Research Data Management Platform

End-to-end platform design

Project Overview

While working in the ICT department of the University of Sydney I was responsible for the end-to-end design of a new research data management platform. The platform was a hub for the university's researchers to access data storage and computing services, as well as ensure compliance with the university's data management policies.

My Contributions

As the lead designer in a small project team, I helped define the design scope and vision for the project through domain and user research activities, as well as develop the design from rough concept sketches and wireframes, high-fidelity interactive prototypes all the way through to assisting the implementation of brand consistent style sheets in the front-end application.

Live Platform

The final platform was developed in Ruby on Rails and responsive for both desktop, tablet and mobile devices. Style sheets adhered to the University's brand guidelines with the addition of new design patterns for improved user experience and navigation.

User Research & Testing

A handful of representative users took part in contextual inquiries and structured prototype testing

Concept Sketching

Ideas based on stakeholder requirements and user research were sketched and mocked up with rough wireframes to explore solutions

Information Architecture

Flow charts were created to capture project requirements and determine screen flow in the app

Interactive Prototypes

Both desktop and mobile prototypes were created in Sketch with the Craft plugin for InVision, and tested extensively with both stakeholders and end-users before front-end implementation

Post-project Measurement

User Acceptance Testing and the System Usability Scale were used to measure the platforms functionality and usability during beta testing of the live platform, which was then released to the greater research community with positive feedback.