Name: Cody O’Donnell
Pronouns: he/him/his
Biography:
Currently I am a User Experience Engineer at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab where I help teams design and build user interfaces for scientific software applications. I am a hybrid designer/software developer, so at some times I am designing mockups, talking to users, and analyzing usability information, while other times I am coding interactive web applications and wrangling large datasets. I am driven by the process of turning complex information and processes into intuitive experiences that work for humans. I have worked on data-rich web applications and visualizations across a variety of domains such as materials science, genomics, military planning, and power grids. I took a slightly non-traditional route to the world of software development by learning most of my programming knowledge while interning at MITRE, a not-for-profit government research company, and through personal projects in college. I received my B.S. in Information Management and Technology from Syracuse University and eventually went on to get my M.S. in Human-Computer Interaction from Georgia Tech after a few years of working for MITRE full time. In my personal time I love spending time hiking around the SF Bay Area, making/eating hot sauce, and caring for our pet gecko.
Institution/Lab: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Website: https://codonn.com
SRP Collaboration Topic/Title: User Experience for Scientific Software Applications
Field or research area: UX/UI Design and Development
Please select all the topical areas that apply to your project:
Computer Science (i.e., architectures, compilers/languages, networks, workflow/edge, experiment automation, containers, neuromorphic computing, programming models, operating systems, sustainable software); Data Science (i.e., data analytics, data management & storage systems, visualization)
Brief Abstract:
User experience design is frequently an afterthought for scientific software applications. Nonetheless, the actual experience a person has while using a piece of software can often make or break its success. Our team is working to make sure that every scientific team has the ability to build software applications that are intelligently designed, highly usable, and effective for its users. We are in the process of building a suite of design and software tools that break scientific processes into their most repeatable components and task flows. The goal is for these components and task flows to be the building blocks for new scientific applications. This means we are building both visual designs and actual code that teams will base their applications around. These tools have the potential to transform the way scientific teams approach the design of software and user interfaces. We are working with people from a breadth of scientific areas because these tools are meant to span the whole scientific domain. For example, we are or will be collaborating with teams in environmental science, water optimization, materials science, genomics, computer science, and physics.
Desired relevant skills, background, or interests:
Interested in: Web development, user interface design, JavaScript, React, software development, user experience research, data visualization, information architecture
Other comments:
Do any special requirements apply? Permanent Resident OK; International OK
Other, specify:
Keywords:
user experience; ux; ui; user interface; web development; javascript; react; data visualization; design; scientific software; software development; usability; open source; information architecture; scientific software components; html; css; figma; data-intensive apps;
Lightning Talk Title: Designing Scientific Software that Works for Humans