Intellectual Property Search Tool
STNext
About the Product
STNext is a tool for intellectual property search professionals. STNext supports the search and display of patent information, including substances, biologics, and related assets.
Role
UX Design, Prototyping, Visual Design, User Research Support
Project
This project was a significant redesign to replace a thick client tool with a more modern web-hosted experience.
Challenges
Generative research provided product strategy and feature direction. We used these key principles to guide us during design and implementation:
Do No Harm
Build on existing command-line infrastructure (Identical commands and content)
Flexibility
Allow for quick, inexpensive addition of new capabilities.
No installation of software or plugins!
Efficiency, Efficiency, Efficiency
New web-enabled capabilities will make experts and new users more efficient
Little to no mouse interactions needed to use the interface
UX Process
To be sure we're addressing the right problems I built a prototype that we used to align the business's expectation with product direction. I worked with the in-house User Research Team to schedule a series of sessions to test the usability of primary task flows and understanding of new features. We went through several iterations adjusted labels, feature placement, and added functionality to better meet this user group's needs.
To ensure these users did not have to take their hands off the keyboard we provided keyboard shortcuts for accessing panels and pages. Certain interactions return focus to the command-line and the user can tab through the elements on the screen to interact with them.
The end result was a product that users found easier to use, 84% easier to use according to our marketing survey, and gave them a modern web experience.
