Nomination – Target Sequences

A tool that allows scientists to nominate genomic DNA sequences for testing.

In crop science, genomic DNA sequences are fundamental to understanding the genetic basis of plant traits and are used to nominate or identify genes associated with desirable characteristics for crop improvement.

The Problem:The process of Nomination involved emailing requests and meeting once a month to review an enormous – thousands of nominations – Smart Sheet that one person kept track of. The process was slow, had a fragile tracking system and was fraught with error.

The solution:Create a digital tool that encouraged consistency of format for nominations, allowed requestors, supervisors, and receivers to track the progress of each nomination, alert users to regulatory challenges, and integrate with peripheral tools already in existence

Challenges

Complex, multi-stage processThe users would ‘build’ the nomination which involved a multitude of steps and branches that all needed to end up in the same place.
Solution: Since the current system technically worked, we had time to detail every possible scenario and variance in the workflow. We also had users who were eager for a better solution.
Retro-fitting – Having to work with a tool that was already partially developer-built, no designers or researchers involved initially
Solution: Since it was a multi-step process, we focused on the steps that needed the most improvement and delivered the greatest impact. Once we felt we had improved the tool enough, we worked on Retro-fitting the rest of it with the correct styles and UI elements. From there we continued improving the experiences for other steps and adding in functionality as needed.

Results

100% of users are using the new tool
140% increase in user satisfaction
33% decrease in re-do’s due to human error
57% decrease in rejected nominations due to early detection of regulatory issues

Users: Nominators – Genetic Engineers, Engineer Supervisors, Receivers – Lab Technicians

The Process: