Borromeo Charles D, Schleyer Titus K, Becich Michael J, Hochheiser Harry
Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
J Med Internet Res. 2014 Nov 4;16(11):e244. doi: 10.2196/jmir.3444.
Research networking systems hold great promise for helping biomedical scientists identify collaborators with the expertise needed to build interdisciplinary teams. Although efforts to date have focused primarily on collecting and aggregating information, less attention has been paid to the design of end-user tools for using these collections to identify collaborators. To be effective, collaborator search tools must provide researchers with easy access to information relevant to their collaboration needs.
The aim was to study user requirements and preferences for research networking system collaborator search tools and to design and evaluate a functional prototype.
Paper prototypes exploring possible interface designs were presented to 18 participants in semistructured interviews aimed at eliciting collaborator search needs. Interview data were coded and analyzed to identify recurrent themes and related software requirements. Analysis results and elements from paper prototypes were used to design a Web-based prototype using the D3 JavaScript library and VIVO data. Preliminary usability studies asked 20 participants to use the tool and to provide feedback through semistructured interviews and completion of the System Usability Scale (SUS).
Initial interviews identified consensus regarding several novel requirements for collaborator search tools, including chronological display of publication and research funding information, the need for conjunctive keyword searches, and tools for tracking candidate collaborators. Participant responses were positive (SUS score: mean 76.4%, SD 13.9). Opportunities for improving the interface design were identified.
Interactive, timeline-based displays that support comparison of researcher productivity in funding and publication have the potential to effectively support searching for collaborators. Further refinement and longitudinal studies may be needed to better understand the implications of collaborator search tools for researcher workflows.
研究网络系统在帮助生物医学科学家识别构建跨学科团队所需专业知识的合作者方面具有巨大潜力。尽管迄今为止的努力主要集中在收集和汇总信息上，但对于使用这些信息集合来识别合作者的最终用户工具的设计关注较少。为了有效，合作者搜索工具必须为研究人员提供轻松访问与其合作需求相关信息的途径。
旨在研究用户对研究网络系统合作者搜索工具的需求和偏好，并设计和评估一个功能原型。
针对18名参与者进行了半结构化访谈，展示了探索可能界面设计的纸质原型，旨在引出合作者搜索需求。对访谈数据进行编码和分析，以识别反复出现的主题和相关软件需求。利用分析结果和纸质原型的元素，使用D3 JavaScript库和VIVO数据设计了一个基于网络的原型。初步可用性研究要求20名参与者使用该工具，并通过半结构化访谈和完成系统可用性量表（SUS）提供反馈。
初步访谈确定了关于合作者搜索工具的几个新需求的共识，包括按时间顺序显示出版物和研究资金信息、联合关键词搜索的需求以及跟踪候选合作者的工具。参与者的反馈是积极的（SUS得分：平均76.4%，标准差13.9）。确定了改进界面设计的机会。
支持比较研究人员在资金和出版物方面生产力的交互式、基于时间线的显示有潜力有效支持合作者搜索。可能需要进一步完善和进行纵向研究，以更好地理解合作者搜索工具对研究人员工作流程的影响。
