ideas and designs
• Shared ownership
Challenges
• Keep sight of actual users
✔ Externalise designs & ideas
✔ Use them in meetings
Tips

17. UX Workshops
(Design Studios)
What we did
• Rapid & iterative sketching
• Individual & group work
What worked?
• Bringing everyone together
• Brainstorming and sharing ideas
• Acting as facilitators
Challenges
• Data dependency
• Critique and testing
✔ Evolutionary process
✔ Prepare & plan carefully
✔ Opportunity to reflect
Tips

18. Feedback & Testing
What we did
• Tested early & iteratively
• Combined with insights from
other activities
What worked?
• Focus on one feature per sprint
• Quick email summary
Challenges
• No extensive documentation
• Small scale tests
✔ Test early
✔ Include team members
✔ Review ASAP
Tips

20. Feedback on Beta version
I like it. I have found it straightforward to
navigate around and assume it will get
better as more links are added in!
Well done, the layout is intuitive,
it was great to see things we had
suggested in the workshop on
screen!
Powerful resource, clear links and easy to
use without training, especially for a non-
bioinformatician!

21. Our UX Journey into the
World of Drug Discovery
We needed:
✔ time
✔ data
✔ dedicated multidisciplinary team
Take home messages…

22. Next destinations?
Scale-up
Onboarding,
marketing
User support,
Training
Data issues,
Q&A

23. Francis
Rowland
Samiul
Hasan
Nikiforos
Karamanis
Luca
Fumis
Jennifer
Cham
Michael
Maguire
Gau,er
Koscielny
Miguel
Pignatelli
Andrea
Pierleoni
Ian
Dunham
Jessica
Vamathevan
Team

24. Thanks to…
• Our design and testing participants
• Xavier Watkins, Sangya Pundir and Michele Ide-Smith
• BrenVaughan (our line manager)
• Ewan Birney & CTTV Leadership team
• Holly Foster for day-to-day help
Questions?
niki@ebi.ac.uk
jcham@ebi.ac.uk

25. References
UX
• A Survival Guide for Complex UX [slideshare talk]
• Designing with the user in mind: how user-centred design (UCD) can work for
bioinformatics [slideshare talk]
Drug discovery
• Nat. Chem. Biol. 7, 335-339 (2011)
• Nature Rev. Drug Disc. 3:673 (2004)
• Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 12, 569 (2013)
• Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 9: 203 (2010)

26. Images from…
• Pixabay
• Flickr (Creative commons licensed)
• Created our own