Introduction:
Cancer datasets are plentiful, complicated, and hold information that may be critical for the next research advancements. In order to use these data to their full potential, researchers are dependent on the specialized data tools that are continually being published and developed. Bioinformatics tools can often be unfriendly to their users, who often have little to no background in programming (Bolchini et al. 2008). The usability and quality of the documentation of a tool can be a major factor in how efficiently a researcher is able to obtain useful findings for the next steps of their research.
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Introduction:
Cancer datasets are plentiful, complicated, and hold information that may be critical for the next research advancements. In order to use these data to their full potential, researchers are dependent on the specialized data tools that are continually being published and developed. Bioinformatics tools can often be unfriendly to their users, who often have little to no background in programming (Bolchini et al. 2008). The usability and quality of the documentation of a tool can be a major factor in how efficiently a researcher is able to obtain useful findings for the next steps of their research.
Introduction:
Cancer datasets are plentiful, complicated, and hold information that may be critical for the next research advancements. In order to use these data to their full potential, researchers are dependent on the specialized data tools that are continually being published and developed. Bioinformatics tools can often be unfriendly to their users, who often have little to no background in programming (Bolchini et al. 2008). The usability and quality of the documentation of a tool can be a major factor in how efficiently a researcher is able to obtain useful findings for the next steps of their research.
Increasing the usability and quality of documentation for a tool is not only helpful for the researcher users, but also for the developers themselves – the many hours of work put into the product will have a higher impact if the tool is usable by the target user community. 70% of bioinformatics tools surveyed by Duck et al. (2016) were not reused beyond their introductory publication. Even the most well-programmed tool will be overlooked by the user community if there is little to no user-friendly documentation or if they were not designed with the user in mind.
Target Audience:
The course is intended for cancer informatics tool developers, particularly those creating tools as a part of the Informatics Technology Cancer Research.
Learning Objectives:
1. Understanding why usability and documentation is vital
2. Identifying your user community
3. Building documentation and tutorials to maximize the usability of developed tools
4. Obtaining feedback from your users
Curriculum:
This course will demonstrate how to: Understanding why usability and documentation is vital, Identifying your user community, Building documentation and tutorials to maximize the usability of developed tools, Obtaining feedback from your users
The course includes a hands-on exercises with templates for building documentation and tutorials for cancer informatics tools. Individuals who take this course are encouraged to use these templates as they follow along with the course material to help increase the usability of their informatics tool.
This course is part of a series of courses for the Informatics Technology for Cancer Research (ITCR) called the Informatics Technology for Cancer Research Education Resource. This material was created by the ITCR Training Network (ITN) which is a collaborative effort of researchers around the United States to support cancer informatics and data science training through resources, technology, and events. This initiative is funded by the following grant: National Cancer Institute (NCI) UE5 CA254170. Our courses feature tools developed by ITCR Investigators and make it easier for principal investigators, scientists, and analysts to integrate cancer informatics into their workflows. Please see our website at www.itcrtraining.org for more information.
What's inside
Syllabus
Welcome
In this first section, we will discuss the goals of this course and why documentation is so vital to cancer research.
Lessons we should borrow from user designers
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Syllabus
Good to know
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Activities
Review industry standards for documentation
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Familiarize yourself with industry standards and guidelines for documentation to ensure your work meets professional expectations.
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Best Practices
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Identify relevant documentation standards in your industry
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Review the key principles and requirements of these standards
Compile a collection of resources on documentation and usability
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Gather and organize a collection of useful articles, tutorials, and other resources related to tool documentation and usability.
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Information Management
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-
Identify reputable sources of information
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Search for relevant content on topics such as documentation best practices and user experience
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Organize and categorize the collected resources
Join a study group to discuss documentation and usability
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Connect with other students in the course to discuss topics related to tool usability and documentation, exchange ideas, and provide feedback.
