We would like to introduce you to the new UniProt beta site http://beta.uniprot.org! We have been working on this site behind the scenes for a while and we're glad it's finally time to share it with you. The current UniProt website (uniprot.org) will still be available while we continue working on the beta site.
Some highlights of the changes and improvements:
- A new homepage and advanced search functionality
- A new results page interface with easy to use filters
- A basket to store your favourite proteins and build up your own set
- New protein entry page content classification and navigation bar
- New tool output interfaces (check out the Blast results!)
Please try it out and let us know what you think through the 'Send Feedback' button (you'll see on the left hand side of all pages). You can send feedback as many times as you like. To thank you for your feedback, we will enter you into a lucky draw to win a Kindle Fire HD tablet. We look forward to hearing from you!
How it all started
At UniProt, we are keen to understand the scientific community that uses our services and to better understand your requirements. As part of this effort, we conducted two user workshops a couple of years ago - one in Washington DC and one in Hinxton, UK. The idea was to understand the gaps in our users' experience with our site and also to brainstorm ideas for future developments. We tested the uniprot.org website with users and identified various areas of improvement, finally leading to the decision of redesigning the interface.
User centred design
We chose a user centred design approach to ensure that the new interface is intuitive and helps users get the most out of our data and functionality. This approach involved user feedback from the very early stages so we could iterate the design rapidly with this feedback. It broadly consisted of the following stages:
Key highlights
Some highlights of the changes and improvements:
- A new homepage and advanced search functionality
- A new results page interface with easy to use filters
- A basket to store your favourite proteins and build up your own set
- New protein entry page content classification and navigation bar
- New tool output interfaces (check out the Blast results!)
Please try it out and let us know what you think through the 'Send Feedback' button (you'll see on the left hand side of all pages). You can send feedback as many times as you like. To thank you for your feedback, we will enter you into a lucky draw to win a Kindle Fire HD tablet. We look forward to hearing from you!
