Accelerating scientific progress through digital innovation

In alignment with Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) goals, we helped steer the product direction, providing technical decision-making support based on their specific requirements. 

We curated a cross-functional team with expertise spanning product design, product ownership, strategy, product management, and UX/UI to focus on determining the optimal solution to deliver the best value to ASAP and create the right impact on the scientific community.

We conducted investigative interviews with key stakeholders in the grant programme to understand their vision and expectations while taking inventory of ASAP’s existing tools and products. 

What we set out to build revolved around ASAP’s desire to create a safe and secure system that would bolster ASAP’s core principles:

• Support collaboration 
• Generation resources
• Share data
• Accelerate discovery
• Promote “Open Science”

With these considerations in mind, we identified the range of tools utilised daily by scientists in their workflow and noticed that the scientific community was overloaded with information and lacked attention and resources concerning a functional, user-centred, and visually pleasing product to support them in their work. We also observed that some of the legacy tools that researchers utilised to interact within the digital environment were not always technically robust or sophisticated, further clarifying the areas where we could deliver significant value. 

Feedback-driven user sentiment

We spoke to many scientific researchers to understand their work approach, administrative challenges, and sentiment towards the “Open Science” policies that the ASAP initiative is built upon.

We received responses indicating that most scientists had reservations about the safety and security of their research, particularly regarding the use of digital tools for daily communication and collaboration.

With safety and security being one of ASAP’s main priorities, we were determined to establish a deep level of trust amongst members of ASAP’s scientific community who are utilising the platform. To establish this trust, we actively engaged with scientists in the digital space, allowing them to see firsthand how their research content was protected from unauthorised access. This experience brought out a more positive outlook on digital methods and sharing research information throughout their research journeys. 

Subsequently, our team began developing the foundational features of the digital product, which gradually evolved into the platform called the “CRN (Collaborative Research Network) Hub”. 

User research and user testing

Our team gathered user feedback from ASAP’s key stakeholders and a scientific research user group to understand their perspectives and how they would interact with the product we were designing. 

We facilitated user interviews and user testing that significantly helped us make iterative improvements to the product. These processes helped us identify common themes from the feedback provided by scientists. We determined specific expectations, behaviours, and pain points that allowed us to focus on enhancing functionalities to better meet the users’ needs.

By taking a comprehensive approach, our team developed a platform that aligned with the expectations of active users within the scientific community which effectively fulfilled their needs. 

Some of the common themes we identified: 

• Giving credit: Historically, credit is given to scientists through published articles. Through the Hub platform, members receive credit for all of the research outputs that they are associated with, including manuscripts, code, datasets, lab materials, and protocols. 
• Linking related research outputs: Research outputs are connected. The datasets, code, lab materials, protocols, and articles, generated by scientists build upon each other to tell a story of how the work was done and the findings that came of that work. The Hub allows users to link collections of outputs to highlight how they are connected.  
• Enhancing interaction & knowledge sharing: Breaking down scientific siloes requires researchers to interact with each other and share their work. One major component of the Hub allows researchers to access live virtual events. In addition, users who are unable to attend an event live can remain engaged through accessing recordings of past events. 
• Improving workflow efficiency: ASAP views the Hub as a source of truth. Using that philosophy, we have assisted ASAP by automating workflows that rely on information from the Hub, such as creating an interface that allows public, ASAP-funded outputs listed on the Hub to appear on ASAP’s external catalogue. 

Design roadmap

The design roadmap provided the preliminary framework for the engineering phase. It ensured our team had enough time to develop every CRN Hub feature, covering user research, ideation, and key wireframing. We also allotted time for collaborative discussions between ASAP and YLD before making decisions, which paved the way for the high-fidelity design and engineering handover phases. Ultimately, the design roadmap made the entire process seamless from design to development. 

Embracing open source 

ASAP emphasised the importance of preserving the CRN platform’s usability and UI throughout its open source iterations, particularly for any subsequent platforms. To ensure a smooth transition and minimise the learning curve for active users, any new platform built will retain the same look and feel. We prioritised the use of open-source tools, keeping the codebase openly available on GitHub. Embracing open source is important to ASAP and YLD as it aligns with the "Open Science" movement which cultivates a more collaborative and transparent approach to scientific research.

Selecting the right tools 

We further aligned with ASAP’s vision of promoting collaboration within the scientific community by expanding the capabilities of the CRN Hub. 

Our team facilitated the development of modular and reusable code by utilising React, Node, and Serverless. This streamlined development processes and enhanced the platform’s maintainability and scalability. These technical decisions proved cost-efficient in dynamically managing fluctuating workloads.

ASAP also stressed the significant need to boost engagement within the platform. To achieve this, we enhanced the search functionality with Algolia to improve search capabilities and integrate feedback metrics into the Hub. Additionally, our team created personalised user profiles to significantly boost user engagement.

Building for scale: introducing a second platform

Following the successful launch of the CRN Hub and its adoption by the scientific community, ASAP needed another platform that was similar in structure to cater to a different group of global researchers engaged with the Global Parkinson’s Genetics Program (GP2).

Our team gathered feedback from key stakeholders again to grasp the specific product requirements and technical expectations which set a strong foundation for its development. The second platform, the GP2 Hub, took after the CRN Hub but with some of its own unique features and functions.

We reused the elements of the CRN Hub as much as possible, particularly with the UI design. Despite the two platforms serving slightly different users with distinct branding, it was clear to us that creating a cohesive and scalable design language through the implementation of a robust Design System was essential.

Design System

After building the second platform, ASAP used both platforms, each integrating the same foundational UI and UX elements. Introducing a combined UI component library was a logical step, evolving into an ASAP-specific Design System that supported future product iterations.

We offered guidance and direction on critical design principles which included typography, colour, layout, accessibility, branding, and iconography. This helped designers and developers express ASAP's brand and maintain consistency across products.

We ensured the styles were consistently applied across component sets to create a cohesive design language that constantly resonated with ASAP's products' distinct look and feel.

The styles we created not only ensured a consistent design but also met the platform expectations of users on iOS, Android, and web. We maintained ASAP’s unique identity while delivering a seamless user experience that aligns with the brand.

Efficient CMS identification and migration

As both platforms grew with more users and features, ASAP and YLD transitioned away from the old CMS to a more robust alternative because the tool that was originally being used was not enterprise-ready. 

After diligently researching the best alternative tool to meet ASAP’s needs, we migrated to the new CMS tool in a way that ensured minimal downtime and disruptions. Throughout the migration process, our priority was to maintain ASAP’s daily workflow seamlessly and achieve a smooth transition through the following best practices:

• Implementing an obstruction layer in the code helped us isolate the data layer, making the transition smoother and more incremental.
• Gradually rolling out new features through incremental feature flagging, which enabled smooth adoption by end-users. 
• Crafting and continuously refining our migration scripts, ensuring a seamless data sync between the old and new CMS platforms throughout the migration process.