Roadmap for ChassiDex based on case studies

We conducted case studies on the functioning of popular databases such as PDB, Wikipedia, Google Maps, YouTube and BRENDA. The case studies can be found on our Silver HP page.

Key takeaways from the case studies

1. Almost all databases have staff to curate and manage data
2. YouTube and Google Maps let users comment and thus ensure some realistic information to other users. Google Maps also lets users give suggestions
3. PDB restricts data addition to only those with experimental results

Roadmap for ChassiDex

1. After iGEM 2017, we will be constituting a dedicated team of students to curate and manage data.
2. We will be adding a feature that will let users give suggestions and post comments.
3. After the database grows to a sizeable extent, we shall tie up with laboratories working with different chassis organisms and curate data in collaboration with them. This shall ensure up to date and legitimate data.

Iterative testing and redesign

We believed that entering data on our database could be a tedious and confusing process and we wanted to make this process as user-friendly as possible. Hence, we after the first prototype was done, we decided try it out ourselves and began to enter data.

Our first prototype

With the testing of first prototype by ourselves, we realized that the what data was to be entered in what field was not clear. Our instructors also gave us the same feedback. Hence, the user interface was completely overhauled, to include a help section on the left and data fields on the right. The second prototype is shown below.

Second prototype with a major UI overhaul

The testing by entering data ourselves continued and we got more insights on the design. One of our team members accidentally closed the 'add page' while filling up data, as he had multiple tabs open on his browser and was trying to close all unwanted tabs. All the data he had entered so far was lost. Hence, we added a confirmation before the tab is closed. This is shown below:

The confirmation before close


After these changes, we sent out a collaboration request to other teams to fill in data. Team IISc-Bangalore and Team INSA-UPS_France filled in data in our database and did not report any problems or ask for any clarifications. We found that the data was filled in the expected manner without any confusion and could conclude that our UI was now good enough. However, UI improvements will be done based on more testing.