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Peer Support
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Find a study group or create your own
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Establish regular meeting times and agendas
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Discuss topics related to course content and explore different perspectives
Four other activities
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Explore examples of well-documented tools
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Review examples of well-documented tools to gain inspiration and ideas for your own documentation.
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User Experience
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Identify tools in your field with a reputation for usability
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Examine their documentation for features such as clarity, organization, and accessibility
Create an infographic about tool usability
Show steps
Create an infographic that summarizes the key principles of tool usability to reinforce your understanding of the first section of the course.
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Informatics
Show steps
-
Research the principles of tool usability
-
Create a draft of the infographic using a template or design software
-
Revise and refine the infographic based on feedback from peers or instructors
Build mock documentation for a tool
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Develop a mock documentation page for a hypothetical tool based on the concepts you learned in the section on documentation.
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Informatics
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-
Identify the target audience for the tool
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Determine the purpose and scope of the documentation
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Write clear and concise content using appropriate formatting
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Test the documentation to ensure it meets the needs of users
Develop a documentation plan for an existing tool
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Select an existing tool that lacks adequate documentation and create a plan to develop comprehensive and user-friendly documentation.
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Project Management
Show steps
-
Identify the tool and its target audience
-
Analyze the existing documentation and identify areas for improvement
-
Develop a plan for creating new or revising existing documentation
-
Implement the documentation plan and test its effectiveness
Review industry standards for documentation
Show steps
Familiarize yourself with industry standards and guidelines for documentation to ensure your work meets professional expectations.
Browse courses on
Best Practices
Show steps
- Identify relevant documentation standards in your industry
- Review the key principles and requirements of these standards
Compile a collection of resources on documentation and usability
Show steps
Gather and organize a collection of useful articles, tutorials, and other resources related to tool documentation and usability.
Browse courses on
Information Management
Show steps
- Identify reputable sources of information
- Search for relevant content on topics such as documentation best practices and user experience
- Organize and categorize the collected resources
Join a study group to discuss documentation and usability
Show steps
Connect with other students in the course to discuss topics related to tool usability and documentation, exchange ideas, and provide feedback.
Browse courses on
Peer Support
Show steps
- Find a study group or create your own
- Establish regular meeting times and agendas
- Discuss topics related to course content and explore different perspectives
Explore examples of well-documented tools
Show steps
Review examples of well-documented tools to gain inspiration and ideas for your own documentation.
Browse courses on
User Experience
Show steps
- Identify tools in your field with a reputation for usability
- Examine their documentation for features such as clarity, organization, and accessibility
Create an infographic about tool usability
Show steps
Create an infographic that summarizes the key principles of tool usability to reinforce your understanding of the first section of the course.
Browse courses on
Informatics
Show steps
- Research the principles of tool usability
- Create a draft of the infographic using a template or design software
- Revise and refine the infographic based on feedback from peers or instructors
Build mock documentation for a tool
Show steps
Develop a mock documentation page for a hypothetical tool based on the concepts you learned in the section on documentation.
Browse courses on
Informatics
Show steps
- Identify the target audience for the tool
- Determine the purpose and scope of the documentation
- Write clear and concise content using appropriate formatting
- Test the documentation to ensure it meets the needs of users
Develop a documentation plan for an existing tool
Show steps
Select an existing tool that lacks adequate documentation and create a plan to develop comprehensive and user-friendly documentation.
Browse courses on
Project Management
Show steps
- Identify the tool and its target audience
- Analyze the existing documentation and identify areas for improvement
- Develop a plan for creating new or revising existing documentation
- Implement the documentation plan and test its effectiveness
Career center
Bioinformatics Scientist
Cancer Data Scientist
User Experience Designer
Health Informatics Specialist
Product Manager
Technical Writer
Software Developer
Information Architect
Data Analyst
Web Developer
Quality Assurance Analyst
Medical Writer
Project Manager
Clinical Research Associate
Database Administrator
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