F1000
Reference Managment and Writing tools, iOS and Android Apps, Landing Pages, Marketing Materials
MY ROLE
UX, UI, Interaction Design, User Testing, User Research, Visual Design
AREAS COVERED
Publishing, Scientists Workspaces and Tools
Background
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As Lead Interaction Designer, I was responsible for developing comprehensive branding and design guidelines for two of the company’s flagship products: a biomedical science publishing platform and a reference management toolset. This involved defining online component and template guidelines for responsive design, as well as establishing a consistent design strategy across multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, and browser applications.
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I led the creation of the reference management tool, F1000Workspace, from the ground up. Initially launching an MVP to attract early users, we followed an agile development process to iterate on the product, incorporating continuous user testing and research. Over time, the product evolved, with the introduction of institutional and individual premium subscriptions to support sustainable growth and improve user experience.
Case Study: Designing Intuitive Tools for Scientists to Boost Productivity and Simplify Writing
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Objective
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At F1000, the goal was to design a user-centred platform that would meet the unique needs of scientists and researchers, while also ensuring a cohesive, responsive, and scalable experience across all devices. My mission was to create a design system that could support the growth of the platform and streamline scientific research, making it more accessible and efficient for users globally.
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Design Process
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User Research: Our Head of UX and Product, along with myself, conducted extensive research with scientists to gain a deep understanding of their workflows, pain points, and needs. This research revealed that scientists frequently conducted research online but lacked an efficient way to save web articles without downloading them as PDFs. Additionally, existing reference management tools failed to support collaborative research paper writing, highlighting a significant opportunity for innovation.
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User-Centred Design & Prototyping: I created user journeys and prototypes, iterating based on feedback from scientists. This included testing design concepts for the reference management tool and the mobile apps, ensuring the platform met user needs at every stage.
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Branding and Design Guidelines: I developed clear, comprehensive branding guidelines for F1000Workspace’s product, ensuring design consistency across all touchpoints. This involved creating responsive templates for marketing pages, forms, and the browser application.​
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The Challenge
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F1000 envisioned a new product, F1000Workspace, designed to compete with established reference management tools. My task was to design a modern, cloud-based application that could rival traditional desktop-based solutions. We aimed to develop an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) that would attract users from competitors and position our product as a compelling, modern alternative. Key to this challenge was determining which features were essential for the initial launch and which could be introduced in later iterations.
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Prioritising Features for the MVP
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Through user research, I identified several critical needs:
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Efficient ways to upload and organise PDFs of research papers.
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Annotation tools for research papers and the ability to save annotations.
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The ability to organise references into projects.
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A Word plugin that enables seamless integration of references while writing research papers
For the MVP, we focused on the following core features
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PDF Upload and Organisation: Users could upload and organise research papers into projects, simplifying resource management.
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Annotation Support: Scientists could annotate PDFs directly within the platform, crucial for their research and review processes.
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Development of Word plugin: A Word plugin enables seamless integration of references, allowing users to cite and manage sources while writing research papers.
These features formed the foundation of the tool, offering the core functionality necessary for scientists to manage their references and research effectively. We aimed to attract early adopters by delivering these essential features and gathering valuable feedback. The designs were tested with users before development, and the initial version was also tested before its release.​​
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Workspace TOOL MVP Design
Iterative Development and Advanced Features
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Following the MVP launch, we focused on iterating the product based on user feedback and expanding the feature set to differentiate ourselves in the market.
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Web Article Annotation and Saving
We introduced an innovative feature that allowed users to annotate and save web articles directly to the platform. This was a game-changer for scientists who often researched online but struggled to save and manage sources efficiently.
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Collaboration Tools
Real-time collaboration among researchers became a key focus. To address this, we introduced features that allowed users to comment on and engage in discussions within shared projects, revolutionising how teams could collaborate. Our research revealed that many scientists frequently co-authored research papers, highlighting the need for seamless teamwork. What truly set F1000Workspace apart from competitors was its emphasis on collaborative research workflows. Features such as project-based organisation, annotation sharing, and real-time collaboration empowered teams to work more efficiently. This strong focus on fostering teamwork and creating a unified research ecosystem positioned F1000Workspace as a standout tool in the reference management space.
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iOS & Android Apps
To further support scientists’ workflows, we developed mobile apps for iOS and Android, ensuring they could manage references and collaborate seamlessly, whether in the lab or on the go. Material Design guidelines were used to create a design strategy for the apps.
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Discovery of New Articles
We also introduced recommendations for newly available online research that matched their projects, helping our scientists stay up to date in their field and increase engagement with out tool. Along with recommendations of F1000Faculty leading scientists in the field.
Results and Impact
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The MVP launch confirmed the viability of our approach. Early adoption gave us the opportunity to refine the product based on real user data. As we continued to add features based on user feedback, F1000Workspace gained significant traction, positioning itself as a strong competitor in the reference management space.
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Key results included:
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User Growth: F1000Workspace experienced remarkable growth within two years, expanding to over 5,000 users and gaining traction among researchers and institutions globally as a free tool.
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Strategic Acquisition: Its success led to its acquisition by Informa plc, where it was rebranded as Sciwheel. Under this new identity, Sciwheel continues to support global scientific research and foster collaboration through institutional and individual premium subscriptions.
Key Achievements
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Developed and implemented a cohesive design system for both web and mobile platforms.
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Delivered innovative features that greatly enhanced user workflows, setting F1000Workspace apart from competitors.
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Played a pivotal role in the product’s success, contributing to its eventual acquisition by Informa plc.
Landing pages
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​I created variations of landing pages to test user engagement and carry out A/B tests focusing on different features of the product.
Research paper writing tool
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I also explored early design concepts and functionality for a complementary product: a modern, cloud-based research paper writing tool integrated with our existing reference management platform. This tool was envisioned to support seamless collaboration while offering built-in capabilities for managing citations, figures, and images directly from the user’s reference library. At the time, most researchers relied on Word for paper writing, using third-party plugins to integrate references from their management tools. Our solution aimed to simplify and modernise this process by providing an all-in-one, intuitive platform tailored to the needs of collaborative scientific writing.
F1000Research Open Science Publishing Platform
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I also contributed to the F1000Research Open Science publishing platform by designing landing pages, creating form templates, and establishing a comprehensive set of UI components to ensure consistency and usability across the platform.
Styleguide
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I developed clear, comprehensive branding guidelines for browser tool and the apps.
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