Skyportal, a web platform that organizes data for astronomers
Role
Project Lead
Timeline
October to December 2023
Team
3 Designers,
3 Developers
Tools & Skills
Figma, UXR, UI Design, Management
Background
Streamlining research data organization
Skyportal is a website where researchers analyze astronomy datasets collected from the Zwicky Transient Facility.
We were tasked to restructure the Candidate page which allows researchers to scan through a database of stars that appear on certain dates. I was also in charge as project lead of my team with the design timeline and initiating meetings with developers.
Research & Findings
Searching for data on Skyportal was too time-consuming
Our research first involved 34 surveys and 8 user interviews with astronomy researchers to identify usage habits and pain-points. Our interviews involved usability testing, where we noticed researchers spent majority of the time searching for filters and frequently had to navigate around the collapsing subtabs.
Majority of researchers visited the Candidates pages daily, but many felt frustrated with filtering information, describing the process as “slow” and “chaotic", however, researchers still relied on the platform daily.
Goals
How might we streamline filtering for a candidate?
To address the issue of slow and unintuitive navigation, the key goals for our initial designs were to:
Reduce the time needed to set up filters for a candidate.
Minimize interaction inputs required to access specific tabs.
Improve clarity of inputted filters for user review and adjustments.
Wireframing
Simplifying the interface into a grid layout
We eventually settled on a grid layout that groups features into sections to simplify inputting and data tracking.
Final Designs
The Updated Candidates Experience
Reflection
Takeaways
Skyportal's focused scope gave me the opportunity to refine its experience and develop a deeper understanding of astronomy data, something well beyond my initial comfort zone.
Conducting usability testing with our redesign revealed great improvements, with users filtered candidates 19% faster and a 27% increase in user satisfaction!
We hope to see our design goals of efficient trackability onto Skyportal's other pages to create a cohesive user flow.