Making Tools that People Will Use: User-Centered Design in Computational Biology Research

Abstract

User-Centered Design (UCD) focuses on deeply understanding the needs of users and ensuring these needs are met by tools and software. UCD methodology aims to make tools easier to use, reduce time spent in development and the need for user support, as well as make it easier to create and maintain documentation. The goal of UCD is to ultimately make a tool that meets user needs and is a pleasure to use. This workshop will give an overview of UCD and several examples of how UCD practices are already being used at several institutions. Attendees will leave with ideas of how to incorporate UCD into their tool development as well as general resources to get started.

Citation

M Goldman and N Gehlenborg. “Making Tools that People Will Use: User-Centered Design in Computational Biology Research”, Biocomputing 2021 (2020). doi:10.1142/9789811232701_0034