xdiscipline Thoughts across disciplines by Engin Erdoğan

On April 7, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) put a new rule into action. According to this rule, the reports of all NIH funded research must be made available to public within one year in PubMed, a free-access digital library of biomedical research. This is a great step towards increasing the public accessibility of scientific research. After all, if public pays for the research, the work should be accessible to public.

But why one year? Why is the arbitrary limitation? Because, otherwise the business of scientific journals would be threatened. Apparently, some of these journals have hired an aggressive PR firm to work on this “issue” of open access. Funny how scientific journals are dealing with this similar to how the oil companies dealt with global warming, or how cigarette companies lobby to influence policies.

In spite of all the business shadiness, it is quite exciting to think what open access would enable. This is an infrastructural step for open accessibility. Next step is to make it more user-friendly. For example, Public Library of Science (PLoS) already requires a more user-friendly abstract in research submissions, to make the submission easier to understand for people outside of the field. Ultimately, advanced science may find interfaces for capturing larger audiences. This is particularly hopeful for new generations who would grow up with such access.

On the other hand, having an expert community is still instrumental, just like in any other field. However, an expert community can co-exist with public access. On a similar note, the expert reactions and reviews on scientific research can be also open, which makes me think about the traditional peer-review systems. The journal editor-expert review cycle is already being re-considered, maybe this news will be of inspiration to those who is in the process of re-shaping the peer-review systems.

NPR’s Science Friday has a nice program on this issue, you can listen to it here.

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At a recent travel, I came across the real-time feedback devices in Beijing Airport. These devices are situated right in front of the passport police, and the traveler can rate passport police’s service.

I like the idea because it gives the traveler a quick opportunity to react to good service or poor service without writing a letter. Also, it is incentive for the officer to think more service-oriented. Finally, this is an interesting instance of real world adopting a digital convention, immediate feedback.

I am curious who collects this feedback and how it is processed.

Related:
Can I also see my own information please?

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Last night, I was thinking about how I would explain the phases of prototyping as I experience them and I did a very quick sketch (below). The diagram is not very pretty but well enough to make my point. I guess this should be one of the principles of prototyping: pretty enough to communicate the point.

Obviously, it is no surprise that the number of ideas decrease and the resolution of the prototypes  increase as one goes through these steps.

Here are some more thoughts on the steps:

Illustrating the idea
These are mostly low-res sketches that explain the core concept. They are products of brainstorms, individual sessions, or random trains of thought. When I sketch, I focus on the core of the idea and do not think too much about details and secondary uses. Such sketches help me ask whether the idea is relevant to what I am trying to accomplish and worth the investment. And of course, whether it brings something new and exciting to the table. Depending on the complexity of the idea, these sketches are useful for getting immediate feedback from people.

Demonstrating user value
This is where I put ideas in context and demonstrate value for potential users. At this phase, I usually think of linear sequences at first, like a story/narrative and how the idea fits in, how it meets a specific need. I try not to think about the specifics of the technology unless there is a big issue with the infrastructure. Prototypes at this stage do a better job than basic illustrations especially when the complexity is high or anticipated use situations are unconventional.

Simulating functionality
Simulations vary from canned interactive prototypes to working systems that are close to the actual. These types of prototypes are best for usability tests (and self satisfaction) and can reveal a great deal of information that enlighten the path to implementation. I try not to spend too much time on close-to-actual prototypes unless I am convinced about the value of the idea since this is pretty detailed work and consumes a lot of time.

So. Illustrate-demonstrate-simulate. Nice rhyme.

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I am sure you heard of the term prosumer. The emerging target audience segments that not only consume, but create. As defined by Wikipedia:

Prosumer is a portmanteau formed by contracting either the word producer or professional with the word consumer. The term has taken on multiple conflicting meanings: the business sector sees the prosumer (professional–consumer) as a market segment, whereas economists see the prosumer (producer–consumer) as having greater independence from the mainstream economy.  

This is important for product design, especially for software. Because, it is an indication that the meanings of product, use, and user are evolving. End-product is not the end of the product’s development, it’s a platform that people can use, change, and build upon. In addition to being consumers, users can be sounding boards for feedback during development cycles and they can also be developers who can add unexpected twists to your end-product.So, how does one embrace and leverage this new form of target audience in product design? Here are some ideas for starters:

• Release earlier. Instead of getting lost in internal feedback cycles, put the product out and get users to involve as soon as possible.
• Make polishing a parallel track. As long as the core experience is there, people can start experiencing the product, while the perfectness is improved in parallel.
• Encourage and promote mix-mash-mod. An aspiring developer can extend your product to reach a new audience in the most unexpected ways.
• Communicate the background of updates with collected feedback. After all, your users own your product, they might want to know.
• Facilitate knowledge share between users. Let people teach each other tips and tricks on how to build upon the product.
• Make your users proud of their effort. Give visibility and credit to development efforts and treat people as your collaborators.

Feel free to add if you have more.

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