Co-designing scientific software: Hackathons for participatory interface design

Andrea K. Thomer, Michael B. Twidale, Jinlong Guo, Matthew J. Yoder

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Taxonomy is the branch of biology concerned with classifying organisms. Taxonomic work entails a range of complex human-computer and human-information interactions, which are under-supported by current software environments, partially because taxonomic software is largely built through ad hoc collaborations by taxonomists themselves. This results in poor user experience and difficult-to-use tools. Here we describe an interface design Hackathon held as part of the NSF-funded Transforming Taxonomic Interfaces project. We brought taxonomists, software developers, and information scientists together to rapidly prototype new interfaces. Taxonomists quickly took to paper prototyping, and produced a number of promising designs. Emergent themes and findings relevant to the HCI community are described herein.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationCHI EA 2016
Subtitle of host publication#chi4good - Extended Abstracts, 34th Annual CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Pages3219-3226
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9781450340823
DOIs
StatePublished - May 7 2016
Event34th Annual CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI EA 2016 - San Jose, United States
Duration: May 7 2016May 12 2016

Publication series

NameConference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings
Volume07-12-May-2016

Other

Other34th Annual CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI EA 2016
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Jose
Period5/7/165/12/16

Keywords

  • Biodiversity informatics
  • Hackathons
  • Information interaction
  • Interface design
  • Participatory design
  • Rapid ethnography
  • Rapid prototyping
  • Taxonomy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Software
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design

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