NASA LaRC SmartLab
Project Overview
The SmartLab is a proprietary data management software suite envisioned to improve laboratory research efficiency at the Langley Research Center (LaRC) by reducing time spent on collecting, managing, and organizing data.
Primary Role: UX Designer
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Contents:
1. Research Discovery
2. Visualizing Solutions
3. Presenting Design Thought
4. Side Project - Internal Purchases Request Tool Redesign
1. Research Discovery
2. Visualizing Solutions
3. Presenting Design Thought
4. Side Project - Internal Purchases Request Tool Redesign
1. Research Discovery
I was presented with a project that was no more than an idea at the time. My primary objective was to come up with a potential UI for what was referred to as the "local client," or, the means by which data was to be collected into the SmartLab server.
However, with little to no context for how SmartLab would fit into the Langley Research Center setting, I first set on researching and framing my problem in order to have a more focused approach to the design.
I first conducted a heuristic analysis on the "web application," another aspect of the SmartLab system that was further along in development, which allowed me to get more familiar with the system as a whole. For the local client, given my limited timeframe and access to first-person research, I first conducted a short literature review on the research lab process and the use of ELNs (electronic lab notebooks). I was eventually given the opportunity to reach out to a handful of LaRC researchers, which allowed me to conduct semi-structured interviews to better understand their data collection processes and how it might translate into the design of the local client.
2. Visualizing Solutions
After defining my main problem statement, I went through an iterative process of visualizing solutions using methods like storyboarding, sketching, wireframing, and creating diagrams such as flowcharts. This also allowed for a more collaborative design process where feedback was crucial to each iteration.
3. Presenting Design Thought
I presented designs mainly through UI annotations in the form of polished reports and presentations, as that was the method of communication that the team was most familiar with and preferred. Each annotation was able to call out specific features of the design and provide more detailed explanations.
I also created an interactive, clickable prototype using Figma to more clearly demonstrate some of the interactions as well as the overall UI navigation experience (recording below).
4. Side Project - Internal Purchases Request Tool Redesign
One of my supervisors reached out about helping out on a side project for Langley's SAMTOOLS website, an internal search tool designed to help LaRC employees better employ their expense request system by making the federal policy compliance process more transparent and simpler to understand.
The expectation was "quick" UI suggestions based on what the engineers had already developed on their own. I asked several questions within a 2-hour conversation to try to get as much context for the site as possible including typical pain points and the overall purpose of the site. Finally, knowing that there would be little priority on coding custom UI elements, I asked if they used an existing framework (they did: Fomantic-UI), which I used as a reference for screen proportions (to ensure a responsive site), UI elements (e.g. buttons, input fields), and overall visual design (e.g. colors, typography)
The greatest opportunity I saw for SAMTOOLS was creating the site not just to be a tool, but as a learning resource for people to better understand the compliance process and WHY they could or couldn't download certain assets (e.g. adding a glossary to explain various compliance states), which could help prevent typical mistakes people tend to make later down the process (e.g. using the wrong form, inputting the wrong information, etc.).
After presenting a first version of the UI, the greatest feedback for further iteration was on how the search results should be formatted, to incorporate additional functions and more status indicators (e.g. registration expiration dates).
Update March 2023: This project was awarded the Silver Group Achievement Award by NASA in March 2023 "For exceptional technology achievement and implementation of the System for Award
Management 889 Compliance Tool streamlining credit card purchasing across NASA."
Management 889 Compliance Tool streamlining credit card purchasing across NASA."
Original site
Proposed redesign
